Page 78 of Hidden Kingdoms

Like the one where a Fae man had fallen in love with a woman who didn’t return his affections. After she had rejected his advances for the millionth time, he lured her to a beach cave, where he attacked her brutally before leaving her for dead at the water’s edge. The goddess of water, Adria, had found her and transformed the dying woman into a half human, half fish, and that was how the first mermaid was created.

Most of these stories were pretty gruesome, with little detail held back. Not something I would read to my kids if I had any, but I enjoyed them, and the small insight they gave me into the minds of the Fae I had found myself surrounded by.

Time passed absorbed in the stories, as I sat in the frigid air for longer than usual, hunger began to creep in. Birds chattered to each other as they hopped along the vines that crawled across the outer wall, and I put the book down to watch them.

The door to the courtyard was thrown open, in that angry way some of the guards had. Knowing that was my signal to go,I stood, lifting my face to the sky to catch a few more seconds of watery sun before I went back in. Stepping back into the dark corridor, I looked around for the guard to lead me back to my room, but it was empty.

With an ominous creek, the door closed, blocking out the light with a soft bang. A chill swept over me as I turned, and I felt magik thrum inside me as I saw the figure leaning beside the now shut door. His light-blue eyes danced with malice in the dark of the corridor, and I felt the blood drain from my face as they swept up and down my body.

Why the fuck was the creepy guard here?

“Where’s my guard?” I demanded, my voice surprisingly steady despite the unease that was winding its way through me.

Pushing off the wall, he stepped forward, and I stepped back, mirroring his movements before I realised what I was doing and held the Faerytale book tight to my chest.

“I’myour guard,” he smirked.

“No thanks, I much prefer the other guy.”

He was between me and the stairs that I knew led to my room. The only other way would be to continue down the corridor, but the thought of turning my back on him made my stomach churn.

“Too bad, beautiful. I’m here now.” He took another, and it took everything not to move away from him.

Oh joy.

“And why exactly is that?” There had never been a change of guards at this time before.

He ignored me, eyes lingering uncomfortably long on the curve of my breasts. There was a slight buzz of energy in my fingers, but it wasn’t much, and I had no idea what this man was capable of. As his own magik pulsed lightly around him, I knew he would have more control over his than I did.

He was too close. I had to come up with a way to get away from him, fast. My only real option was running, but I wouldn’t get far before he caught me.

I looked into his plainly handsome face, wondering how many other women he had managed to corner in dark parts of the castle, and bile rose sharp in my throat. His hand reached towards me, and I stiffened, his fingers cold and clammy as they ran down the side of my face following the line of my jaw. I called power to me, felt it shift beneath my skin. Not fast enough.

Not fast enough to stop his hand from wandering down my neck, each second his skin touched mine sending my heart into overdrive as I was unable to move. Unable to get away.

He smiled sickeningly sweet, and a pulse of his magik reached out towards me. It was stagnant. There was a staleness to it that coated my skin, and I cringed away from it.

“I’ve wondered for a while why they were keeping you locked up in that room. It seems they want you all to themselves. What makes you so special that the Prince is keeping you hidden, huh?”

“No idea,” I managed to grind out, which annoyingly was the truth, as I risked looking away from him in order to facilitate any sort of escape.

Fingers skimmed my collar bone, and I shuddered in disgust. “I wonder if you’re wearing the blue ones.”

I pulled at my magik, felt it within me, but I couldn’t move it. Couldn’t make it obey. I hadn’t belted my jacket around me, and his hand travelled lower until it danced across my breast and panic overruled all reason as I snapped, bringing my knee up hard and slamming it into his dick. With a sharp cry of pain, his hands flew to his damaged goods as I sprinted away without wasting precious seconds looking back—knowing I’d only got an opening to run due to the fact I had surprised him.

After the shock and pain had worn off, he’d be after me again.

I raced directionless down the halls, book slipping from my fingers. I didn’t care where I ended up, and it only felt like seconds before his footsteps pounded the floor behind me.

“You little bitch!” he shouted from much too close, and again I tugged at the energy that flowed through me, silently begging it to do as I asked—it didn’t.

I screamed as a hand fisted my hair, using it to twist me around—strands ripping from my scalp—before slamming me into the wall. Pain ricocheted down my spine at the impact, and he pressed his body against mine, knee spreading my legs to press between my thighs. Despite the agony that radiated through me, I fought to push him off, but he was too big, too heavy. Panic was clawing its way through me, the feel of him against me akin to insects burrowing in a frenzy under my skin.

That might have been preferable.

A sharp tug in my heart pulled hard as though trying to guide me away, but I was pinned. I couldn’t fucking go anywhere.

“That wasn’t very nice, was it?” he snarled, jolting me back into the wall once more, my head cracking painfully against the surface before he leaned in close, the smell of his breath nauseating as he licked a wet, slimy path up the side of my face. I cringed away as best as I could.

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