Page 52 of Kingdom of Betrayal and Unknown (Kingdom of Bellhollow #1)

R unning.

My legs pump faster as I race through the forest, dodging trees and bushes.

“Get back here!” someone yells, their voice distorted from the wind rushing past my ears.

Fear courses through my body with each step I take, getting bigger and bigger as I hear the person gaining on me.

Please.

“Adeline Duvall! You are under arrest for ? —”

But I don’t let his words stop me. I continue pushing my legs past their limit as I make my way through the forest, trying to find Kieran so he can save me. I need to find him. He is my only hope right now.

“Kieran!” I scream, tears running down my face as a branch slices into my arm. “Kieran!”

“Stop, Adeline!” the man shouts again. “You are under arrest!”

But I still don’t stop. They aren’t going to catch me. I’m going to find Kieran, and he is going to protect me like he said he would.

“Kieran!” I scream once more, hoping someone will hear me and tell Kieran I’m looking for him.

I groan in pain as I run straight into a hard chest, falling on my ass as I bounce back. When I look up at who I just ran into, my shoulders relax when I see Kieran.

“A guard.” I heave a breath in, filling my lungs with the air they desperately need. “After me.”

But Kieran just looks at me. What is he doing? Why is he just staring at me like he doesn’t know me?

“Kieran,” I beg, getting up off the ground. “Take me away. Save me.”

The only thing Kieran does is grab my arms, turning me around and keeping me in place as the guard stops in front of us. I struggle in his arms, trying to break free, but I’m no match against Kieran.

“What are you doing?” My voice is high-pitched and full of panic. “Kieran! Let me go! Save me from the guard.”

I thrash back and forth, trying to find a way out, but Kieran just tightens his hold, keeping me in place.

“Adeline Duvall, you are under arrest for the murder of Prince Archie and for fraternizing with the enemy.” The guard steps forward. “You will be sentenced to life in prison for these acts, never to be let out.”

“Kieran.” My voice is desperate as I try to look at him. “Why are you doing this?” My voice breaks.

But Kieran just stands still, not looking at me anymore.

“Please,” I beg. “It’s not too late to help me. You’ve killed someone before for me; you can do it again.”

It’s not a fair ask, but I don’t want to get taken to prison to rot there for the rest of my life. I don’t want to be separated from my mate. Why is he doing this?

“He won’t save you, Adeline,” the guard informs me. “We injected every single Fae with a serum to make them comply with us and not be able to lie. He has no feelings for you anymore.”

“I don’t believe you.” I struggle in Kieran’s arms once again.

“You are witnessing it for yourself. You’ll have the rest of your life to contemplate if what I said is true or not.” The guard takes a step closer to me.

I look at Kieran once more to see him staring at me with no emotions, and my heart breaks. Is the guard telling the truth?

“You are not my mate,” Kieran whispers.

I bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily as sweat drips down my face and body. My hands shake, and I bring them up to my face, wiping my face.

“Wh-what?” I whisper to myself.

Why do I keep having these awful nightmares? Are they going to come true?

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm my racing heart. Everything is going to be okay. None of this is going to happen. They are just nightmares because I am stressed about people finding out.

After pushing my covers back, I swing my legs over the side of my bed and stand up. Wrapping my coat around me, I make my way out of my room and straight toward my mother’s. She is soundly asleep on her bed, taking nice even breaths.

I walk into the kitchen and survey the area to see what needs to be done. I don’t know what time it is, but I won’t be able to go back to bed anytime soon.

A tug in my stomach makes me flinch, and I spin around, trying to find out what it is. But when it happens again, my eyes go wide when I realize it’s Kieran. Does he know I had a dream about him?

I quietly walk to the front door, opening and closing it as I make my way outside.

So quiet.

Everything is so quiet as I make my way through the town. The sky is still dark and snow is falling, but I don’t pay any attention to it as I walk into the forest where I know Kieran will be waiting for me.

“Are you okay?” Kieran asks, his voice full of worry, as I make my way to the same spot we always meet.

“I don’t know.” I take a deep breath. “Did you have the same nightmare?”

His eyebrows pull together, and he shakes his head. “No, but I felt your panic, and I was trying to calm you down, but nothing was working.”

