Page 113 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
The following morning, Kalle meets me outside my father’s cabin as we start another day of coping with the eruption while stealing away to share precious private moments when we can. We both have bandannas tied over our faces, because the air is like the dirty inside of a vacuum cleaner—nothing but disgusting particles and debris. Even with nothing but his eyes showing, though, he’s still the handsomest man I’ve ever seen.
“How is your father doing?” he asks.
“He’s still sick, and the bad air is making it even worse. The doctor gave him some medicine, but I’m not sure it’s helping much.”
“Do you need to stay with him today?”
I shake my head. “He’s sleeping, and that’s probably the best thing for him right now.”
Chapter Thirty-One
KALLE
Justice and I race to our secret spot in the woods. The volcano is erupting, and everything is in chaos … but if I don’t grab time with him when I can, I might never get a chance. What if something happens to one of us?
When we get to the secluded place, I take him in my arms, remove our face coverings, and kiss him. Ash drifts around us as we embrace.
Once we’ve assuaged our initial need for one another, I hold his face tenderly and gaze at him. His lips are reddened from kissing. His eyes are irritated, too, so we should probably go back to the village, where he could go indoors (not that the air anywhere is particularly clean right now). But I need another moment with him first.
“Justice,” I say, then turn my head to cough before continuing. “I wanted to tell you that I lo?—”
A rustle sounds nearby, and we spring away from each other, looking around.
Three fae males in human form appear, brandishing swords. It’s clear they’re fae, because their eyes are purple and their bodies glow. Another one, a female, lingers a few paces away. She’s also armed, I see, though her blade isn’t drawn.
“What?” Justice breathes. “What are they doing here?”
The nearest one smirks. I’ve seen him around the castle before. “Keithen,” I say. “What is this?”
“We’ve been sent on a little mission,” he replies. “We’ll just be needing your boyfriend for a bit.”
I haven’t even been able to ask Justice to be my boyfriend yet. “Like Hades you will. Absolutely not.” I pull my sword from its scabbard. I don’t usually wear it, but I’ve been extra cautious lately, given all the Fire Realm activity.
Without hesitation, the three male fae charge me.
“No! Wait!” Justice cries, but the female fae shoves him to the ground and holds her sword to his throat.
“Don’t you fucking hurt him,” I snarl as I try to fend off the rest of the fae. Fighting three at once is not going to go well.
Our swords clang again and again, the force reverberating down my hand and arm. Their blades cut my shoulders and torso—not deadly wounds, but distracting. I’m getting tired, sweat dripping from my face and blood pooling on my shirt.I can’t let them take him from me.
Then I spin to counter one that’s slipped behind me, and he hits me square in the face with his sword.
Firecats. Am I going to lose my vision? Blood pours down my face as my hand involuntarily covers my eye.
I can’t stop fighting. I scream and charge, but one fae trips me and another takes my sword. I go down in the dirt, bloody, sweaty, and defeated.
I try to scramble back to my feet, but they press the tips of their swords to my neck. The female fae has bound Justice up in some magical way, and he appears to be unconscious, his head lolling.
“What are you doing to him?” I yell.
“We’re not going to hurt him. We’re just going to take a bit of his memory,” the female says.
“No! You can’t!”
“Too late,” Keithen says smugly. He whispers something to one of the other fae, who nods. “You should find the letters in the prince’s room. Be quick about it.” Then he turns to the woman. “Let’s take him home and clean him up. Then, when it’s time for him to return to his university, we can dump him in Princedelphia.”
I scream, but something hits my head from behind, and I black out.
