Every time I moved, they slithered faster. Just as they did now. The crazy Midnight Fae across from me tsked out a warning, suggesting I not irritate the guardian serpents, causing my jaw to clench. Not only wouldn’t he tell me his name, but he also refused to explain why he’d bitten me.
I shuddered, the sensation of his fangs in my neck still very tangible and real. He’d left behind some sort of inky bond that I could feel more than see.
I smacked at it again, then flinched as the wall hissed louder in response.
“What are they?” I demanded.
“Magicked vines,” my captor drawled. “Protects the royal grounds from intruders. Which, if I’m understanding their writhing correctly, they believe you’re a threat. So I would stay put, princess, or they might just bite.”
“Like you?” I snapped.
His lips curled. “Hmm, no, my bite inspires pleasure.” His icy blue eyes glanced at the snake closest to my head. “Their bite, not so much.”
I opened my mouth to offer a retort, when the ebony doors at the end of the hall swung open and a dark-haired male dressed in long, flowing robes stomped toward us. “What is the meaning of this, Shadow?”
Shadow? I eyed my companion. Really?
I supposed he did have a penchant for disappearing into thick clouds of smoke.
“What would you like me to say?” Shadow asked, his arms sprawled out across the back of the couch in the epitome of lazy nonchalance. “The Earth Fae Royal and I got a little carried away, my fangs slipped, and wouldn’t you know? Her blood reacted to my bite.”
My lips parted at his horrible recollection of what happened. “Carried away? Fangs slipped?” I repeated, jumping to my feet, only to be snatched back by the vines slithering across the wall.
I screamed, the smoke around my wrists tightening as a snake wrapped itself around my neck and squeezed to silence the sound.
The newcomer sighed and produced a wand. “Release,” he hissed, waving the violet stick through the air.
A sizzle of energy kissed my skin, the darkness of it in direct contrast to my earth essence inside. I shivered, the wrongness leaving me unnerved even as the snakes and my smoky bonds disappeared.
My knees buckled on instinct, sending me crashing into something hard and masculine.
Shadow.
His chest met my nose, his arms wrapping around me as he caught me before I could hit the ground.
I nearly growled, but my modesty took precedence first.
After fixing my blouse and skirt, I shoved him away. “Don’t touch me.”
“That’s not what you said an hour ago, princess.”
A growl unlike any I’d ever released before burst from my mouth as I launched myself at him, desiring to do the utmost damage. Only, he caught me up in his arms again, chuckling the entire time.
“See what I mean, Father? She’s a wildcat who can’t keep her hands off me.”
Father?
I shook my head. Who cares? “I’m going to kill you!”
“Try” was Shadow’s arrogant reply.
Gah! I wanted to scream, to call on a tree to pound this dick into the ground, but my powers refused me here, my access to the source cut off through some means of dark magic. Otherwise, I would have used to it escape as soon as we arrived.
“You bit her,” Shadow’s father said.
A genius, he clearly was, because I still had the marks on my neck from the attack. And if I had my arms free, I’d have pointed to it for reference, just in case he needed to see it up close. But Shadow had me locked up against him, my breasts smashed to his chest as he held me captive in his far-too-muscular hold.
Shadow smiled down at me. “As I said, one thing led to another and—”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” his father demanded, cutting off his jackass of a son.
“Well, I thought it’d just be a taste, but yeah, I’m pretty aware of the mate-bond snapping into place. Why else would I have voluntarily stepped into this dreadful place if not to report the mistake?”
Mate-bond? “What mate-bond?” I wrestled in his arms once more, but he held me with the ease of a much stronger fae.
This was why I needed to take more physical defense classes. I’d grown used to relying on my element, which apparently didn’t work in this dark realm.
“Our mate-bond,” Shadow murmured. “We’re connected now, princess. Forever.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“It’s what you are, right? An Earth Fae Princess?” He cocked his head to the side. “Or are you a queen as the only Earth Fae heir?”
“Enough,” his father inserted, his cloak billowing around him with power. Blue eyes—the same color as his son’s—narrowed at Shadow. “You realize you could be excommunicated for this.”
Shadow shrugged. “Saves me from another year at the Academy.”
A low, angry sound rumbled from his father’s chest. “And what about the girl? Interspecies mating is illegal. They might demand her death, or worse, your death.”
Wait, how’s his death worse than mine? “I don’t even want to be here,” I said, furious. “And you can’t kill me. I’m the sole heir to earth. If I die, the element dies with me.” Not exactly true. Someone, maybe Sol, would probably take over my access to the source. But hopefully, they didn’t know that.
His father didn’t even look at me, his smoldering gaze on his son. “Take her to the dungeon and lock yourselves inside. You know the way. I’ll come for you if and when the Council needs a comment.”
“Excuse me, but I’d like to give a comment right now,” I demanded. “Your son bit me against my will, then kidnapped me and brought me into this realm. I shouldn’t be here. Nor can you keep me here. The Elemental Fae Council will not stand for this.”
Well, they might.
Being bitten by a Midnight Fae definitely broke several of the interspecies laws governing fae relations. But it was against my will. Queen Claire would side with me. She knew me well enough to know I would never do something like this.
“I’m the sole Earth Fae heir,” I added. “My people rely on my connection to the source to thrive. Every moment you keep me here is—”
“Enough,” Shadow’s father bit out, his expression resembling stone. “The Midnight Fae Council operates very differently from your own. If you have something of importance to say, your intended will deliver the information on your behalf, as females are not permitted within the Council Chamber.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline. What kind of backward-thinking realm had I been swept off to? Nope, better question… “Who the hell is my intended?”
Shadow chuckled. “Me, darling.”
“What?” I sputtered. “He assaulted me and you want to let him speak on my behalf?” Un-freakin’-believable. “This is utter wallopberries.”
“Utter what?” Shadow asked.
“Let go of me,” I replied instead. He didn’t deserve an answer to that query or any other.
“Can’t do that, princess. I’ve been ordered to take you downstairs. Council rules.” He gave an unapologetic shrug that had me itching to punch him.
“Now, Shadow,” his father said, the command in his tone sending a shiver down my spine.