Page 22 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

“You are a healer?” This close, his voice vibrates over my skin.

I press my hands to my legs to hide how they shake.

I lick my dry lips. “I-I am.”

His eyes flick down to my mouth. The smoke pulses. “What is your name?”

Don’t tell him.

Names have power. And yet if I don’t, who’s to say he won’t take out his anger on the nearest neighbor and threaten them until I reveal my name?

“Elara.” I gulp. “Elara Stonebloom.”

A tiny crease forms between his dark brows. With predatory precision, his chin jerks to the side. “Very well, then. The deal is struck.”

A burning sensation encircles the base of my neck like a scalding necklace. A cry flies from my throat. I hunch forward, clutching my neck as the burn grows, burrowing into my flesh.

“Elara!” Lev shouts.

Other screeches of protest and outrage rise around me. I barely hear them. The sickly scent of burnt flesh stings my nostrils. I squeeze my eyes together. Tears fall.

Then, as quickly as the pain began, it’s over. The tendrils that are still wrapped around my arms pull me, dragging me upright when I want nothing more than to fall to the ground.

Through bleary eyes, I stare at the Fae. His lips press into a tight line. His eyes dip down to my throat, then back to mine. The muscle in his jaw tics.

The pale Fae steps forward, his cold voice dripping with approval. “Good. Now, come.”

He spins on his heel, his cloak flaring out, then stomps through the meeting hall. My neighbors stumble over themselves to hurry out of his path. The other two Fae follow, leaving the unconscious human rebel lying at the base of the stage.

Magic tickles my fingers. I reach out to check his pulse before the dark power wrapped around my arms draws me after the Fae.

The room tilts, edges blurring.

“Wait!” I cry out. “Wait!”

They ignore me.

I drop my weight, hoping it will slow the magic down. I’m a fool. It doesn't so much as pause.

I jerk my head from side to side. I pull my arms to my chest. I fight and flail like trapped prey, desperate to escape the jaws of my captor, to escape my fate. A fate I don’t even know the details of.

Just before we reach the double doors. General Ironheart steps into our path, his hand still gripping his sword.

“Where are you taking her?” Ironheart asks.

My gaze darts left and right, searching for Lev, but he’s not in sight.

Shadows wrap around the general’s legs. “What did I say about asking questions?”

The shadows throw the general across the room. Screams pierce the air as his body slams into the wall with a heart-stopping thump before he slides down the wall and lands in a boneless heap.

The Fae continue walking. I’m pulled after them, staring wide-eyed at the immobile general, praying to the Gods he’s alive.

The streets are eerily quiet. Most of the town is in the hall. Those who aren’t are hiding in their homes.

A breeze cuts through the market. Each of the Fae’s cloaks billows out behind them.

Trembles wrack my entire body the farther away from the meeting hall we go. I fall, the uneven ground scraping my knees and palms.