“Watch,” I tell him, closing my eyes and waiting for him to touch me to see my nightmare.

His warm hands carefully cup my face, and I allow myself to relax in his presence.

“Oh, Sweets,” he gently says as I open my eyes. “I would never do something like that. There is no way for even the witch to eliminate the mate bond.”

“Are you sure?” My voice cracks.

“Yes, Sweets. I am sure. She tried to get rid of the mate bond for her sister so she could be with the Fae, but that is one thing the witch can’t touch. Our mate bond will always be ours, no matter what,” he explains.

Tears pool in my eyes and fall down my face when I blink. Relief fills me at the news, but I can’t help but worry.

“Why do I keep having these nightmares?” I ask. “You have to know,” because I don’t.

I’ve been thinking about the one I had about my mother, and it still seems so real every single time I think about it.

“Sweets,” he gently says, and I know he doesn’t have an answer.

“No,” I mumble. “Please.”

“I don’t know why, but we will get to the bottom of this,” he promises. “I’ll ask our people. We will figure this out.”

I can’t ask anyone or I’ll risk them finding out everything.

“Do you think something bad is going to happen?” I can’t stop myself from asking. “Do you think this is some kind of foreshadow to something that will happen later?”

Kieran shakes his head. “No, nothing is going to happen. That doesn’t happen to humans or Fae.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No, so you don’t have anything to worry about.” He kisses my forehead. “It’s probably you stressing and working yourself up too much about them possibly finding out about us.”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Right. That’s what I thought at first, and then I felt you tugging the bond and I freaked out a little more,” I mumble.

“It’s okay,” he soothingly says. “I’m not trying to push your thoughts away, but no human or Fae has ever been able to see the future. The witch can’t even do that, not on this realm.”

“But it can happen in other realms?” I look up at him.

He nods. “We know a few people who can do it. We haven’t had contact with them since the curse, but long ago they could. But only for their realm.”

“So, you know about Tarravega?” I inquire.

He chuckles. “What do you want to know about Tarravega? Are you planning on getting banished there? Should I be concerned?”

It’s my turn to shake my head. “No, but I remember someone getting banished there. I don’t know anything about it other than it being somewhere you don’t want to go.”

“We don’t know much about it either. Once you’re there, you can’t return. Unless you know a being who can time teleport, but no one can in Bellhollow,” he explains. “We know there are dragons there. We heard from other realms long ago, before I was born, about a few things on Tarravega.”

“And you don’t know if it’s more peaceful than here? If you traveled there now, would the curse be broken for you?” I can’t help but ask.

There are so many questions running through my mind at the mention of Tarravega.

“I suspect it isn’t peaceful as that’s where all the criminals go.

I have no doubt other realms are doing the same.

Cillian Blackthorn was the one to start it all.

” Kieran pulls me closer to him once I start shivering.

“I doubt the curse would disappear if we went to Tarravega. It’s magic, which follows a person no matter the location. ”

My shoulders sag at the news. I was hoping Tarravega would be somewhere we could live without the curse.

“I know, little one, we thought the same thing, but it won’t do.

Even if the curse is broken, I wouldn’t risk bringing you there.

” Kieran runs his hand through my hair. “Tarravega is the last place I would bring you. I imagine not a lot of women go there, and I don’t want other men to think that I am willing to share.

I don’t want to always be on alert that someone might steal you away from me. ”

“I know,” I mumble.

If I were in his situation, I wouldn’t want to either. There are a lot of things he doesn’t know, which leads to the possibility of bad things happening.

“We’re going to make it through this. It will be hard, but it will make our relationship and bond stronger.

Sometimes we might want to give up, but we aren’t going to.

We are going to lean on each other when we need to and push each other to make it to the end.

Nothing bad is going to happen to us,” Kieran says.

“We are,” I agree.

I hope he can find out how to break the curse soon. I want to be free to meet with him without being concerned about what’s going on around us.

Kieran’s head snaps up as he looks around. “I have to go. You be good and stay out of trouble.”

He kisses my forehead, and before I can say anything, he’s gone, leaving me alone in the forest.

“What are you doing out here at five in the morning?” Skylar asks, making me scream.