Page 28 of Hidden Kingdoms

I could feel the weight of invisible chains that would keep me locked here. The cold kiss of metal was yet to be wrapped around my wrists, but I was still a prisoner nonetheless.

“Fuck!” I hissed, panic winning the war of my emotions, gripping me in a vice as my heart twisted for one agonising moment before I forced air into my lungs.

He couldn’t leave. I didn’t want him to, didn’t want to be left alone here.

I flew at the door yanking at a handle that didn’t move and spun immediately to the only other door. It slammed open under my palms, showing me nothing but an ordinary bathroom.

The all-consuming need to get out left me with no time to be thankful for what the second door had shown me, and instead I found myself in front of the windows, ripping the curtains aside to allow the light to flood in.

No bars.

No fucking bars.

My body was shaking as I ran to the table, fingers gripping the back of one of the pointless chairs as I heaved it across the room.

I didn’t care that I was definitely not on the ground floor. It didn’t matter that I had no way of getting out other than jumpingto what the distant, rational part of me knew would at best be a broken ankle.

At worst I wouldn’t need to escape because I’d be dead, splattered onto the cobbles.

All that mattered was I needed to get out.

With whatever waning strength was left to me, I hurled the chair at the window, ducking immediately and covering my head, preparing for the shower of shards that would surely follow the crash of wood against glass.

It didn’t come. The telltale crunch was missing. Instead, there was a dull thud as the chair fell to the floor, its front two legs broken from its anticlimactic impact, and my heart sank as the truth of my situation became even clearer.

I rose as fast as the panic that was churning inside me, thudding in time with my pulse as I lurched to the door that had sealed me in here, banging my fists against wood I knew I couldn’t break through.

A crackle of magik flared in my hands as I tried again, crashing against it before a pain in my chest sent me staggering back and I fell to my knees—a sharp jolt lancing up through my legs at the contact with the hard floor.

“NO!” I screamed, a sob escaping my lips as my heart was squeezed in a vice-like grip that felt as though it would explode with my next breath, hot tears falling down my face.

I managed to suck in a rattling breath as the door was thrown wide, banging into the wall and the entire doorway was filled by Marcellus. Crisp, clear air floated around me, my chest easing a fraction as it filled my lungs and I tilted back to look up at him, falling backwards as I did.

From under his hood, rage was etched into his features, eyes glowing as he reached for me. I found myself reaching for him, too, and he pulled me up like I weighed nothing. Strong arms,thick with muscle, held me enveloped within the folds of his cloak.

His myriad of weapons crushed against me but none of them marked my skin. At the contact between us the pressure in my heart ceased. My body relaxing, chest loosening as the tug was no longer painful. Instead, it almost buzzed at our proximity.

I fisted my hands in one of the leather straps across his chest as he carried me to the bed. Laying me down gently, he straightened as he brushed a tear from my cheek with his thumb, his touch like lightning against my skin. His face was no longer carved with rage despite the icy gaze that seared into my soul.

I didn’t move, didn’t speak. I hardly dared to breathe. With one last look over my face he turned back to the door, fingers flexing at his sides.

“Rest, little one,” he said quietly before pulling the door shut once more.

The dull thud of the heavy wood confirmed my imprisonment, and my heart ached as I stayed curled on the bed.

There was no final click of a lock, but they didn’t need it to keep me in here. I was trapped either way.

What did they want from me?

I had nothing for these people, someone must have made a mistake. Knowing I would be going nowhere soon, I forced my body to relax into the bed, groaning as my aching muscles sank gratefully into the soft covers.

For once I didn’t try to fight the call of sleep. I needed it, desperately. I let my stinging eyes flutter closed hoping that when I woke, I could figure out a plan to leave. To go home.

13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ELODIE

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