Chapter 2 ASSHOLES FROM THE COURT OF SCREWYOU

I woke with a start, flinging open my eyes. I was lying on something cushioned, and I bolted to sitting, gaze vibrating as I attempted to take in my surroundings at once. Despite the trail of dried drool on my cheek, proving the depth of my slumber, no grogginess hampered my thoughts. Panic and alertness washed through me in equal measure, leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

Three of the king demands your presence. Strangers shared what appeared to be an enclosed compartment with me, one of them the man with the ring and the winsome personality. When he sneered in my general direction, I imagined myself punching the smirk right off his pinched face but first...

The space was wide enough for a handful of people to spread out comfortably along the two benches that lined either wall. I alone occupied the one side, where I''d lain and apparently slept long enough for the encroaching night to turn to day.

Bright light, of the sort that only colored Nightguard for the scant hours when the sun was directly overhead, filtered in through drawn curtains on windows. A steady, monotonous clip-clop suggested we were in a horse-drawn carriage.

Where were the bastards taking me? To Embermere? Zako told me it could only be reached via portal.

The men had shed their heavier layers, remaining in prim waistcoats, form-fitting pants, and boots too shiny to have been worn on their trek to Nightguard. Their faces were clean, their hair combed, and their attention locked on me. Affixed to the crest of one cheek, Ring Man wore a trio of shiny crystals that reminded me of droplets of water.

Stretching my legs out into the space between us, I felt for my blades. But the undershirt, long-sleeved shirt, and two wool sweaters I wore as my go-to in Nightguard prevented me from being certain anything remained in the holster that wrapped around my waist like a belt.

Leaning forward, I pretended to scratch an itch along my calf. "We''ve removed your weapons," Ring said, while the curl of his lips suggested I''d offended him by daring to be armed, which obviously I had excellent reason to be.

My jaw hardened as I openly dipped my hand into my boot, confirming this. "And what gave you the right to do that?" I snarled, next checking if they''d also found the knife in my other boot, then slipping under my clothing to confirm my two favorite blades were also absent.

I slammed back against the seat as I crossed my arms over my chest, a useless defensive measure if they could do things like throw magic at me that I couldn''t escape even by running.

That''s what it had to have been. Nothing else would explain it. How in dragonfire did I fight magic of all things? Without a single weapon?

I had to force my jaw to unclench to ask my next question, my first still unanswered: "What makes you think you can take me against my will? And you hurt my friend! Is he all right?"

Disinterested, Ring shrugged. "He''s a shifter. I suppose there''s a decent chance he''ll live."

Yes, Xeno was a shifter and a strong one at that. But that arrow had punctured his heart.

If he doesn''t, I''ll kill you. By dragonfire, I''d probably kill the man anyway, the first chance I got.

Ring chuckled his disbelief, as if I were a mouse threatening a pack of rabid wolves.

Sneering, I narrowed my eyes at him until they were slits. He didn''t take me seriously? That was fine by me. It would make it easier to murder him. Underestimating me would be the last thing he did.

When he parted a curtain and turned his relaxed stare out the window, I harrumphed and said, "You can''t just show up at my home and do shit like that."

Was Nightguard really my home though? Would a bunch of supposed protectors stand around while these pricks stole me from my home? I understood the shifters were defenders of the dragons, not me, but still. Had Malessa really just stood there, probably ordering everyone else, including Xeno, to stand down while she allowed these assholes to kidnap me?

Was that what I got for doing everything they asked of me for twenty-two years?

Apparently.

Heat pricked at my skin as I yanked off my top sweater, dropping it in a heap at my side. I hadn''t been this warm in... well, never, not even under the pile of blankets on my bed. Despite my apparent abduction, I took an extra few moments to relish being overheated before stripping off my second sweater and then my long-sleeved shirt, remaining only in a sleeveless underlayer.

Are you finished yet? Ring asked in a droll, nasal pitch that had me flexing my fingers, subtly checking to make sure everything was...

in proper working order despite my lack of weaponry. Nope. I''m not even close. You haven''t answered my questions. What the fuck gives you the right to take me without my consent?

He tapped the ring with the giant red stone once again. "I already told you. I''m under the king''s authority." He trailed his gaze up and down my body, frowning when he was finished. "As are you."

No, I''m not. I don''t even know who this king guy is.

The man who sat at Ring''s side bristled at that, drawing my eye. He wore his hair in a long, neat braid that draped in front of one shoulder. His brows were an elegant arch, now drawn low in evident disapproval.

Ring crossed his legs, placing the hand with the blood stone atop his knee. "Whether you''re aware of the king''s authority over you doesn''t change that it exists. You''re his subject, which means you''re to do as he commands, preferably without question."

No, that''s not how it works. You can''t just randomly show up, wave a ring in my face, say you have power over me, and knock me out and take me.

Obviously we can." Ring offered me his first smile, as cold as Nightguard.

I studied them. They studied me.

I grunted. "You''re taking me to Embermere."

As ordered, Ring said.

How long till we get there?

We''ll see signs of the royal city shortly.

What of the portal, then?

What of it?

When do we pass through it?

Ring cocked a ''how stupid are you'' look at me. Ah, so we''d passed through it while I''d slept. How very reassuring.

Ring waved a hand in a circle indicating my general appearance. "You should do something to clean yourself up before we arrive."

And how do you expect me to do that exactly? Lick myself clean?

The man with the braid huffed. "This is going to be more work than we thought."

My forehead stretched in disbelief. "You thought I was going to be happy about being kidnapped?" I snorted. "Surely not."

It doesn''t matter, Ring said. "Her Majesty the Queen will know what to do with you."

