side with my cheek pressed into the soft upholstery. My hands were tied awkwardly behind me with something hard and unyielding. The steady hum of the car’s engine and the feeling of speed and motion made me slightly nauseous. It was only the second time I’d ever been in a car, and I wasn’t exactly loving the experience.
Sanka. Robin and the others. Were they even still alive?
There had been an explosion. I was unharmed, but no one came to my rescue as my captors tied me up and carried me away. As skeptical as I wanted to be about everyone’s motives, I couldn’t believe Robin and her court would just let some crazy thugs off the street carry me away. If nothing else, surely Sanka would fight for me. He hadn’t though. No one had. Which probably meant they couldn’t.
I yanked at my bonds again, trying to free my hands. There was no way someone as physically weak as me could hope to overpower and escape a bunch of syndicate people—they were paranormals by definition, and not sheltered, pathetic little witch women. But I couldn’t just lie here doing nothing when I knew Sanka, Robin, Martina, and the others might be lying there hurt or dying. Not when I was capable of healing them from anything short of death.
“Oh, stop your fussing,” the smooth voice of the man in the backseat with me admonished. “What are you hoping to accomplish, aside from bruising that corpse-white skin of yours.” He made a scoffing noise. “It’s like you’ve never seen the sun. Did they keep you locked in the basement or something? You pathetic creature.”
I snarled through the fabric gag that was currently occupying my mouth.
The man just huffed and made a comment to someone else in the car. “I’d hazard to guess she’s a witch. But even they are one step removed from beasts.”
I stopped my fruitless struggles and lay still, trying to memorize the tone and cadence of the voices of the three men who discussed me like an inanimate object. From what I gathered, they had no idea about my powers. They just knew I was a magic user and I belonged to Robin’s little rebel court. It sounded like they took me just to get back at Robin for some offense or other.
I closed my eyes to shut out the dim light and shadow that was all my vision had to offer me. Tears wanted to well up at the thought of Sanka and the things he’d been attempting to teach me about my magic. I swallowed hard and pushed my fear for him aside. I needed to focus on drawing my power inside me, pulling it away from the surface. I needed to keep these people from figuring out what I could do.
I had a feeling they would use me even worse than my mother and The Order of the Three Moons had. They wouldn’t be gentle about it the way Robin’s court had been. They wouldn’t ask nicely or go out of their way to keep me from feeling like a tool. I could hear it in the cold, emotionless edge hidden under their pretty, lilting voices. I didn’t know much about other paranormals, since my keepers at The Order had lied to me and told me witches were all that were left. But there were several types of paranormals who were rumored to be stunningly beautiful in appearance, voice, and manners. Beings who had evolved to draw you in, like the fae. But something inside me said the people who had taken me weren’t what they seemed on the outside.
The car slowed after what seemed like a short trip, and the vibration of the tires said we were driving across some surface that was different than the road. Had we left Detroit? Old town was mainly run by the paranormal syndicate’s self-proclaimed royalty and their packs and clans, with a pocket of unaligned paranormals taking up the area around The Fox. The syndicate kept things in good working order. The outskirts of town were, to my understanding, filled with human businesses and modern buildings. But beyond that were large open stretches where neither paranormal nor human was entirely in control, but mingled freely. Did the rough surface we now drove over mean we had left the syndicate’s territory? I had no idea what the roads were like outside the city. Or beyond old town, really. I had no clue about much of anything, and I cursed my secluded upbringing and my manipulative family for the hundredth time.
The car slowed even further, and I registered a crunching sound under the tires. Maybe gravel? I didn’t have time to contemplate it before we stopped entirely, and the driver turned off the car.
I pushed myself up into sitting before anyone could put their hands on me. The click and the rush of cooling night air told me the car door had been opened. “Come,” one of the voices demanded. I froze when a big hand wrapped around my upper arm, which was bare, since I had shed my shirt in the recent battle with my family. My modesty was covered by a camisole, but my upper arms were vulnerable to skin-on-skin contact that would set my magic racing out to give me away.
Nothing happened as the man hauled me out of the car, and I let out a breath when I realized he was wearing gloves. Apparently, Sanka wasn’t the only one who was leery of touching strange magical objects—or people—bare handed. Thank the goddess.
I tilted my face to the cool air. Evening was falling by now. I hadn’t spent much time outdoors, but even I could sense the damp heaviness in the air, and I could see the light fading, my vision becoming more shadow than light.
“What have you got there?” A new voice asked curiously as boots crunched over gravel. A woman this time, judging by the voice.
“We’ve brought a gift for the king,” one of my captors said, a smug note in his voice. “From the little misfit court across the water.”
Laughter ensued, and a hand against my back propelled me forward. My feet hit something hard, and I fell, unable to catch myself with my bound hands. I smashed to my knees and barked my chin on what felt like stone steps.
“Have you forgotten how to use your feet, woman?” the leader of this little band of assholes demanded. “Or was that some sort of plea for attention?”
I awkwardly wiped my stinging, bleeding chin on my shoulder. No one had warned me there were stairs. I struggled to get up without the use of my hands and eventually someone grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. “Useless,” the man muttered under his breath.
I was marched up the steps and into some sort of cool, misty building that smelled strongly of flowers, earth, and growing things. Eventually we stopped, and I got a sense of space, kind of like the feeling of vastness that I got when standing in the empty auditorium of The Fox.
“I hear you’ve brought me a gift,” a beautiful, cool, cultured voice commented.
I had put the pieces together enough by now to guess who had taken me, but the aching note of allure in that voice confirmed my suspicions.
