What a crock.
This hurts like hell.
My vision grows dim. Fen and Dean fight soldiers dressed in black. No colors to identify their realm, but it doesn't take much to figure out. I know he’s coming. He walks out of the mist and into the light of the moons.
Levi.
His red cape and white hair flick about in the cold wind. He doesn't join in the battle. Instead, he targets me with a hateful smile. And before I can blink, he is at my side, lifting me easily off the ground and pulling me away from Fen and Dean.
"You should have taken me up on my offer when you had the chance, Princess."
"I would never choose you," I say, spitting in his face. "You are selfish, childish, petty and cruel. You're not fit to rule your realm, let alone an entire kingdom. I'm better off dead than by your side."
His face contorts in rage. He honestly was not expecting me to reject him. And like so many entitled men who think women owe them something they don't, his rage turns outward, toward me. He grabs me and pulls me closer to him, squeezing my chest so tight I can barely breathe as the arrow digs deeper into my flesh. "You bitch. You think you can treat me like that and get away with it?"
My heart pounds so hard in my chest I feel like I'm going to vomit, but I don't back off. I have nothing left to lose, and maybe if I'm clever enough I can buy some time. "What are you going to do, Levi? Kill me? And deny everyone the pleasure of seeing me hanged? How will your brothers feel if you take justice into your own hands at the last hour? You think they will forgive that so easily?"
His teeth elongate and he leans in toward my neck. I brace myself. I can feel his breath on my skin, smell the sweat seeping from his body. He's nervous, worried, aroused. I have never hated someone so much as I do right now.
And as his teeth sink into me, I seethe with rage. It hurts, more than it did with Ace. Levi wants it to hurt.
He feeds on me, and it is a kind of rape, a kind of violation. I have pushed him too far. Whatever way out Fen and Dean might have accomplished will be undone by my stupidity.
I feel myself fading. He is drinking too much of my blood. Draining me too thoroughly. And gaining more power in the process.
But then something shifts. Voices. Footsteps. Heavy boots. Men arguing. Levi releases me and I slump to the ground, as a wolf howls and men scream.
***
I'm plagued by nightmares of fire and death. Of Daison dying in my arms. Of Oren torturing me. Of Fen cut down in battle. Of being paraded naked as people I tried to help abuse me in the most vile of ways. I startle out of sleep drenched in sweat and shaking.
Strong arms wrap around me. "You are safe. Calm yourself, love."
I cling to Fen, still shaking. Still plagued by images of his nearly dead body lying on the scorched battlefield. "Where are we? What's happened?" I remember trying to escape. Him. Dean. Then Levi. Then nothing. I look around to situate myself. I'm in a cave, laying on thick furs with a fire burning near me. Outside, a storm rages in the night sky, throwing snow into our shelter. We are alone save Baron, who is curled at my feet, his large head resting on my legs as he stares at me with worry—if a wolf can look worried.
"We're in hiding," he says gruffly. "You lost a lot of blood and passed out. We had to wait for you to awaken before we could leave."
I touch my neck, where Levi took a chunk out of me during his feeding. It's healing quickly, but still painful. I examine my shoulder with my left hand. There are bandages where the arrow once was. "How long have we been here?"
"A few hours. You should rest more, but we can't afford to stay on this world longer than necessary. How do you feel?"
"Tired. Sore. But well enough to walk." I'm not totally sure that's the truth, though. My legs feel like jelly. But I can sense the urgency in Fen, and I know he's right. Everyone will be looking for us. Hunting us. We've escaped execution, but for how long?
"What happened?" I ask. I don't remember anything after Levi fed on me.
"Baron saved you by taking a chunk out of Levi. While the bastard fled, Dean and I took down his soldiers. We got away just in time. If he'd had more of your blood… "
Fen lets the thought trail off, and I shudder. I came close to dying. Again.
Dean joins us through the cave's opening, a wobble to his step, carrying a flask that he's clearly been imbibing generously from. "It's good to see you awake, Princess."
"Why did you send me the key?" I ask without preamble.
He shakes his head, his dark blond hair shifting gracefully with the movement. He truly is a beautiful man, at least on the outside. "What? No thank you to the man who saved your life? I thought surely that would win me some points. Save the damsel in distress, win her hand?"