What in the pixie dust have I gotten myself into?
Shadow lifted me off the ground as if I weighed nothing at all—which, compared to him, I probably did. He had at least a foot on me, the bastard.
“Put me down.”
“And you questioned my nickname,” he muttered in reply. “Issuing demands left and right just like a goddamn princess.”
“Because you insist on manhandling me,” I snapped, wishing more than ever that I could access my gifts. I’d wrap a vine of my own around his neck and see what he thought of it. Then I’d take a tree root and smash his skull.
The beautiful image behind my eyes dispersed as he kicked open an iron door and began descending the steps.
Every part of me iced over at the very real threat of going underground.
“Shadow,” I whispered. “Please.”
He frowned at me. “Please what? It’s not like I’m going to hurt you. Yet, anyway.” He shook his head. “Seriously, I expected a little more fire, princess. Instead, you’re as weak as a youngling.”
My jaw clenched even as my heart began to pound.
Each step brought us deeper underground. My lungs began to seize from my inability to pull in a breath.
Elemental Fae didn’t belong here.
Elemental Fae required sunshine.
Elemental Fae died underground.
It took weeks, sometimes months, but just the very threat of being taken somewhere so dark and murky had panic freezing every limb.
Shadow said something, but I couldn’t hear him over the harsh beating in my ears.
My back hit a soft cushion that I barely felt.
Stone and vines and unspeakable things danced through my vision. A dark cloud. New voices.
Fight, some part of me urged. This is all in your mind.
Yeah, pretty sure the gargoyle statue glowering down at me was pretty damn real.
Oh, I’d read about those. They shot lasers from their eyes. Good. Fun. Why was one in my cell?
Shadow appeared to be talking to it.
Right, because they were likely old friends.
Except they seemed to be arguing.
Maybe I’d get to watch the stone creature flay my “intended” alive. Mmm, I’d enjoy that very much. Warmth began to stir inside me at the thought, my initial terror subsiding beneath a much more violent wave.
As long as he didn’t keep me down here for long, I’d be fine.
Which meant I needed to pull myself together and find a way out. Not an easy feat considering he’d locked the door.
What kind of idiot willingly puts himself in a dungeon?
“A smart one,” Shadow replied.
My brow furrowed. “Did I ask that out loud?”
“No, but you practically shouted it at me.” He winced and collapsed onto a pile of pillows on the obsidian floor.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
He tapped his head. “Use your mind, princess.”
Yeah, because you’re so great at using yours, I thought sourly.
He snorted as if he heard that.
Then I realized what he meant.
“Ohhhhh, no. You are so not in my head.” I’d have a colossal headache otherwise.
“No, I’m in your blood, Princess Flower,” he replied, sounding exasperated. “Seriously, do you not study the mating of other cultures where you’re from? Because I had to take an entire semester on your weak kind last year, and while it’s proving to be useful now, it bored me near to death.”
“We are not weak,” I countered. “And for your information, yes, I took one class on fae politics. You want to talk about boring, that course takes the lily cookie.”
“Lily cookie?” he repeated, arching a brow. “What the fuck is a lily cookie?”
“I thought you studied my kind, Shadow. Perhaps you missed that chapter in your book.”
He snorted. “Whatever.” He stretched out his long legs, crossing them at the ankles as he relaxed further into his makeshift bed. “We’re going to be here a while, princess. Best get some rest before the Council delivers their verdict.”
Sleep. Yeah, that was going to happen.
Even with him giving me the bed—a gesture I refused to evaluate—I would never be able to sleep down here. Not with him lurking so close. Or that stone gargoyle hanging out in the corner.
I met the creature’s red eyes and flinched.
As a product of the earth, I should be able to command him.
But the source refused my call just as it had since I arrived in this hell.
“What if I have to use the restroom?” I asked, looking for a way to leave this cell.
Shadow pointed at a bucket in the corner. “Enjoy.”
I gasped. “That’s unacceptable.”
“What’s unacceptable is you still talking. I said it’s time to sleep.”
“Yeah, because I take orders from you. Oh, wait…” I rolled my eyes and stood up, pacing across the rocks in my heels.
Why had I dressed up for Glacier, again? Because I wanted to impress him. And he stood me up.
Which meant he wouldn’t be looking for me later, and when he tried to call to apologize, he’d just assume I was ignoring him.
Pixie sticks.
Maybe Sol would feel my missing energy.
Yes. Yes, he would. He’d alert his mate, Claire, and they’d search for me. But would they know to look here?
I blew a raspberry with my lips.
“Wow, do not make that sound again,” Shadow said, giving a theatric shudder. “Talk about an irritating noise.”
“Similar to your voice,” I replied sweetly. “Maybe we are intended to be together.”
He smirked. “You have no idea, baby.”
“Seriously, cut it out with the nicknames.”
He blew me a kiss. “You love it, princess.”
That’s it. I took advantage of his prone position, jumping on him and straddling him, and sent my fist directly into his too-perfect nose.
A sensation of victory warmed my veins at the sight of his blood, only to have it washed out of me by a cold wave as I suddenly found myself beneath him on the floor.
“Not a smart move, darling,” he murmured, my wrists locked over my head beneath one of his hands.
How the heck did he do that?
“Magic,” he breathed, replying yet again to the thought in my head.
“Stop that.”
“Make me,” he countered, dropping his head to my neck.
“Shadow.”
“Aflora.” His hips settled into mine, his lips caressing the bite mark on my skin.
“What are you doing?”
“Enjoying myself,” he said softly, his tongue tracing my throat. “You remind me of the sun. Warm, yet brutal.”
I squirmed beneath him, which only caused him to lie more heavily upon me. “Don’t you dare bite me again, Shadow.”
“Mmm, but it was so fun the first time.” His incisors skimmed my pulse. “And you moaned so beautifully.”
“Because you enchanted me!”
“Only partly,” he replied, not sounding the least bit contrite and far too intrigued. “I didn’t expect to enjoy it,” he added in a whisper. “But I did.”
“Shadow,” I warned.
He sighed. “Relax, pet.”
“How can I relax with you on top of me?”