Page 149 of Bonded Chaos

“Where are you taking me?”

She huffed like I was a misbehaving child, and she waved a dismissive hand in the air.

“I told you already, somewhere safe.”

There was something in her tone that made my stomach twist, and my footsteps slowed in response. But before I could turn and flee, shadows emerged from the forest surrounding us.

“You led me into a trap,” I hissed, and Eleanor glanced over her shoulder at me.

A broad smile split her face, but it was far from reassuring. Several figures stepped forward, their faces obscured under their cloaks and their weapons reflecting the moonlight.

My magic stirred beneath my skin, and my pulse quickened.

This was no sanctuary.

“You lied to me,” I spat in Eleanor’s direction as I took a step back.

More figures emerged from the shrubbery, crowding me from behind and cutting off my retreat. Eleanor turned to face me, and she planted her hands on her hips.

“It was foolish of you to reveal such a deadly secret. But it’s far too late to run now.”

My hands clenched into fists, and my magic thrummed wildly as it danced across my fingertips, ready to do my bidding.

“What do you want from me?”

“For you to die,” she said sweetly. “We’ve been searching for a way to weaken the prince, and then you fell into my lap, as if the gods themselves willed our victory.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded through gritted teeth.

“The death of his mate will be the prince’s undoing.”

Murmured conversations broke out all around me, but I blocked them out as I focused on the woman before me.

“This has been your plan all along.”

“Not quite. I truly freed you to spare you from the cruel fate of your people, but then you made the fatal miscalculation of revealing you were the prince’s mate. I wasn’t about to let such a prize slip through my fingers.” Her grin was downright disturbing as she stared at me, practically vibrating with excitement.

Realization struck me, and I suddenly understood who these people were.

I was standing amid the Crimson Enclave.

Bile rose up my throat, and I wanted to lunge across the space separating us and force my magic into her body until she withered and died.

Before I could act on my wayward thoughts, the crowd parted, revealing a tall man draped in a dark cloak. He had broad shoulders, and he angled his head as he looked me over.

There was something oddly familiar about the gesture, but I couldn’t place it. As he lifted his hand to lower the hood of his cloak, I noticed his skin was littered with fading scars, and for reasons I couldn’t understand, that made my chest tighten.

When he let his hood fall away, my eyes clashed with chocolate-brown ones that were full of compassion and regret.

“No,” I whispered, as I stumbled back.

I shook my head, trying to dispel the image in front of me, but it remained stubbornly unchanged.

“This isn’t real,” I whimpered as tears pricked my eyes.

The man’s features softened as he stepped closer.

“Cadence,” he said, his voice a low rumble that caressed me like a tight hug.

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