My mind wandered to Bane, that tiny spark inside of me pulsing at the thought of him.
I wanted to wake up in his arms, but I knew time was of the essence, and he looked so damn peaceful lying there, those dark eyelashes standing out against his silvery skin in the candlelight.
The way his chest rose and fell with steady breath, how his tattoos glowed like embers beneath their cracks.
So, I’d done the only thing I could think to do. I left him a letter.
I’d always been better at writing my feelings, rather than speaking them, and I found the words poured out of me with ease as I told him what he needed to know.
What he deserved to know.
I hoped it would be enough, that it would ease his heart to know that I wished I could have taken him with me, but that it washimwho gave me to courage to chase my dreams.
I will come back for you, Bane Locke. I promise.
The carriage shook, knocking us around again, and the queen—my mother—tensed.
“Is everything okay, is that... normal?” I asked.
My mother wrapped her arms around me tightly, her magic pouring into me, soothing me like a lullaby.
But beneath her magic, I could feel something else.
Fear.
It all happened rather quickly after that. The doors to the carriage flew open, and rough hands grabbed at the both of us. My mother called up her magic, aiming large balls of energy at her assailants, but they were far too organized and prepared.
The tall, dark beings with beady green eyes and straight, razor-sharp teeth looked like some cross between a literal faerie and a demon, with animalistic features that were nightmarish at best.
They slapped some sort ofcuffon us, though they weren’t handcuffs. I tried to call my magic, tried as hard as I could, but it only festered beneath the surface, trapped.
Inhibited.
Panic surged through me as I realized for the second time in my life, my magic was being taken away from me.
The large dark faerie shoved us both out of the carriage, into the darkness of the forest. I could feel the ley lines beneath me, reaching out for my magic, something warm and familiar on the edge, just out of reach.
The trees were not as I remembered them, but I was well aware we were indeed in the very same forest that had awakened me.
The same forest where Bane rescued me... from the vines that sought to trap me...
I was forced to move quickly, but even in my steps, I could feel the earth move beneath my feet as if it too, were searching for me, as if it remembered what it had lost.
“You will not get away with this,” the queen said, her voice cold and stern.
“That’s what you thought last time,” the dark faerie who held her arm said.
“The ceremony has already begun...” she nipped.
The Ardaím. The ascent, where my power, my heritage, my truth will be confirmed by my ancestors.
“That’s what we’re counting on,Your Majesty,” he sneered as he took her off to the left.
“Wait!” she yelled as she fought his grasp, reaching for me.
“Whatever you do, just let her go,” she cried. “Let her go.”
The man who held me tightened his grip, and I caught his gaze. His bright green eyes registered a flash of indecision, of fear.
