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Up ahead, the granite walls of the castle appear through the dark trees. I’m almost there. I push my legs to carry me faster, the need to send help to Gareth overcoming even my desire to escape. Up on the battlements, fae warriors wait, their eyes on the woods. All I have to do is get their attention.
I reach up to free the gag from my mouth as I stumble to salvation. Just when I’m almost to the edge of the wall, I whip around, my hands out in front of me, the manacles glowing faintly.
“What the—” They yank me forward, dragging me back the way I came, my feet barely touching the ground as my wrists burn and ache inside the cuffs that pull me back to the Catcher.
“Let go!” I try to wrap a leg around a passing tree, but the shackles give a hard jerk, scraping some skin off my leg as they answer their master’s call.
The clang of swords meets my ears again, the Catcher and Gareth darting through the trees, both of them yelling and grunting as they try to kill each other.
“Use your magic!” I try to yell at Gareth through the gag, but the words go nowhere.
“Can’t. Too dangerous with you so close.”
My eyes widen. Is Gareth in my head? How?
“You’re my m—” He yells so loudly that I try to cover my ears, but of course the manacles aren’t having it. They drag me back to the fire, the doorway still there with the changing scenery.
“I don’t have time for this.” The Catcher limps toward me, his face bloody and his leg missing a chunk. The manacles pull me to him so hard I fear my wrists are broken, and tears obscure my vision as he wraps one arm around my throat.
Gareth approaches, not a scratch on him, his sword at the ready. “Release her.”
“Not really my style.” He squeezes his forearm against my windpipe.
I claw at him as much as the shackles will let me.
“You’re a coward.” Gareth spits and moves closer, every muscle in him taut as anger rolls off him in unrepentant waves.
The Catcher steps backward, pulling me with him, forcing me toward the doorway.
I struggle, fighting to get free. I will not go back. I’ll kill myself if I have to.
Gareth’s gaze flicks to mine, pain blooming in his eyes like blood in water. “Never.”
He doesn’t understand. How could he? He’s a high fae, after all. He’s never been a slave, never been weak.
“Sorry for the brief visit, but we must be going.” The Catcher takes another backward step, the fire roaring behind us.
“Not another move,” Gareth growls.
“Or what?” I can feel the Catcher’s greasy smile. “You’ll kill the changeling to get to me? Go ahead. If you stabbed through her, you’d take me down, too. I hate to lose the bounty on this one, though. Her master has such plans for her. I respect a fae like that, one with creativity and a vicious streak to do it justice.”
Gareth’s face darkens, his eyes deep pools of wrath. “Release her, or I will hunt you down to the ends of Arin and kill you slowly.”
“A fine offer, but I’m sorry. I’m previously engaged.” With a brutal yank, he pulls me with him into the fire. The last thing I see is the anguish in Gareth’s eyes, his hand grasping for me as I’m snatched beyond his reach.
4
Gareth
The portal flickers and begins to close as Beth disappears through it, her terror funneling down the bond. I rush forward, jumping into the flames after her right as the doorway snaps closed behind me.
Then I’m falling, wind whistling past my ears as I blink against the bright sun and try to get my bearings. I glance a wide blue expanse beneath me, and then I hit water hard, the impact like falling onto rock. My body aching, I sink below the cool surface, my soaked fur cloak dragging me to the depths below as my mind reels.
Beth. Her name is a drumbeat in my blood.
I can’t let go, can’t keep sinking. My body wakes from the shock of the water, and I kick toward the surface, toward her. With a rough pull, I rip the cloak from my shoulders. It falls beneath me as I struggle upward through the weight of the water. My lungs burn, but I keep swimming, keep pushing. I can’t give up. Not now that the Ancestors have rewarded me with my mate.
When I break the surface, I take in a huge gulp of air, then another. The bright sun is high above and glitters on the turquoise waters that surround me. The summer realm.
Spinning, I peer across the low waves for any sign of Beth. But there’s nothing. I can’t feel her through the bond, but the link isn’t broken. She’s far away, but alive. Hopefully somewhere on land.
Shielding my eyes, I spin again, slowly this time, and spot solid ground in the distance. Barely. But I don’t recognize it. I must be in the Ocean of Storms, perhaps off the coast of Byrn Varyndr. That’s a stroke of luck. The Catcher would be trying to return Beth to Granthos, a summer realm noble. All I’ll have to do is kill both the Catcher and Granthos, then take Beth back to the winter realm. It’s not reasonable, and definitely not level-headed, but I can’t deny the demand in my veins. I must protect her at all costs.
With a hard stroke, I push across the waves toward the small spit of land that appears as a gray slash in the distance. Swimming isn’t my forte, but I will push myself as hard as I must to get dry land under my feet. From there, I can plan my next move. I only hope Beth is safe.
My teeth grind as I ponder what her former master might do to her. His blood will run. I don’t care if he’s a summer realm noble. I will happily fight a war for my mate.
I shake my head a little, trying to clear the mating haze. But I can’t. That rashness that I chided Leander for is alive inside me now. I understand why he risked everything for Taylor. I would do the same for Beth. And I will.
The sea glitters ahead of me as I power through each wave, land becoming more than just a wisp of color on the horizon. Hours pass, and I keep going, my muscles burning. The shore is within view, the dark green vegetation twining away inland.
I take a break and float on my back for a few minutes, breathing in deeply as my body gets a much-needed respite. When I turn over and begin kicking again, my foot connects with something in the water, but I’m not close enough to shore for it to be sand. A rock?
I whirl and peer behind me, the clear water giving me a decent view. No rock there. Treading water, I turn and search for what it could have been. Something slides past my leg, and I push back. Green scales flicker beneath the waves, and a long tail, the end spiked with bone, whips around in front of me.
My blood goes cold, and I strike out even harder toward shore. A kelpie. Venomous monsters of the sea that look like horses except for the long tails and vicious mouths full of teeth. Beautiful and terrifying, they’ve killed many a fae.
I power toward the shore, each kick a burst of energy as I use my arms to pull me through the water, and I swim faster than I ever have in my life.
But when the kelpie clamps down on my leg and pulls me under, I realize it’s not fast enough.
5
Beth
With a hard shove, the Catcher throws me to the ground and whirls, his sword at the ready. The portal flickers. I hold my breath and wish for Gareth to come through, to kill the Catcher, to take me back. Please. I stare as the doorway fizzles, the last of the alchemy fading in a wisp of smoke as the way back disappears. No Gareth. He didn’t come after me, wouldn’t leave his realm to aid me.
