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Then I hear it.
A scraping sound comes from above me. I tear at the iron on my wrists until my fingers are bruised and bloody.
"Help me!" I scream, desperation leaking into my words. "Please, help me!"
For a long moment, there is no response.
Then, a crack of light appears above me.
My heart races. For the first time, something flickers to life in me.
"Help!" I screech even as I cover my eyes from the blinding light. "Please, help me. I've been kidnapped."
A cruel laugh comes from above me, and a shiver runs through me. "Oh, I know exactly what happened to you."
A knot forms in my stomach. "Who are you?" I ask, my voice cold.
The voice titters. "No, I don't think you get to ask any questions yet."
Something clatters to the ground next to me before I can do anything more than scream. I hear ahissingsound. Instinctively, I cover my mouth with my bloody hands.
But it’s too late. A sickly sweet scent enters my nose, and everything feels wrong. Foggy.
Time slips away from me as I drift in and out of consciousness. Hands land on me. Bright lights. People tug on me. The darkness is summoning me. Cold fear runs through me. I try to scream, but nothing works. My voice is nothing more than a whisper.
And then, I’m thrown over someone’s shoulder. A moan escapes my lips as they laugh. They drop me on the floor, and I curl in a ball.
A door slams shut.
I’m surrounded by darkness once more.
Chapter10
Morbid Curiosity and Mild Obsession
NATHANIEL
Three months later
“… Political unrest in the North has reached an all-time high with the royal Winter Family facing the choice of abdicating their rule or producing another heir to eventually take the throne. With each passing day, more public executions occur in the streets.
“The Alliance of Northern Courts has officially risen, with an Arctic Werewolf pack taking measures to take down the lockdown of all borders. King Phelix has been suspiciously quiet the last few months. The question on everyone’s mind is, will the Northern Courts' citizens abandon their homes when the wall falls? Or is a revolution coming…”
I pause my music momentarily while my feet continue to pound on the treadmill. Plucking a wireless earbud from my ear, I watch the flat screens lining the wall in front of the elliptical machines.
My eyes focus on one screen as a Spring Mer reporter reads off the world news.
Watching the newsandworking out at the gym? Gods, I have gotten so dull.
I can’t really help it, though. This dreary port town is buzzing with anticipation of what will happen in the coming months. We are the nearest city to the Winter Court, which lies directly across the sea.
Morbid curiosity and mild obsession with a female whose name I don’t even know has me watching any available news from that region. If she has Witch Blood in her, that would make more sense. Maybe she bewitched me and that’s why I can’t get the Winter Fae out of my thoughts.
I shake my head. This irrational protectiveness is strange, but I can’t help myself. For a second, my heart drops and I wonder if she is one of the people being beheaded or hanged in the streets.
Looking back on memories of the cargo she always brought into the port, I also wonder if she is the one doing the killing.
She is a strong woman.I remind myself.She can take care of herself.
