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Chapter 12
Ann
By the timemy eyes adjust to the darkness of this place, I’ve been clawed and scratched by those same kinds of monkeys Dusk fought in the woods as they drag me, I don’t even know where. Sounds--cries, squeals, screams, and screeches--assault me so that I want to cover my ears, but I don’t want to show fear because this is the kind of place that probably feeds off of fear.
A place of nightmares...
The monkeys move away from me, a little bit, but I’m still in a circle of them. A sea of glowing red eyes in a world that shouldn’t be able to exist. When I look up at the sky in terror, I see nothing. No sun. No moon. No clouds. It’s as if a blanket has been cast over this world. A blanket of grey, as if some small light source exists, somewhere in the sky. Enough to make out the things around me.
But not enough to allow any kind of life to survive.
I wrap my arms around my knees, pulling them closer to my chest as some of the monkeys race around me. Some small part of me wants to understand where I am, and if there’s any way out. But the little bit of the world I can see outside of the monkeys doesn’t give me hope.
In fact, it terrifies me.
It’s a replica of the world I live in, but without any sort of nurturing or life. It’s like a twisted version of the forest I’ve been yanked from, but where my world has trees and lush moss, waving grasses, this is a wasteland of death, brown and burned. Everything here is dead. And it looks as though, as I’m propelled forward, that I am about to join those ranks.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
I try to stand, and a monkey knocks me onto my back on the ground. Their screeching grows louder, and they slash at me as I try to curl back around myself. It seems they aren’t ready to attack yet, unless I try to stand or escape.
Noted.
But then, how in the hell am I going to get free?I can use my touch on them. But will it work here? On this many of them?My gaze darts around me as movement stirs behind the blackened charred forest of leafless trees, and the huge boulders that seem to litter the ground. The ground itself begins to vibrate beneath me, and “what the hell?” explodes from my lips.
My arrival seems to have summoned all the creatures in the area to come to this place. On one side, there’s a tribe of monkeys with glowing red eyes and fur the color of coal lined as far as I can see in the small clearing in the woods around me, and a half a dozen trolls, large and ugly, leering and drooling, on the other side. Where the two groups meet, there is a slim void and through there I see him--the Shadow King.
Because that’s the only person it could be. I feel it to mycore.
As if he knows I’m looking at him, he drops his chin, turns his head, and smiles.Smirksmight be a more accurate description, but I’m willing to wait until he speaks to decide. Unlike the shadow beasts, his dark hair is trimmed, and his green eyes are small and sunken deep into a thin face. He wears black leather that encases him like a king, rather than a warrior, but whispers he can still kick ass if needed. His gaze clings to mine, and he holds up his hand and slides it to the left before he turns to look at me, then drops his hand in a quick motion.
Suddenly, the sound stops.Allsound stops. And had birds been able to survive here, I could’ve heard one shedding a feather.
This isn’t good. None of this is good.
I try to recall everything I’ve learned up until this point from the shadow beasts, and all I seem to remember is that this man is bad. That he’s their enemy. And somehow, he’s tied to this plan to destroy my world.
So, definitely not a good guy. Not at all.
But what does he want with me?
“You are as luscious as my watcher said.” He slaps one of the trolls on the back, gives him a shoulder squeeze, and makes it look like one smooth move as he makes his way toward me. “I think I’m going to enjoy being married to you almost as much as I’m going to enjoy us taking over your world.”
Married. Mated. Bonded. There’s a disturbing trend happening in my day.
“Married?” The word slips from my lips, but it’s barely louder than a whisper.
The Shadow King wants me to marry him. Maybe I should be flattered. He’s a king. Who doesn’t want to be queen? But the answer comes easily. Me. Especially a queen to a Shadow King whose minions look like something out of a twisted version of a child’s cartoon.
Oh yeah, and a psycho who wants to destroy my world.
And like he can read my mind, the king wags an eyebrow. There’s something about him… he’s almost handsome in a wicked sort of way. Familiar, too, but I can’t place why. Maybe it’s because dark hair and green eyes is a rare combination, but it feels like more than that.
Another question without an answer.
When he gets about ten feet from me, the monkeys part in his wake, and he stops walking. He eyes me up and down as he purses his lips like he’s about to blow me a kiss. “Oh, yes. I do so look forward to the wedding night.” Something about his cadence too. It’s like he’s jovial and dangerous all at once. The combination is both strange and unsettling. But like someone has tapped his shoulder, he turns to his side. There’s no one there, but he frowns, tilts his head for a second, then smiles at me. “So, what do you say, my future queen? What do you say to the man who is going to give you everything?” His gaze appraises. His tongue slides along his lip. “And give you a wedding night to remember.”
What is this guy? Some kind of gross villain from a cheesy play? Wedding night? No, sir.
