“Boy,” the deeper voice said before something nudged my leg. Also, familiar. “I know you’re awake.”
I cracked open my eyelids, relieved to find the lighting in the room bearable. Not too bright, but enough to see the two men standing beside my bed. One with that cinnamon roll face and the other who looked like he wanted to murder me.
“Captain Ice,” I said in a scratchy voice. “We meet again.” Everything then flooded back to me. The magic. The fuzzy ears. I shot upward.
“Not so fast.” Maddox grabbed my shoulders and held me in place. “You’re not moving from that spot until I get some answers.”
“Yeah, I’d like some too,” I told him. “Like what the hell is this place?”
Callum tilted his head to the side. “He keeps asking that question. We’ve told him which kingdom he’s in many times.”
“Is this like anAlice in Wonderlandsituation?” I asked. “Have I fallen down a rabbit hole and entered some kind of nether world? Hell, maybe I’ve gone mad like the Hatter, and this is all happening inside my head. Oh god. Is Kuya the Cheshire cat?” I focused on Maddox. “I’m not sure who you’d be. Someone who’s grumpy.”
Mr. Grumpy’s lips twitched. “I take it you aren’t truly Lord of the Muffins, though the title is certainly an interesting one. So, who are you, and where did you come from? You didn’t just appear in that field beside the forest.”
Actually, me appearing there wasn’t t too far-fetched, considering the things I’d recently seen. “I can’t remember, okay? Someone must’ve taken me while I was asleep and dumped me there.”
Maddox clenched his jaw. “Stop with the lies. Your innocent act fools no one. Are you one of Onyx’s scouts?”
“Who’s Onyx?”
“Briar didn’t sense dark energy from him,” Callum said. The two ignored my question. “Onyx only associates with demons and beasts. Evan is human.”
“Of course I’m human! What else would I be?”
Maddox sneered at me.
Callum turned to him. “His confusion seems sincere, Captain. I really don’t think he has any idea where he is.”
Maddox rubbed at his jaw. “Perhaps his memory was erased. Though, that doesn’t explain his outlandish way of dress.”
“Look, I’m not going to take fashion advice from a dude who looks like he just stepped off the set toGame of Thrones. My clothes are comfortable.”
The captain’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest. He must’ve been awesome at poker.
“Um.” I wiggled my feet before sticking one out from the blanket. “Where are my shoes?”
“I was curious,” Callum said, dropping his gaze to the floorboards. “I’d never seen craftsmanship such as that.”
“You stole my shoes? Wow. Some honorable knight you are.”
“Stole? No, not at all.” He shook his head. “I only… well… I wanted to see how they’d feel.” Maddox glanced at Callum’s feet. I did too. Sure enough, there were my missing shoes. The cinnamon roll of a knight smiled. “They are incredibly comfortable.”
“Please remove them at once.” Maddox pinched the bridge of his nose.
Callum’s mouth downturned into a little pout. “Very well.”
“Wait,” I said. That pout of his was deadly. “You can borrow them. Just don’t put a hole in them, okay? They’re my best pair of Vans. Cost me like ninety bucks. The skull design was for a limited time only.”
In an instant, that beaming smile was aimed at me. “Thank you, Evan. I shall guard them with my life.”
“Well, you don’t need to go to that extreme. They’re awesome but not worth dying over.” My stomach rumbled, reminding me I still hadn’t eaten. “I’m hungry.”
Maddox’s eyes narrowed. “Your stomach can wait until I’m finished with my questioning.”
“I’ve told you everything I know.” Which wasn’t much, but still. “Feed me.” Then, because that murderous gleam in his eyes deepened, I added, “Please, sir knight, don’t let me starve.” I blinked a few times, trying to flutter my eyelashes. If I was in a dating game, Maddox’s intimacy meter would be at, like, negative one hundred. Worse than that, I was fairly sure my attempt at being cute missed the mark. Epically.
“Do you have something in your eye?” he asked.
