Page 58 of Unraveled (A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruins #1)

I hear Ash’s bitter laughter drift through the air, and silence follows for a while before Skylar’s voice breaks through again. “Am I funny to you, beast?”

“Funny? No.” Ash leans over his knees, his golden gaze fixed on the scientist with a lazy, unafraid look. “Predictably dull? Yes.”

The hollowness in his tone pulls at something within me. I creep forward in the darkness, while letting out a fragment of my power. There are five scientists and one librarian in the room. I doubt Harper will truly hurt me, and if I’m able to wield fire, I might scare them enough to run.

“Do we even need him alive?” a scientist in the back says as he rolls his sleeves up over tawny arms. His knuckles are stained with golden fae blood.

I take one step out of my hiding spot, flames licking my fingers, and a hand covers my lips.

A needle sinks into my neck.

A man hauls me up against his body, and I scream and fight him with everything I have.

But just as I reach for a new spell, I meet a wall. Something that completely blocks me from accessing my magic.

“What do we have here?” Skylar’s steps echo off the low ceilings. His nostrils flare while he studies me.

I gulp for air, and my limbs grow so heavy I slump into the body that holds me.

“I found this shadow hiding behind the crates,” the man behind me says, and his sour breath stinks of ale. His arms tighten around my torso, squeezing so tight I can feel every inch of his rounded stomach press into my back. “She had a weird light coming out of her fingers, so I sedated her.”

I glance over Skylar’s shoulder, and Ash’s face grows slack when our eyes meet.

Skylar grips my chin roughly and twists my face to meet his eyes. His expression is severe as he takes in my dirty, sweaty face, partially covered by waves of my hair as they stick to my cheeks. Then slowly, his brows round up as he puts together who I am.

“I never expected to see you again, darling. I guess I was wrong about the beast killing you.” He studies me with renewed interest and a dash of annoyance.

Harper’s red cloak comes into the edges of my blurred vision as she calls my name. “Release her at once,” she says, reaching toward me with extended arms.

The brute behind me grunts and takes a step away from her and closer to Skylar.

“How are you here?” the latter asks, ignoring Harper and fixing his gaze on me.

“She escaped a week ago,” Ash says, waving his hand like I’m the worst pest he’s ever had to deal with, but the words don’t match the panic in his eyes. It reminds me of what he did back in Hedrum. “I thought the forest would take care of her. I guess I was wrong.”

He shakes his head almost imperceptibly. Everyone studies my reaction, like they’re about to cast a judgment that could cost me my life.

I understand. Ash wants them to believe there isn’t a connection between us. That I was his prisoner all along. I hate that he has to protect me when I came here to save him. My disappointment with myself at this failure sinks deep into my soul.

“I-I came here to see my sister.” My voice slurs, and tears prick my eyes as I look around at the expressions of the men behind Skylar, all in varying states of horror and hope as they take me in.

The sedative they injected me with sinks deeper into my very being.

“Please... I’ve been away from home for too long. ”

Except Irene isn’t here to save me. I left her back in the forest, near the castle.

“I can take her to Irene. She is probably in her room,” a man says from the back, stepping forward to reveal a head of red curls and a pale face covered in light freckles.

I fight to remain awake as my vision blurs.

The strange sedative doesn’t quite knock me out, just makes my limbs so heavy I can’t move.

Skylar lifts a hand and his eyes tell me he isn’t buying our act. “And you just came into the building? How?”

“The same way I did last time,” I lie.

“And somehow you found the tunnels underground?”

I sob, letting my frustrations out through the tears rolling down my face. “My spell didn’t work on the front door like it did last time, so I came through the back and got lost. I’ve been walking for days, fighting beasts in the forest...”

Almost everyone’s faces shift with compassion, and I know I’ve won most of them despite my poor performance. Perhaps if they took me to Irene’s room, I could wait until the sedative wears off and I’m able to walk again.

Skylar’s eyes move slowly down my neck and pause on my chest. But there is no lewd intent in that horrible, distant gaze, just triumph. He grabs my blackened hand and lifts it so everyone can see.

Gasps resound around me as torchlight drags over the dry patches of my dead skin.

“It seems some of the dark magic the fae uses is running through her as well. Mia is likely turning into a rabid monster herself, and since we don’t know how it’ll affect a human, she can’t be left out to attack us.”

Even Harper takes a step back, like being near me would allow the curse to spread to her, like a disease.

The corner of Skylar’s lip ticks. Somehow he knows we’re lying. I don’t know why he cares this much. Last time he saw me, I was ready to hurt Ash for him.

“Take her out to one of the back cells. No one upstairs can know she’s alive—especially Irene. Once we deal with the king and the princess, we can figure out how to cure her.”

Skylar looks at me with a knowing smile. The bastard thinks he’s won, and I’m not so sure I know how to get out of this mess.

Naheli? I beg inside my head as I’m dragged back toward the circular room I came from. But the spirit doesn’t reappear.

“Is she going to be alright?” Harper asks.

“Of course. We’re not the monsters here.” Skylar pulls his gun out of his holster, holding it down casually as his brown gaze travels from Ash to me. “Now, librarian, make sure the beast can’t open the cage again.”

It was a threat, even if it wasn’t worded that way. Harper pales and moves toward Ash with long steps. She mutters something under her breath to him, but his face is fixed on me. The spell Harper uses is not one I’ve ever heard of, however it slides across the room and tells me its meaning.

Bind. Repress. Silence .

It’s the same magic I felt when I first arrived, and blue swirls move across the cage and around Ash like a cocoon of silky strands.

“Wait,” I beg Harper, or anyone who will listen. I gather all my energy as I surge forward, escaping from the cage-like arms keeping me trapped.

The movement catches the man behind me by surprise, and I collapse to my knees on the hard floor. “Please, he isn’t a monster,” I say, ignoring the pain flaring from the point of impact as I talk to the scientists, Harper, and Skylar.

They look at me with everything from pity to fear—to hatred. My eyes meet Ash’s, and he implores me to remain quiet.

“No,” Ash whispers, frozen in place.

Harper continues chanting, undeterred by my words.

“Please, you can’t kill all the fae. This is wrong...”

But Harper doesn’t stop, and the spell thickens around him. Subduing him further.

“Please, Harper, I love him.”

I clamp my lips shut, even as the words ring true. I love him . The fae king who drives me mad, and makes me smile at the same time. Who challenges me, and teaches me about my power, about life. He took me from Penumbra and showed me the truth.

Ash reels back, and his eyes widen.

Everyone falls still as magic churns from me to him. Threads of red that wrap around his body and pour from his open mouth when he calls my name. Light bursts from his eyes and fingers, heating the cave to sweltering.

My ears drum as I crawl forward, taking the chance in the chaos to get closer to him as his body transforms until it’s made entirely of gold. The smell of magic mixed with roses drives away the previous stench in the room, and every feather covering his face and neck retreats.

When the light fades away, all that’s left behind is his true self. A beautiful fae king hunching inside his cage.

Admitting my love for him broke the enchantment.

His curse is gone.