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I’m coming for you, mate. There is no power in Avalar that could keep me from you.When I return, our story will truly begin.
Chapter Three
Asha
I shiver in my straitjacket. The asylum feels especially cold tonight, but it’s not the turn of the season that floods the ancient castle with a sense of dread, icy rage, and a death-like chill.It’s the Chaos Queen, Maeve.Locked deep within the bowels of what was once her own home, she lies in a stone crypt. Alone and trapped within a vessel meant for the corpses of the dead.
Does she sleep? Does she dream? Has she been aware and awake all this time?A shudder runs through me, and I lick my lips. There will be hell to pay when she is free. A familiar feeling caresses the edges of my consciousness—dark and gentle. It’s something I’ve experienced just a handful of times here in the asylum, usually during my darkest hours when I’ve yearned to give in to the embrace of death. It’s Maeve, our queen. She’s reaching out, straining against her bonds to lend me her strength. A small smile creeps to my chapped lips, and an unexplainable sense of peace washes over me.I will free you, Sister, I promise. Somehow. Someway. I will. I swear it!
“He comes.”
The words echo in my mind as if through an immense, vaulted cathedral, resonating in my very soul. Maeve has never spoken to me before, never responded in any way beyond her magical touch. The thrill of direct contact with her sets my heart racing, renewing and refueling the ever-dwindling but stubborn candle of hope I cradle and nurture safely within.
Why now? What’s changed? And who is He?Stomach fluttering, I follow a strange tugging sensation in my chest to the barred window of my room. My gaze pierces the night, searching the shadows. For what? Him? And then I see him. Black eyes regard me, glinting in the shadows like onyx jewels beneath themoonlight.
My breath catches in my throat, and every nerve in my body thrums with a delicious, tangible warmth. A moment later, a frightening surge of power blasts through me. Before I can gain my bearings, I realize I’m airborne—and no longer in my room. I scream as I plummet through the night, arms bound, nightgown a-flurry. My long, lank, snow-white hair streams past my face, mercifully obscuring my vision.
I squeeze my eyes shut tight, expecting the crushing impact of the earth any second. But death never comes. Pain fails to blossom. I feel nothing but warmth. Breathless, I dare to open my eyes. Deep, glittering black jewels stare down on me, safe and welcoming.Those eyes. It’s him, I realize. “It’s you,” I whisper.
“I’ve got you,” he says.
Cradled in his incredibly defined and muscular arms, pressed against his bare chest, I tremble. “You saved me. Why? Who are you?”
“There will be time for answers, but it isn’t now.” He eases me to the ground, and my bare feet touch the damp earth. Then, in a shocking display of strength, my rescuer rips the straitjacket from me, tearing it asunder as if it were no more than tissue paper, freeing me in a heartbeat.
“Thank you,” I gasp.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”
“Why would I be afraid?” I ask.
The dark-eyed stranger smiles in the gloom. “Just get on my back and hold on. You can trust me.”
I peer at the nude man and swallow hard as my gaze drifts down his bronzed chest, to his rippling middle, before stopping abruptly at the long, thick appendage that hangs at half-mast between his muscular thighs.Sweet Chaos.
“Ready?”
“For what?” I ask.
“The ride of your life.” He smirks.
In a swirl of dark magic, my rescuer vanishes, and in his place stands a great black bear, towering above me on its hind legs. My hands fly to my mouth as it—ashe—drops to all fours and watches me with that spine-tinglingly familiar onyx gaze.
“You’re a shifter.” I reel. I’ve never met a shifter of any kind before. Our races usually steer well clear of one another, preferring our own company over the antics of beasts. With a final glance back at the asylum, I approach the bear, my mind made up.It’s freedom, and whatever this is, or a cage…
Grabbing fistfuls of his glossy black fur, I hoist myself up, throwing a leg over as I do. I hold on fast and instinctively lower myself, gripping him with my thighs. “I’m ready when you are,” I say with a lot more courage than I feel.
The bear shifter retreats into the shadows of the forest, gently at first before gaining speed. His great haunches flex under me, every muscle working together in perfect unison to climb the mountainside. It takes perhaps a few hours before the asylum is entirely engulfed by the darkness of the valley below and we’re far enough away that my rescuer feels it safe to stop and rest.
The small clearing is dappled in filtered moonlight as I slide from the bear’s back and set my feet on firm ground once more. I find the nearest log and sink to my backside, my head lost to a whirling hurricane of confusing thoughts and conflicting emotions. The bear shifts and comes to squat before me. His dark eyes search mine.
“Are you all right?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I have no idea who you are, and I think I was just magically thrown through the wall of a solid obsidian castle from four stories up!”
“Take a deep breath,” the shifter instructs. “First things,first. Yes, it appears the Chaos Queen assisted you in your escape. Her method, while surprising, was undeniably effective.”
“You weren’t the one doing the falling,” I quip, tucking my hair behind my ear.