That made Braid smile like a dragon with a full stomach, and the man whom I suspected had been the one to throw the potion at me quickly peered out the window. With his side profile facing me, and his hair tucked behind an ear, their peculiarity jumped out and smacked me. They had ears like Zako''s! Pointed sharply at the top.

You''re fae," I whispered, forcing myself not to touch my own ears. They weren''t as obviously pointed, though they also weren''t exactly rounded, not like the shifters.

Ring scowled. "Of course we are. We''re subjects of the royal crown of Embermere, just as you are. What else would we be? Assholes from the court of Screw You?"

The potion-throwing fae staring out the window whipped his head around to glare at me. Ring and Braid appeared to be doing their best to sear a hole through my skull.

Ring shook his head. "Unworthy. Unworthy of His and Her Majesty''s attention. Nevertheless, you shall have it."

I don''t think she''s going to like it, Braid commented.

Even better, Ring said.

I''d heard and seen enough. Without a final glance in that direction or a flinch to broadcast my plan, I lunged toward the door closest to me, pulled on the handle, and pushed open the door almost in the same movement.

Before any of them could grab me or hurl another enchantment at me, I leapt from the fast-moving carriage, rolling as I hit the dirt road we were traveling on. I slammed into the trunk of a tree, hitting my shoulder hard enough to elicit a gasp.

Shouts clamored up ahead and beasts complained at the sudden change of pace imposed on them, their footfalls slowing rapidly. The wheels of the carriage squeaked.

With a twinge of sharp pain pinging down my arm, I staggered to my feet, filled my empty lungs, and sprinted into the forest that lined the road. If I could get far enough away, the dense foliage would shield me from view. I hope. It was my best plan, anyhow.

Without a look back, I leaned into my speed, thankful for every morning when I''d dragged myself out of bed before the sun just to keep myself in peak condition. When Zako had been alive, he''d led me through sprints up and down the base of the Nightguard Mountains. After he died, I did them myself, the exertion demanding enough to mute my grief.

The trees'' canopies reached for each other, as if the forest were composed of friends continually stretching into the embrace of a long-anticipated reunion. Their boughs hung low, their roots protruding from the ground as if the trees were one step away from uprooting for a visit.

The sunlight dappled through the dense leafage overhead, illuminating the ground no more than a candle attempting to dispel the night. I whipped past tree after tree, dodged bush after bush, nearly tripped on roots a few times, but focused only on carving out distance between me and my captors. My breathing came heavier but steady. Focusing only on my escape, my heartbeat evened out.

Panic faded to the background. I had to get free. Then I could pause to think. Figure out my next step.

Mushrooms large as sitting stools dotted the ground on either side of the path I was cutting, blurring as they grew denser, while the trees thinned. So gradual was the change that I ran for dozens of heartbeats before I noticed the landscape was steadily opening up into an expansive clearing.

Not good, I thought, a breath before a man''s voice shouted far behind me: "There! There she is."

I was out in the open, dammit. If dragons flew here, they''d be able to pluck me right up. Pivoting on steady ankles, I changed direction, cutting a diagonal retreat that was the fastest route back to camouflage. I''d have to skirt the edge of the clearing through the coverage of the trees. It would take longer, but it would be worth the delay. I willed the trees to extend their branches toward me and swallow me up.

A faint whistle trilled through the air. I recognized what it likely signaled—an arrow. I pushed my body harder, faster. Unsure which direction it was coming from—other than from somewhere behind me—I dived to roll away and was already in the air when—

The sting of fire consumed my thigh as the arrow found its mark. I stumbled and actually had to flick a fast look downward to ensure my leg wasn''t actually burning but merely enduring the horrific pain. No flames. But my eyes stung and watered.

Limping, I made myself continue in the direction of cover. Every footfall of my injured leg sent a new wave of fire jarring through bone and muscle. But I kept going. It wasn''t far now.

I was almost there. With the dense cover of amiable trees so close that their rustling leaves beckoned me into their fold, a second arrow rent the air with a deceptively happy whistling.

It thwacked into me with the force of a hundred dragons, stealing my breath before it could rip free with my surprise. Feeling broad and heavy as a spear, the arrow pierced my ribcage, seeming to split my torso in two.

The momentum of my desperate run stumbled a few more steps from me before I sank to my knees, reigniting the arrow that protruded through my thigh so that it burned all over again.

But nothing compared to the wood stabbing my lungs or my heart, or something else most definitely vital. Or did it tear through all of it, every piece of me that was needed to live?

I knew only that this was probably it. I''d been torn from the only person in this entire world who still lived to care about me. Okay, maybe Saffron joined Xeno in caring whether I lived or died, but that...

was probably only because I fed the little guy. Maybe another of the shifters would be saddened for a few moments at news of my death here in an unfamiliar forest so far from the only home I''d ever known. I''d never see a friendly face again.

I attempted to suck in a steeling breath. If I was to die and only my abductors would witness my passing, I wanted at least a moment of private fortitude first. My breath, though, denied me any kind of relief, delivering only more pain.

Feeling my back beneath the entry point, my fingers came away dripping in a blood as bright as that asshole''s ruby. If only I''d gotten to punch him in the face before I went.

Momentarily mesmerized by the amount of blood that came away on my hands, I dragged my eyes upward, locking in on my murderer. So far away that his dark clothing was nothing more than an outline, one of the fae men stood atop the carriage, pointed in my direction, another arrow nocked in his bow pulled back and taut, ready to release.

He must have taken in my defeat slumping into the damp, soggy ground, moistening the knees of my britches. Slipping the arrow back into the quiver at his feet, he lowered his bow.

How could this be it? I wondered until the crunch of underbrush announced that the fae who''d stolen me from Nightguard were back to take me again. Only this time, I''d welcome whatever had been in that potion bottle if only to whisk away the pain for a little bit until death arrived.