Fae. Beautiful liars who tricked the mind with magic and illusion.
At least, that’s what I had gleaned from the books Robin had suggested I listen to back at The Fox.
Most people would probably be happy to be surrounded by what I was given to understand were some of the most beautiful paranormals in existence. But I couldn’t see them. Anyone else might be drawn in and enchanted by their voices, their scent, or their insidious magic. But for some reason, all I felt was a rising agitation. I wanted to bare my teeth at them like the animal my captor had compared me to earlier. Something about the mere presence of the fae made me instantly defensive and angry.
“Take the gag away so I might speak with the poor thing,” the fae king said, in a voice that was filled with sympathy and pity for the poor, abused woman standing before him. “Honestly, Filius, this is no way to treat a lady.”
The gag was removed, and I swallowed a few times to moisten my dry mouth.
“And the bindings,” the king commanded. “Do you really believe one little witch could overpower a high fae?”
My hands were freed, and I rubbed at my wrists to bring the circulation back.
“There,” the king purred, his voice coming closer as he paced around me like a stalking predator. “Isn’t that better?”
I kept my head bowed and refused to speak. I was well versed in playing meek and obedient.
“Come, my dear,” the king said in a soft voice. I felt the heat of his hand through my thin camisole as he lightly touched my back to urge me forward, but thankfully my magic stayed inside me where it belonged. “Sit with me and tell me how you came to reside with the unaligned ones before my people liberated you.”
I took a small step forward to get out from under his touch, wary of how I almost wanted to lean into his hand. I had to be on guard here. But my chin still stung from the incident on the steps. Who knew what I’d trip over next?
“Is something the matter, dear? I do apologize for the harsh methods my people chose to free you from captivity. But I’m sure we can come to some understanding.”
I refused to move another step. “I can’t see,” I bit out. “After your people tried to kill me on the stairs, you’ll excuse me for not just going wherever you point me.”
The king made a clicking sound, and his beautiful, cool voice was filled with both apology toward me and chastisement toward his clansmen. “How dreadful. Come. I’ll guide you to a cushion. There is food and drink, and any other manner of relaxation you might require.” The allure was back, tugging at my senses, begging me to give in and go make revelry. “We were mid-meal when you arrived. Join us.”
I could feel the eyes on me at his words, and I realized with a chill that we were surrounded by people. I hadn’t sensed them a moment before. They must have been still as death. Light whispers and chatter bloomed around me, accompanied by the clinking of dishes and cutlery, and the soft, warm tones of harp music coming from somewhere to my left.
I had just been abducted and nearly blown-up moments before, bound and gagged, and manhandled by his people. And now this man wanted me to join his dinner party?
“I want to go home,” I said, even as he propelled me forward. The smells of delicious food assaulted my senses and my stomach rumbled like the traitor it was.
The fae king just chuckled. “We’ll talk of that once you’re comfortable. It’s the least I can do to make up for how you’ve been treated my dear. Sit. Fill your belly. Be at ease. Just there in front of you. There’s a good girl.”
I sank down to my knees on the big, overstuffed cushion in front of me, a biting comment on my lips. But the king spoke before I could. “Our new guest is blind, my loves. Let’s make sure to help her find the best of everything we have to offer, yes?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not hungry. What have you done to Robin and the others? Are they alive? I want to go home.”
I started to get back to my feet, but something soft settled over my shoulders. “You look cold,” a sweet feminine voice whispered by my ear. “This should help.”
I lifted my hand. The elbow-length warded lace gloves Sanka had made for me to help me control my powers allowed me to feel things as if my skin were bare. This person had dropped a wrap, or shawl, or something onto my shoulders. It was made of the softest weave I’d ever felt, and I instantly felt warm and cozy.
“This is the sweetest wine you’ll ever taste,” another soft female voice said from my other side, as someone placed a goblet into my hand and wrapped my fingers around it. “Try it, won’t you?”
I meant to tell them to stop this nonsense and let me go. Really, I did. But I took a sip of the wine, just to placate them. I wouldn’t want to be rude.
And then…. “Here, try the duck, it’s perfect,” a sweet male voice said as a forkful of something mouthwatering touched my lips.
“And the berries,” another male said, his fingers caressing my lips as he fed me. Thankfully, his caress was too short to let my magic slip free of my control.
I soon found myself surrounded by people with beautiful voices and warm, inviting auras, all of them happy to share every delicacy they could find with me. And wasn’t that nice, being the center of attention without my magic being the reason why? All these kind people wanted to do was help me. They wanted to make sure the other court wasn’t keeping me against my will. They wanted me to be happy and free.
And I felt freer by the second, with every sip of the sweet, fruity wine. All my cares unraveled, my worries not even so much as a distant memory. I was warm inside and out, buzzing with contentment and a happiness so pure it was completely indescribable.
“Come dance with me, Ruya,” a cool, alluring voice said in my ear. The fae king was asking me to dance? How could I refuse?”
He twirled me to the thrumming notes of the flutes and violins that had joined the harp, my world a blur of light and shadow, of pleasure and a floating, light-hearted bliss.
“Tell me, love,” the tall fae whispered in my ear as we floated across the floor. “All about how you came to be with Robin and her people.”
I snuggled up against him, rubbing my cheek on the soft silk of his shirt, wanting to do anything my king asked. “They stole me from my family,” I began, lulled into warm contentment as we swayed to the distant strains of music and merriment. “Because Robin needed me.”
I heard the smile in his voice as he spoke, and it made me happy to please him so. “Tell me more, Ruya.”