AllFreeNovel
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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, lush moss, and 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 lifts 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.” There’s 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 me, and 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.
I look behind me and eye the direction I’d come in this place from. It looks like a wall of black oil, except it moves and slides, twisting in the air like smoke. Technically, there are only a few of the monkeys between me and that wall, but I can’t imagine a way in which I can reach it before they, or this king, can catch me. Still, if the right opportunity presents itself, I’ll try.
Until then, I need to buy myself some time.
“Well, as lovely as your proposal is, and as enchanting as I’m sure the wedding night would be, I’m afraid I have to decline.” I’m babbling out a ridiculous number of words, words that make me sick to even say.
But as hard as I’d tried not to tell him the idea made me want to vomit, his eyes flash with rage, as if I had actually said the harsher words I’d wanted to say. I rise slowly to my feet, eyeing both him and the monkeys, and I back up a step because this guy’s cool appraisal has turned murderous.
“Respectfully, of course.” I back up two more paces, and he moves faster than I can see and takes my face in his hand. His touch is harsh, painful, as he squeezes my jaw until a small cry of pain escapes my lips. But he doesn’t seem to care. He jerks my chin up so that I’m forced to look directly into his cold, cruel eyes.
I shiver.This man wants to hurt me. Not just me, but everyone.
But instead of smiting me, or whatever the king of the shadows can do, he cocks his head then throws it back and laughs. The sound is not what I expect. “Of course, you’ll marry me.” He grins and lets go of my face. It burns where he grabbed me, but I breathe out a slow breath. “I’m charming. And handsome.”
If you have to say it, it’s probably not true...
