Yep. A total fail. “Only tears. Because I’m about to starve to death.”
The muscle in his jaw tightened. He then looked at Callum. “Have the cooks prepare something for him.”
“Yes, sir.” Callum bowed his head and left the room.
Holy crap. Maybe not a failure after all. Being cute had worked. I did my best to hide my smile.
“A guard will be stationed outside your door,” Maddox then said to me. “If you try to escape, it will be your head.”
“Is this how you treat all guests of the kingdom?”
“No guest of the kingdom ever journeys that close to the dark wood,” he countered. “For all I know, you could’ve come from one of the warring lands with the intent to bring ruin to our people. Until I’m convinced otherwise, you will go nowhere or do anything without my knowing.”
“I want to speak to the person in charge,” I said, finally losing my patience. I cringed at my wording. I sounded like a Karen demanding to speak to the manager. But I’d had enough of this shit.
“The person in charge?” Maddox stepped forward, his gaze so intense it gave me shivers. “You’re staring at him, boy.”
He then left the room, closing the door on his way out.
Blowing out a breath, I shifted to the edge of the bed and stood up. The room was small and kind of cramped, but a decent-sized window let in a nice flood of light. Still sunny. So I hadn’t been out for long.
Tap, tap, tap.
I glanced at the window. “Um. Someone there?” The branches on the other side swayed before a hand rose up and pushed up the window pane. I was about to scream before I recognized the head of blond hair. “Lupin?”
He smirked and rested his arm on the sill. “Fancy meeting you again. Have any exciting adventures yet?”
Understanding then slammed into me like a Mack truck. All of this happened right after speaking with him at the mystics shop—a shop I’d almost been convinced I’d dreamed. He’d spoken of wishes and magic. Somehow, this was his fault.That tricky son of a bitch.
“You did this to me! Why? How?”
“I did nothing of the sort,” Lupin said, expression softening into more of a smile. “All of this is because of you.”
“Oh, believe me, I know it’s because of me. Me and my curiosity. It led me to a madman. Did you follow me from the festival last night?” I tried to stay calm but failed. Waking up in a strange place with grumpy knights and cat boys would put anyone on edge. “You waited until I fell asleep and then Evan-napped me.”
He rolled his eyes. “I did not kidnap you, nor did I follow you. I had no need for it. You’re the one who made this possible.” Something sparked in his eyes. “Tell me, Evan. Is this world like the one you’ve seen in your dreams?”
The top of my scalp prickled. “You heard my wish.”
“The stone heard your wish. It was spoken from the heart. In that instant, you opened yourself up to the magic. And here you are now.”
“Well, I take it back!” I said in a harsh whisper. “This whole place is fucking weird. I want to go home.”
“No can do. Once a wish is granted, it cannot be undone.”
“Undo it anyway.”
He clicked his tongue. “You’ve only just arrived. Why not give it a chance? You may be surprised by how much you come to enjoy being here.”
“Oh yeah. Totally a fun time.” I motioned around me. “I’m having a blast being a damn prisoner.”
“You’re not a prisoner. The knight captain will realize you’re not a threat soon enough, and you’ll be allowed to leave and explore to your heart’s content.”
“Where is this exactly?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of Bremloc.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t have heard of it. Because it doesn’t exist in the world you know.”
“What does that mean?”
