Page 106 of Fake Fae-Ancée

"And now she’s getting married to another man," I continued, still gasping from laughing. Damn, that vertigo was getting awful now. "Must be really hard."

Nox’s face fell. He took a step back. There was a long silence.

"Trust me," I gasped. "I never wanted to say anything like it, but I know how you feel…"

And I did. The thought that Yuri, my Yuri, would walk down the aisle — no doubt to save my skin — and marry this lunatic Anastasia was unbearable.

Nox groaned.

"Just the idea is gut wrenching, isn't it? Her in a white dress, walking down the aisle, his hand taking hers, putting the ring on her finger…"

My voice broke. The image in my head sent a lance of red-hot panic through my body, but before I could continue, Nox punched the wall. He dented the concrete, spiderwebs cracking through the stones.

"No!" He roared.

He was on the verge of shifting. His eyes had turned red, claws protruding from his hands.

"It’s happening right now," I said.

"Stop talking!!!"

He leapt toward the cage and lunged. I yelled, in spite of myself, throwing my arms in front of my face as the world around me went down in an explosion of dust and steel.

* * *

I staredat the hole in the wall. Nox had shredded the steel door on his way out. The remains of it stared back at me like dead teeth in an open mouth.

Apparently I’d hit a nerve.

Trembling, I crawled out of the remains of the cage he had smashed right along with it, careful not to touch the Witch-iron, and ventured through the hole in the wall and down the unlit and empty corridor beyond.

One thought kept hammering through my head with every step of my bare feet: I had to get to Yuri.

No idea if this was really Anastasia's plan, or if it was the fault of that stupid king, but Yuri would marry her just to save my ass. That was just the kind of idiot he was. And I was just as much of an idiot. I had let myself be duped and now we were in the mess I had created myself with my very own stupidity.

Further down the corridor, I came across a chamber full of weapons. However, I realized pretty quickly that I couldn't even begin to lift any of the swords leaning in the racks on the wall. My Fae-Power had not yet been restored even without the ring on my finger holding it back. Terrific. I was about as useful as a real princess. Cursing, I levered open one of the lockers with a knife and found what I was looking for:

Firearms.

With the cold weight of .44 Magnum in my hands, I felt better right away. Gritting my teeth, I ran on as fast as the heavy-ass ballgown would allow, and found myself one floor up in a polished hallway. Apparently I had been held captive in some administration building.

It was deserted at this time of night, yet I didn't care to run into a confused night watchman, or better yet, one of Anastasia's underlings. Eventually I found an exit. I stumbled out into the open and into a quiet side street. A few cars just drove by. On the opposite side of the street a couple of passers-by started screaming, pointing upwards and starting to run away.

The next moment, a pitch-black giant crow crashed onto the asphalt next to me.

I drew the gun.

Nox tilted his massive head and blinked with interest.

And there we were, a bird as big as a truck and a girl in a ballgown holding a gun, staring each other down.

"Lower your weapon." Nox snarled.

"Yeah, right."

I unlocked the safety with a click, aiming right between his pair of beady eyes.

"Come with me," he said, croaking.

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