Page 55 of Lifebound

“Did you spit in it?” Because I’d pissed off waiters before. And Betty’s cousin from Indiana was one, and she once told her what she did to the drinks she served at a bar for people who weren’t nice to her.

Rune closed his eyes. “No.”

“Okay.” I took the cup in my hands. “Proceed.”

Yes, the look on his face was worth it even if he had indeed poisoned this water.

“Mysthaven.” He stabbed his knife onto the square. “We avoid it at all costs. Blackwater is vampire territory. Blood magic is very powerful, but they can usually be reasoned with.” Blackwater was, apparently, to the side of Mysthaven, and above it was the fourth fae court—theMidnightCourt, he called it. “And down here is the Enclave.”

The tip of his knife touched the piece of land next to the Neutral Lands on the right side. Then he put his knife away.

“We also stay away from the Enclave at all costs. They are not to be messed with,” he finished.

Meanwhile I kept nodding my head, looking at the lines on the old wood, trying to figure out what the hell to think about first.

“So, which way are we going then? Because it seems to me we need to stay away fromeveryoneatall costs—so how in the world can we get to the Seelie Court like this?!” Now I was panicking, and the sips of the cold water weren’t helping. The food I’d eaten, either—on the contrary. I could feel the boiled eggs coming up my throat.

“I have a plan,” Rune said. “We’re going to be traveling to Cloakwood, and once we get there, we’ll have to sneak into Blackwater. There is a tunnel here that was built a long time ago, which connects the faelands to the rest of Verenthia. It will lead us straight to the Seelie Court underground. It’s the safest way there—and the fastest.”

A tunnel.

My eyes closed and swallowed hard. “And all of this is going to take seven days?”

“Probably less, but yes,” he said. “It all depends on you.”

“Why’s that?”

“You need to give up the illusion of control you’re still clinging to and do exactly as I say.”

The way he fired me up wasn’t even funny—and, no, I wasn’t entirely sure inwhichway I meant. Make me angry or turn me on?

Possibly both. The guy was a multitasker.

“You’re not the boss of me, Mr. Moody. You don’t get to order me around.”

Again, the corner of his lips turned up. “I do if you want to survive, Wildcat. And I’ll take great pleasure in it, too.”

The asshole.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, called for order in my head. “Tell me the truth, Rune. How likely am I to die in the next twenty-four hours?” He opened his mouth to speak. “Thetruth.”

“I don’t know about the next twenty-four hours, but your chances of surviving this trip on your own are zero,” he said. “With me, they are much better.”

Didn’t I know that already. “And if I actually make it to the Seelie Court? What happens when I try to come back?”

“Prince Lyall will take you back himself.”

“You don’t know that.” He was a prince, wasn’t he?

“I know him well enough to know that for certain.” Except when he said that he looked down at my empty plate like he didn’t really believe his own words.

Of course, I could be mistaken.

“And he’ll have a better chance at getting me back alive?”

“Yes. He’s the Seelie Prince. Nobody will dare to threaten him in any way. He’s become quite merciless in recent years.”

I cringed inwardly—the boy with the golden eyes I remembered from that meadow wasnotmerciless by any means.

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