Page 27 of Into The Green

I skidded to a stop outside her door.

The hall was as dark and empty as the last time I remembered it, holding Jade's hand, both of us with knapsacks full of essentials on our backs, hoping never to return again.

I turned the knob and slipped inside, a small sliver of moonlight streaming through a window, giving me a view of the exact same room I had pulled Jade out of half a lifetime before. It was exactly how she had left it, bed unmade, clothes piled beside the hamper, books and gemstones on the nightstand.

But no Jade.

I ran a hand down my face, feeling frustration that was stronger than any I had ever known before. I had been so sure. I hadn't even stopped to consider any other options. I thought it was the only explanation for her absence. Jade and I never stepped foot in The Green after we left. She never would have gone in willingly. It made sense that our parents were involved.

And now I had wasted days on a fool's mission. I had put everyone at risk for nothing.

"Fuck," I growled savagely.

The second the sound was out of my lips, a light flicked on behind me, bright, making my night-accustomed eyes hurt. The horror sank down in my belly immediately, burning like acid. I straightened my shoulders and turned slowly, already knowing who I would find.

There in the corner, sitting in Jade's old pink-cushioned rocking chair, was my father... looking just as cruel and intimidating as I remembered him.

Declan Winters was tall, even taller than me by an inch or two, all legs stretched out in front of him in black pants. Even after the years, he was still fit, lean and strong under his white top. And given that time elapsed differently in The Green than the human realm, he barely showed the missing time between us seeing each other at all. He was a perfect example of what I would look like in a few years. He was all sharp features and a shocking lack of smile lines. To my adult eyes, there were changes. There were fine creases next to his eyes, from squinting or scowling, not from laughing. His light blond hair had the smallest hint of silver at the temples, giving him an even more severe appearance.

"Your mother and I were about to have your face put on milk cartons," his voice cracked, sharp as a whip slicing the air.

"A couple years too late, don't you think?" I asked, keeping my tone calm, trying not to betray any of the tidal waves of dread inside me.

His brow raised condescendingly and I realized that was a gesture I had inherited from him and it made me hate myself a little. "Did you really think you could step foot on this land without my knowing?"

"Some things are worth risking my life for," I snapped, then took a deep breath, trying to keep it in check. "Where is she?"

I watched as a flash of confusion went over my father's face and I was sure she wasn't there. Not in her room, not trapped down in the dungeon. Our parents hadn't seen her since we both ran off.

Fuck.

"You lost your sister?"

Then, in a moment of devastated weakness, I admitted, "I thought you had her."

Then he stood up, unfolding his body like a cat, slow, intimidating, almost making me feel like a child again. It was strange how parents had that ability to make you feel small.

"I don't," he said casually, moving toward the door and snapping his fingers into the hall. And, well, I knew what was coming. I also knew it would be useless to try to fight. "But I will find her. And then the two of you can have a nice little reunion. In the dungeons."

With that threat that was really more of a promise, two hulking guards came charging into the room, each grabbing one of my arms and lifting me off my feet.

And I knew with a soul-deep kind of understanding that my father was never going to let me leave.

--

Cece

I wasn't going to freak out. Granted, the sweat was making my hair stick to the back of my neck and my heart was slamming so hard, I was sure it was going to burst out of my ribcage, but I totally wasn't going to freak out. Not everything in The Green wanted to kill me. Heck, some just wanted to make me a sex slave and steal from me.

No.

Okay. I needed to think of Onyx and the sprites. They were good. They didn't want to hurt me at all. Maybe whatever was chained up in the barn was completely and utterly harmless.

But then, why would it be chained up?

As if on cue, the chains slipped ominously across the floor, giving me flashbacks to every godawful horror movie Corbin The Cheating Bastard made me watch.

The line of metal contorted, twisted, half folded in on itself, then turned. Toward me. Of freaking course. Because I could never catch a freaking break. I scrambled backward until my back hit the wall.