Page 116

I shift to human. Eiden does likewise.

“Why are they cutting a tree down?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” he says, frowning.

The very first day I came here, all the gardeners were told to keep away. But I have come to recognize most of them now. The grounds are locked at night, but they are busy at work during the day, entering via a sturdy wooden gate in the outer wall to the south.

“I don’t recognize the gardeners,” I say, a prickling sense of unease at the back of my neck. “I guess we shall not be playing in the lake today.”

“No,” Eiden says slowly.

Something is wrong. The sense of malaise rises the longer I stare at the gardeners.

“We should go back,” I say, but before I turn away, my eyes land on the woman among the gardeners. “What is Marigold doing working in the garden?”

“Run!” Eiden suddenly snarls.

The command in that word cracks like a whip. The sense of malaise reaches fever pitch.

My body explodes into my doe form, and I kick off.

Only to stumble as a huge net smothers me, tangling my hooves. I hit the ground hard, panic slamming me as I kick frantically to get free.

Eiden’s stag roars, a wild, beastly sound that startles me out of doe and back to human.

Panting, I claw at the net, trying to break free. “Eiden!”

Another roar, this one filled with agony. It floods my veins with ice-cold terror.

A leering face comes down over me, a rough hand closes over my shoulder, pinning me to the ground before a noxious rag is pressed over my nose.

The world turns to sparking dots.

Another roar—this one pitiful and human.

My world goes black.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Seven

Gone.

They have both gone—taken.

The air crackles. Jude shifts to his bipedal beast form. He throws his head back and howls.

Nox, likewise, shifts to his stag beast and issues a baying battle cry.

My pain is no less than theirs. I lock it down and focus on the facts because I need to, because there is no option but to get them back, safe and unhurt.

A bitter laugh wants to bubble up. Unhurt? How is that even possible? Eiden will be reliving a nightmare every second he is captive. And Fawn will be experiencing a new one, made all the worse for her closeness to Eiden, for her natural empathy and love. I want neither of them exposed to monsters like Eiden’s siblings.

We gather in the constable’s office. The door remains open under the constant stream of captains as the usually unruffled alpha barks orders and sends men scurrying. “Lock the gates! Post guards on all smuggler operations!”

“Marigold was seen in the Royal Woodland,” Gideon says as he enters the room in a rush; his dark complexion is ashen. “One of the gardeners recognized her. He went to report it to the guards on the garden entry, which is when he found them dead and raised the alarm.”

“You said she was not a target,” Wolf snarls. “This might have nothing to do with Eiden. It might be a game by your scorned lover out for retaliation.”