Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
“You’re following me,” he stated.
Apparently I had not been as stealthy as I thought. “Well, yes—”
“I know you,” he interrupted, arms loose at his sides as he drifted closer.
He did? I didn’t recall meeting him, but there was a chance he’d seen me at Hotel Good Fae in the days and weeks leading up to the battle with the Queen. But that was two years ago.
“I’m not sure if we’ve met.” My heart started hammering in my chest. “But I know your parents.”
His head cocked to the side, and in the darkness, his eyes looked like black pits.
The hair along the back of my neck was still standing. “Your parents are worried about you, Elliot. Where have you been?”
“My parents?” He straightened his head and moved even closer. “Those stupid posers? Those weak wannabe humans? They’re not my parents. Not anymore.”
Uh oh.
“And I know you. You’re with the Order.” Elliot hissed like a cornered cat, a very large and very pissed-off cat, and even in the shadowy alley, I could see the sabertooth-like teeth descending from his gaping mouth.
Oh crap, Elliot was so not on Team Good Fae anymore. Not at all.
There was no chance to question why in the hell Elliot was suddenly all psychotic. Yanking at the stake, I realized too late I should’ve just engaged the cuff. Elliot launched into the air like a rocket. In one stuttered heartbeat, he was on me, his body crashing into mine. The impact knocked me off my feet and my baseball cap off my head, and I went down hard. Air punched out of my lungs.
Never let them get you on the ground.
Those words from the most basic of trainings roared through my head as my eyes opened wide.
I’d been on my back before. I knew how this ended.
Elliot crouched over me, gripping the collar of my jacket. Our gazes connected—
Something… something was wrong with his eyes. They weren’t the pale blue of the fae. They were pitch black, so dark I couldn’t even see the irises.
I’d never seen anything like that, not in person or in the many books I’d studied on the fae.
Panic sparked deep in my chest as I struggled to get my stupid hand out of my pocket. The wicked sharp edge caught on the interior of my coat, snagging and tearing the cloth. He lifted me upward as he swung a fist back. Elliot punched down, but I flung myself up and over. His fist slammed into the pavement as my forehead cracked off his.
He cursed as he jerked.
Rocking backward, I ignored the bitter taste of fear and swung my legs up, wrapping them around his narrow waist. Using my weight, I flipped Elliot off me as I rolled. On top of him, I reared back as I pulled the stake out, tearing the pocket in the process. I lifted it high, preparing to jam it straight through his chest.
Elliot’s fist connected with my stomach. The burst of pain stole my breath, but I powered through it, swinging the dagger downward.
The fae was fast, slamming his hands into my chest. I flew backward, landing on my butt. Before I could recover, Elliot shot off the ground and was on me once more. I’d held onto the dagger, gritting my teeth as his hand came down on my throat, his fingers digging into my windpipe. I swung the stake around, thinking a head shot would do the trick.
His hand suddenly left my throat and then Elliot was flipping through the air as if invisible hands had snatched him up.
Gasping for breath, I rolled onto my side, my free hand splaying across the pavement. Several strands of blonde hair had slipped free from my ponytail, blocking one eye.
Elliot was rising to his feet. He spun and then his body jerked back a step. He was frozen for a moment and then his body just caved into itself, sucking itself back into the Otherworld with a faint pop and sizzle.
“Holy smokes….” Breathing heavy, I started to sit up. Gratefulness warred with dread. Obviously an Order member had intervened, which was great, but also meant I was busted, so freaking busted.
A tall, broad shadow strolled forward. The light of the lamp sliced over an iron dagger and black gloves. Gloves? It was cold, but not that cold.
Wait.
I started to rise as I lifted my gaze. Every muscle in my body locked up. I saw who’d come to my quite unnecessary rescue and anxiety exploded like a buckshot along with a hefty amount of WTF.
Now I understood the gloves.
It wasn’t an Order member who’d intervened.
He now stood under the lamp, and I would swear the light intensified as it shone down on him, as if powered by his presence.
The Prince stood before me. “We meet yet again.”
CHAPTER 15
My hand tightened on the iron stake as the buzz of anticipation swept through me. No way should I be excited to see him—and the mere thought of that was so utterly confusing—but I was.