Page 46

“I want to be best friends with a troll … said nobody ever in the history of ever.” ~Kara

T he air in the Troll Realm was heavy, damp, and carried an earthy scent that made Nick’s wolf bristle.

The forest around them was dense, the towering trees casting long shadows that seemed to stretch endlessly in the fading light.

Every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves set him on edge, and his wolf prowled just beneath the surface as he scanned the area.

They’d been sent here for a reason, but Nick figured the first thing they needed to do was determine whether they were allies or enemies.

Nick glanced at Kara, whose dark hair was pulled back into a braid that rested on her shoulder.

Her hand brushed against his arm, grounding him, and he felt a surge of gratitude through their bond.

She was here, safe and whole. Being separated from her had been a special kind of torture.

Considering their history, Nick didn’t like Kara being out of his sight.

“In my long life, I’ve never been to the troll realm.” Aphid’s head turned slowly as he took in their surroundings.

The group moved cautiously, each pair keeping close as they navigated the unfamiliar terrain.

Wadim and Zara walked just ahead, Wadim’s sharp eyes scanning the surroundings while Zara kept trailing a hand along the rough bark of the trees.

Gavril and Rachel brought up the rear. They were a quiet pair, but they moved around one another naturally, in perfect sync.

“No one has ever mentioned a Troll Realm.” Kara tossed a hand out as if to indicate the world around them. “Why is it that there’s so much about the supernatural world that isn’t talked about until, boom , we’re smack-dab in the middle of that unmentioned place and feeling very off balance?”

Wadim paused and turned to look at her. He pressed his lips together, his brow wrinkling in thought. “Because if you knew everything all at once life would cease to be interesting?”

Kara let out a slip of laughter, and Nick was thankful to hear it. After Jewel and Dalton’s funeral, he wondered if he’d ever hear it again. Kara dipped her chin down and lifted an eyebrow at Wadim. “There’s nothing about this life that could ever not be interesting, no matter how much we know.”

“That’s a very convoluted sentence,” Wadim pointed out as he began walking again. His naturally, easygoing nature seemed to settle the tension around them. Zara tucked her hand in his, a small grin tugging at her lips.

Kara simply shrugged, even though Wadim was no longer looking at her.

“I know your brain needs a challenge. I’m not as smart as Jewel.

” Kara paused and cleared her throat at the mention of the healer’s name.

Nick took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

A small, sad smile appeared before she took a deep breath and let it out, then began speaking again.

“But I can make my words a hot mess so you have to sort through the back-ass-words sentence structure as you attempt to figure out what I’m not trying to say while also hoping that I’ll just run out of air so I don’t keep speaking.

It’s a gift that most women have, and we know exactly when to share it. You’re welcome.”

Wadim glanced back at her. He blinked several times before glancing at Nick. “Is this her just messing with me? Because I think she just spoke gibberish.”

Nick tilted his head, studying his mate. She wore a T-shirt and jeans, her small baby bump evident. She was beautiful. And to his relief, she had a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “No.” He winked at her. “I think that’s just how her brain works. She can’t help it.”

“Moving on,” Kara said breezily as she gestured to the area around them. “Troll realm. Do we need to be concerned about being attacked by some mangy troll? Or are they a peaceful lot?”

“Why does we always gotta be mangy?” a high-pitched, raspy voice asked from just beyond Kara.

Nick tensed instantly as he stepped in front of Kara, shielding her with his own frame. Wadim was just as fast at placing himself between Zara and the unseen threat.

Gavril’s low growl rumbled, and Aphid pulled a short sword from the sheath on his back. Rachel seemed unphased as she stood beside her mate, waiting to see what would happen.

“Keep the females close,” Nick’s wolf growled and snarled.

Wadim nodded sharply, nudging Zara behind him as he faced the direction of the voice. Nick allowed his wolf to rise to the surface, his senses sharpening as he scanned the area.

“Show yourself,” Nick snapped.

“Why?” the voice came again, its pitch sharp and grating. “Her’s thinks us mangy. I bathes.”

“My bad for making assumptions,” Kara muttered. “I just don’t think I’ve ever heard of an attractive, non-mangy troll. I mean, in books they’re often portrayed as little, hairy, snarly beasts with pointy teeth.”

