Arenn’s smile faded to something much darker. “Do not speak that name,” he snarled.
“I’m sorry.” I raised my palms in surrender. Escape was mere steps away, but before I could reach it, Arenn was uponme again.
“Every day we are apart is torture for me,” he growled, grasping my shoulders. “And yet you waltzed into my dream perfectly composed. As if you haven’t spent months pining for someone who isn’t yours. As if you haven’t spent every waking moment consumed by thoughts of someone who is locked in the arms of another.” His grip on my shoulders became so tight it hurt. “And then finally you come for me,” his voice wavered, “and you dare speakhisname.”
“I’m sorry,” I sputtered. “I—”
“Perhaps I have been too gentle with you.” His grip loosened as his lips drew closer, his breath warm on my cheek. “I suggest you run, dear princess.”
My stomach dipped. “What?”
“Do not look so afraid,” he chuckled. “Since I’m a gentleman, I’ll give you a head start.”
“What are you talking about—”
“Three…” He grinned, drawing back. “Two… One—”
My legs sprang into action. Yelping, I darted below the gap in the hedgerow as his rumbling laughter filled the garden. Walls of thorns and leaves rushed past me. When I found another gap, I ran through, only to find myself in an identical winding tunnel. My chest heaved, and I turned back, sprinting in a different direction. But no matter how many turns I took, I’d end up stumbling into another thorny tunnel while the prince’s laughter nipped at my heels.
His dream had become a maze. And I was being chased by a nightmare.
“Don’t let me catch you, Princess,” he taunted.
“Stop this, please!” My chest heaved. Sprinting downanother corridor, I tugged at my hair and shook my head frantically. “Wake up! Wake up! It’s just a dream.”
His laughter grew louder. Closer. “A dream where I can touch you?”
I yelped as a pale hand shot out from the leaves beside me, grabbing a handful of my skirt and tearing it from my skin.
“Leave me alone!” I screamed. The rose-coloured gown I’d worn to the tavern now had a long slit running down from my hip. It fluttered as I leapt through another thorny archway.
“Tell me you love me,” Arenn’s voice weaved through the walls. “Tell me you love me and this will all disappear.”
My feet carried me down an endless tunnel as any gaps in the hedgerows were sealed off by winding vines. There was no escape. No matter where I looked, all I could see were leaves and thorns. Even the night sky had been stolen from me, hidden by a low ceiling of dense branches.
I darted to the side to avoid a branch that jutted out from the hedgerow, only to be yanked back when my skirt caught on the thorns. I yelped. Darkness clouded my vision. Steadying myself, I glanced down to see a single thorn had sliced a line across my thigh.
Stifling a cry, I gently pried the branch from my skin. But then I noticed something strange. The darkness clouding my vision and making the world rock beneath my feet had lightened. The moment the pain stopped, everything was clear again.
That means…
“Let me help you, Naria.”
My head whipped up. Prince Arenn stood just metres away, holding his hands out as some kind of peace offering.
“Just tell me you love me,” he said again, but this time he was almost pleading. “I won’t ever scare you again.” He stepped forward. “Won’t let anyone else scare you either.” My throat tightened as he lowered himself to my eye-level. “Your heart will beat only for me, sweet human. Forever mine to protect.”
“I don’t need your protection,” I snarled. Blood trickled down my thigh, but I held myself steady. If I wanted this to work, I had to be brave. I had to ignore the overwhelming panic that was already turning my fingers numb. “You are to leave me alone and never speak to me again. I will never love you.”
The faery’s jaw tensed as he rose to his full height. “This maze belongs to my dream. And because you have wandered intomymind, I can make this torture last forever. I can fill it with every monster you’ve ever feared, and they will all hunt you down until you finally submit to me.” His fiery gaze turned venomous. “You won’t be able to run forever.”
Swallowing, I brought my hand up to the thorny wall. “I won’t have to.”
A short moment passed between us. Confusion tugged at his brow while my heart raced. And then, with my fists clenched, I forced my hand through the prickly branches.
Searing pain shot down my arm. Arenn gasped and leapt for me. But he’d barely made it a few inches before the world faded away and my screams were drowned in darkness.
Gasping, my face slammed into a wall of warmth.
