Page 52 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)

I shake my head. I’m doing a terrible job explaining this.

“You are in your version of the in-between. It’s not the mortal world nor the Underworld.

You’re trapped somewhere between the two.

The landscape around us has been shaped by your mind’s fear.

All the dark inhabitants who roam the in-between feed off of fear.

That’s why those creatures took you in—they wanted your fear.

The ruler of the in-between watches it all, her power thriving off the horrors that unfold within her domain. ”

“That’s horrible. This place is horrible.” She wraps her arms around herself.

I stare down at her exposed body. I should have covered her up the second we left that cottage.

Using my shadows, I clean the gore from her face and skin.

I don’t have any clothes. Peeling one of the many layers of a shadow apart, I drape the pliant sheets across her, wrapping her slight frame until she’s gowned in darkness.

“Wow. That’s a neat trick.” She lifts her arms, twisting her torso and testing the fabric. The shadows shift with her, molding to her body and movements. “I thought I may be naked until we got out. My clothes were in the cottage.” She glances back. There’s no sign the cottage ever existed.

“If it were just you and I, you would be.” I offer her a smile. The fear from the past few minutes still lingers in the air around us.

“It’s sad, really.” Her mouth turns down in a frown.

I lift my thumb, brushing it along her bottom lip. “What is?”

She tilts her head, leaning against my hand and closing her eyes. “They were something kind and magical before they were corrupted.”

I’m not sure what story they told her, but it was probably true.

Most magical creatures that end up in the in-between fall here when their souls become so severely twisted that they can no longer be identified as living or dead.

The humans who get trapped here are usually sent here with ill intent by someone with the ability to cast spells.

“Whatever life they knew, whatever semblance of humanity and magic, has been gone for a very long time.”

She opens her eyes. Those glistening blues pull me into their tumultuous waves with barely a thought. My lips find hers again, pressing soft, wanting kisses over and over again.

“Thank you for coming to find me.”

“If I knew you were here, I would have come to you the second you first summoned me.”

“I believe you.” She doesn’t protest as I cover her in more kisses. When I pull back to brush her hair from her face, her eyes are weary. “I’ve spent enough time here. Take me home, please.”

This is the part I’ve been dreading. “I can’t. You have to get us out of here.”

Lenore’s soft eyes go wide. “I don’t know how to get out of here.”

“You don’t belong here, which means there’s a door somewhere that will lead you back to the mortal world.

The ruler of the in-between places one for any person or creature that is sent here by accident or through dark magic.

Without a guide or someone to tell them what to look for, most don’t know about the door. They never find a way out.”

Panic blooms behind her aquamarine irises. “Where is the door?”

“Only you know.”

“I don’t, though. I don’t know where it is.” Her breaths quicken.

“We will find it together . You must keep your wits about you. Breathe.”

My fingers run through her hair again and her body relaxes. After a few moments, her breathing evens out. She gives me a tight smile. “Together.”

Something squeezes my stomach. Lenore is unaware of her father’s death.

I debate telling her. Can she handle any more stress in a place like this?

No. I don’t think she can. I’ll wait until we surface in the mortal world.

She may be angry with me for not telling her, but I believe it’s for the best.

“Let’s start with your favorite places. The door is likely to be somewhere familiar. Where?—”

Lenore grips her chest as a deep wet cough rips from her lungs. Alarm punches through the relief our reunion has brought. Blood sprays out from between her lovely lips. She wobbles on her feet. My arms snap out to support her.

Sweat beads across her forehead. “The poison?”

Using the back of my hand, I wipe the blood from her mouth “Yes.”

“I thought, well, it hasn’t happened as much. I was hoping it was gone or that it was something made up.”

“Catreena did poison you. The potion also put you into a sort of stasis. The side effects that put you to sleep have likely slowed the spread of the poison.”

She looks up at me, tears brimming. “Will I die? No. She told me I couldn’t. She made it sound like I would want to die but couldn’t. Does she know about my resurrections? How? Why make me suffer if not?”

The questions pour out of her as fresh fear flushes her skin. I don’t have the answers.

“We need to hurry and get you back to the mortal realm. There must be a healer who can reverse the damage.”

My amulet pulses. It’s been steadily thumping for the last half hour. I can only hope my ravens can keep things well in hand until I’m able to break free. My thoughts were so focused on Lenore, I didn’t stop to think about what would happen if I left my kingdom without a protector.

“Why does that happen?” She nods to the necklace.

“It means something is amiss in my kingdom.” My stomach is tight. I dread to find what will have happened when I finally return.

A tremor rocks through the ground beneath our feet.

Then another. Something’s coming. I cannot even begin to guess what foul creatures we will encounter here.

When the troll steps into the cottage clearing, I’m hit with a nauseous wave of dark energy.

Lenore blanches. But it’s not the sheer size of the troll, nor its massive, grotesque features that has my raven clutching my arm.

It’s not even the oversized club that has mashed-up remnants of his latest victims on it.

It’s the length of chained-up humans trailing behind him.

There are nine in total, all with collars around their neck that link them to the person in front and behind them.

Trolls are despicable creatures that delight in capturing and trading in human slaves.

They don’t care the age, gender, ethnicity, size, weight, health, or frailty.

Be it children or the elderly, they’ll take any human they can find.

The troll halts when he sees us. His soulless eyes brighten at the sight of Lenore. Pushing her behind me, I spread my wings wide, blocking her from his view.

My shadows rise, fanning out around us and taking the shape of two great clawed hands. The troll takes several hurried steps back, crushing one of his slaves in the process.

I try to ignore the pleading looks from the people on his chains.

There’s nothing I can do for them. I delight in suffering when it’s happening in my kingdom.

Only because I know those who are being tormented deserve it.

That’s not the case in the in-between. I would never have come back here if it weren’t for Lenore.

Her fingers land gently on my wings, reminding me she’s hiding back there. “Is it gone?”

“It is.” I lift my right wing. She ducks beneath it, tucking in close by my side. I wrap her up in my feathers, holding her against me.

Blood reaches my nose. She’s been biting the skin on her fingers. Six are bleeding. “Can we help them?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“But you said this was my version of the in-between. If I imagined those people, that horrible scenario, then I should be able to stop it.”

“The in-between is so vast, endless really. Your nightmare landscape at times crosses over with the landscapes of others. They are all living in their own hell, with their own doors somewhere inside.”

“But they won’t know. If someone doesn’t tell them, they won’t find it. They’ll never be free.” She looks behind her, gripping my shoulders. “There are others, people trapped in the web of a massive spider. We have to find a way to free them.”

My fingers comb through the length of her hair. “You have such a big heart, Lenore. It is going to be hard enough finding our own way out. We do not have the time nor the ability to save the others.”

Lenore covers her face and leans into my chest. “This place is awful.”

“It is.” I nuzzle into the top of her head.

My raven should never have had to come here.

When we get mortal side up, I’m going to teach that witch a lesson she’ll never forget or recover from.

Ideas of how I can torment her build in my thoughts.

Perhaps I’ll learn a thing or two from the monsters of the in-between and apply them to Catreena.