“I think it’s a fair assumption,” Zara offered. “Look at the children’s book, Billy Goats Gruff . That troll was creepy.”

“This not be a book,” the voice huffed indignantly.

“Are you sure about that?” Kara asked dryly. “Because sometimes it seriously feels like it can’t possibly be reality. I’m standing with my wolf mate, a fae warrior, and three other wolves. Definitely sounds like a book.”

Nick turned to her, giving her a sharp look. He was pretty sure it was her stress talking. Or perhaps the hormones were throwing her off. “Could you not?”

Kara held up her hands. “Sorry. I’ve just read books where it says to get your captors to see you as a person so they don’t treat you like an object.”

“We’re not anyone’s captives, female,” Nick growled.

“Are you sure about that?” She asked as she pointed to something behind him.

“I didn’t even know this many were left.

” Wadim breathed out. Instead of fear, there was simply confusion on his face and in his voice.

“I have no records that indicate the troll realm was actually still inhabited. It was believed they’d all come to the human realm, like the warlocks did because of the fading magic.

I figured this was sort of a crapshoot for Fane. ”

“Nice history lesson.” A deeper voice from behind caused Nick to turn back around. He immediately crouched down as his beast snarled.

Standing roughly twenty feet away was a line of trolls that stretched out on either side of the group, creating a half circle.

Nick took a deep breath and finally—now that he was paying attention to something more than his worry for Kara, his pregnant mate, who suddenly didn’t seem to have a filter—smelled their surroundings.

An earthy smell, mixed with skunk and mold, filled his nose.

His beast snarled. How many trolls were there?

A smell that strong was not just the twenty-five trolls in front of them.

Nick imagined they most likely surrounded them, but he wasn’t going to turn around to see if there were more behind him.

“I got it,” Gavril rumbled as if reading his mind. He and Rachel both shifted to watch behind them.

“Shockingly, J.K. Rowling came pretty close,” Kara said as she walked right past Nick, much to his horror.

“She sure did,” Zara agreed.

“Dammit, female,” Nick lunged for Kara.

“This is incredible,” Wadim’s awed voice came from beside Nick. Apparently, the historian’s natural inclination for all things history was overriding his protective wolf instincts.

“Is it going to be incredible when we have to explain to Fane why we become troll slaves?” Nick barked as he wrapped his hand around Kara’s arm and pulled her back away from the supernatural creatures staring at them as if they were the anomaly.

“Right.” Wadim became serious again and quickly pulled his own mate, who had taken a couple steps forward, back. “Protect first, curiosity second.”

“No.” Kara tapped her chin. “I think curiosity should definitely come first in this situation.”

“I second that motion,” Zara added.

“Ladies.” Rachel’s calm voice joined the mix. “Perhaps we should let the males focus? We can discuss the more interesting aspects of this adventure a little later.”

“Totally killing my fun here, Rach,” Kara said dryly.

“Do they always talk so much?” a gravelly voice grumbled from Nick's left.

He turned in the direction of the voice to see a troll standing a little in front of the group.

The troll was roughly four feet tall with a strip of black hair that jutted up the center of his head like a faux hawk.

He had dark skin that looked like aged leather.

The creature's face was a fascinating blend of features: a broad, semi-flat nose and large, obsidian eyes devoid of any whites, giving him an unsettling, almost hypnotic stare.

When he spoke, his thin, pale lips parted to reveal rows of sharp teeth, glinting in the dim light.

Oddly enough, Nick noted, some of the other trolls around him appeared less peculiar and others much, much more so.

Their features ranged from not far removed from those of humans to those of creatures in the books Kara mentioned, though each of them shared the same strikingly black eyes.

It was a jarring contrast that made Nick wonder what lay beneath the surface of these aloof beings.

“Even ifs they talks a lot, they don’t says much,” said the troll standing to the right and a step behind the first one that had spoken.

This was the troll who’d spoken first with the higher pitched voice.

It was a smaller troll, just over three feet tall.

His skin was a pale shade of blue, almost translucent, and his features were sharp and angular.

His hair was a wild tangle of bright orange, sticking up in every direction.

He had a pointed chin and a sly smile that revealed slightly elongated canines.

“I guess now wouldn’t be a good time to point out that that one actually looks like a troll from Trolls?” Kara whispered, sounding way too delighted for the current situation.