Saints. He was my husband. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely uncalled for if I thought about him that way.
The morning passed painfully slowly. I tried to catch up on sleep, but my mind raced through every detail I could remember from the day before. If Malachi thought we were safest in Fearford, then I had good reason to trust him. But hiding in the place that his father told us to go? It didn’t make much sense to me.
What was stopping his father from marching straight there and finishing what he started?
Footsteps in the distance caught my attention. “Malachi?” I asked quietly. “Is that you?”
The footsteps continued approaching, but Malachi never responded.
My instincts kicked in. I reached for the knife at my thigh and crouched behind one of the large trees around us. My heart was racing, fueling my body with adrenaline with every passing second.
Who would be out here? Who would know where to find us? Granted I had been asleep for most of the journey so far, but I was sure the three fae would have noticed if someone was following us.
Perhaps it was just a traveler or someone passing through.
I didn’t loosen my grip on my knife. Not when the footsteps were approaching quicker.
And it sounded like more than one person.
I wanted to call out for Malachi, but it would be a dead giveaway of my hiding spot. Although when our visitors found the camp, it wasn’t going to take them long to find me, as well.
“Jade,” A male voice cooed in the silence of the forest. Not Malachi and not Serefin.
But I had heard that voice before.
It was Lucien.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he continued.
Saints. If Malachi’s brothers were here for us, for me, it wasn’t good. Especially after we left so abruptly. Had their father sent them to finally kill me off? Had we finally pushed him over the edge?
“I can hear your heart beating, princess,” another male voice added. Adonis. I would recognize that cold voice from anywhere. “Come on, we won’t hurt you.”
Lies.
I didn’t move a muscle. Not like it was going to help, though. Not if they could hear my heart beating. Not if they could smell the blood from my open wounds.
I was about to lunge out from my hiding space and slice my knife towards Lucien’s head when a pair of hands grabbed me from behind, shoving me into the ground.
“You really thought you could hide from us?” one of the twins said. Saints. All four brothers had come for me.
And here we were.
I struggled under the cold grasp of the twins, but it was no use. Eli easily twisted the knife from my grasp. Even if I was completely healthy, it wouldn’t have been a fight. I was an injured female human up against four strong, healthy fae males.
The fight was already over.
“What do you want?” I asked. The twins picked me up and carried me to the center of our camp, where Adonis and Lucien were waiting expectantly.
If Malachi didn’t kill these bastards, I was going to do it myself. If I survived whatever this was, of course.
Adonis walked over and knelt next to me, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. I flinched away in disgust, which only made him laugh.
“We hate to break up this fun little trip of yours, princess, but you’re going to come with us.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “What did you do with Malachi?”
“Your friends are fine for now,” Lucien responded. “Although they aren’t going to be too happy when they come home and you’re gone. Which is kind of the point.”
I took a deep breath, trying to weigh my options. My back was now screaming with pain, the wounds ripped open during my struggle.
“He’ll kill you,” I grunted. “He’ll hunt you down and kill you.”
“Oh, we know he’ll come for you, princess. That’s the whole point. Plus, we couldn’t turn down some quality time with our dear sister, right guys?” Adonis said. The others muttered agreements.
I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid as to believe we would be safe. Of course the King wasn’t just going to let us leave. He had no intention of letting us make it all the way to Fearford.
I didn’t speak as the brothers tied my hands behind my body. They didn’t have any horses with them, which meant they had either walked all the way here or flown. I was guessing the latter.
The thought alone made my stomach drop.
“Ready to get out of here, dear sister?” Adonis asked, walking toward me. I shook my head and spit in his face, anger flooding my body. He was going to take me out of here. He was going to take me far away from anywhere Malachi could find me.