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I tiptoed over to the door, pulling helplessly at the knob but knowing she wouldn’t leave me in here with an easy way out.
Or a way out at all.
A sliver of moonlight hit my eyes when I turned back toward the room. A small window too high for me to reach sat tucked beneath the ceiling.
That damn crow sat behind the bars on the ledge, staring at me. Realization that it had truly been following me slammed into my gut. The bird was part of this world.
Was it her little pet?
Anger rushed me from head to toe.
Why was this happening?
She had been watching me for days before she came for me. I guess that made her smarter than I wanted her to be.
Running my fingers into my hair, panic began to flood my throat. Each breath was harder to catch than the next—
“Oh, little one, don’t fret.”
I turned around and stumbled back over the mattress. The filthy cloth touching my palms made my skin crawl.
She stepped out from the darkness of a corner near the door. “There is no need for all of your childish dramatics.”
Since when was being upset you’d been kidnapped seen as dramatic?
I backed away as she slunk nearer. There was an elegance in her walk that screamed refined, but the way she smiled didn’t match it. It was animalistic. It hid in the corners of her eyes, but when she smiled, it slithered out like a snake. My gaze shifted to the horns curled on top of her head and the headdress she wore to cover them.
“It’s not polite to stare,” she said softly.
Out of fear, I dropped my gaze to the ground, realizing how tall she was when she stopped inches in front of me. “Who knows about other realms? Your mother? Father?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Her pointed chin sharpened when she turned her head to examine me.
“As far as I know, no one will come get me.”
She chuckled. “You’re the apple of your father’s eye, dear. They’ll come for you. Follow me.”
The edge of her robe twirled around her feet as she turned and walked toward the door. It opened with a wave of her hand. The crow grew irate as I slipped through the doorjamb and started up a winding staircase.
The walls were so dark I didn’t dare brush against them. I stumbled slightly on the edge of a step but caught myself against the brick.
She kept at a steady pace, her steps quiet like she walked on air. She took a sharp left, and another heavy door swung open for her.
A chill worked its way down my spine as candlelight brightened our surroundings. She led me through a giant arch and staircase that rivaled any modern-day house I’d ever seen.
The candlelight flickered the further down the hallway we went. The double doors opened and shut once I made it through.
It resembled an office for a witch. A lair? I wasn’t up to date on my other realm lingo.
A huge stained-glass window was open, allowing the moonlight to shine against the floor. Dark clouds moved along the moon shadowing the Dark Woods around us.
They were the darkest I’d ever seen. Ebony. There was a sleekness to them that almost looked inviting like water at midnight.
However, the silence told me to run. There were no animals talking in the distance.
No cicadas singing.
