Finn looked at me for a long moment, trying to understand where this was coming from. I had to fight the urge to squirm as he scrutinized me. His eyes flashed darkly for a second, and his expression hardened.
“Is this about the mänsklig?” Finn asked, referring to Rhys. “I thought I told you to stay away from him.”
Mänsklig were the human children taken in exchanged for Trylle babies. They were the lowest on the hierarchy of Trylle, and if a Princess was caught seeing one, they’d both be banished forever. Not that even I cared, but I didn’t have any feelings for Rhys that weren’t purely platonic.
“It has nothing to do with Rhys. I just thought he’d like to see his family.” I shrugged. “It has to be better than living in that stupid house with Elora.”
“Good. He can stay here then.” Finn nodded. “Matt and Rhys are taken care of. Now you can come home.”
“That is not my home. This is my home!” I gestured widely to my room. “I’m not going, Finn.”
“You are not safe.” He took a step closer to me, knowing the effect his presence had on me. He lowered his voice and stared into my eyes. “You saw what the Vittra did in Förening. They sent an army out to get you, Wendy.” He put his hands on my arms, strong and warm on my skin. “They will not stop until they have you.”
“Why? Why wouldn’t they stop?” I asked. “There’s got to be Trylle out there that are easier to get than me. And so what if I’m a Princess? If I don’t come back, Elora can replace me. I’m meaningless.”
“You are far more powerful than you know.”
“What does that even mean?” I demanded.
Before he could answer, there was a noise on the roof outside my window. Finn grabbed my arm and threw open my closet door, shoving me inside. As a rule, I don’t enjoy being tossed into closets and having the door shut on my face, but I knew he was protecting me.
I opened the door a crack, so I could watch what happened and intervene if necessary. Even as mad as I was at Finn, I would never let him get hurt over me. Not again.
Finn stood a few feet from the window. His eyes blazed and his shoulders tensed, but when the figure climbed in through the window, Finn only scoffed.
The kid coming in tripped on the windowsill. He wore skinny jeans and purple shoes with the laces untied. Finn towered over him, looking down at him wearily.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” He flipped his bangs out of his eyes and pulled down his jacket. It was zipped all the way up, and the bottom met the top of his jeans. When he bent over or moved, it rode up.
“Getting the Princess. They sent you after her?” Finn arched an eyebrow. “Elora really thought you’d be able to bring her back?”
“Hey, I’m a good tracker! I’ve brought in way more people than you have!”
“That’s because you’re seven years older than me,” Finn replied. That made the clumsy kid twenty-seven. He looked much younger than that.
“Whatever. Elora picked me. Deal with it.” The kid shook his head. “What? Are you jealous or something?”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“So where is the Princess anyway?” He looked around my room. “She ran away for this?”
“This is my room!” I walked out of the closet, and the new tracker jumped. “You don’t need to be condescending.”
“Um, sorry,” he stumbled, blushing. “My apologies, Princess.” He offered me an unsure smile and did a low bow. “I’m Duncan Janssen, and I’m at your service.”
“I’m not the Princess anymore, and I’m not going with you,” I said. “I just finished explaining that to Finn.”
“What?” Duncan looked uncertainly at Finn as he readjusted his jacket again. Finn sat down on the edge of my bed and said nothing. “Princess, you have to come. It’s not safe for you here.”
“I don’t care.” I shrugged. “I’d rather take my chances out here.”
“It can’t be that bad at the palace.” Duncan was the first person I had ever heard genuinely call Elora’s house a palace, even though it sort of was one. “You are the Princess. You have everything.”
“I’m not going. You can tell Elora that you tried your best, and I refused.”
Duncan once again looked to Finn for help. He shrugged at Duncan, and Finn’s shift to indifference startled me. I had put my foot down on the subject, but I hadn’t really expected him to listen. He seemed to truly believe that I was in danger, even though I didn’t.
“She can’t possibly stay here!” Duncan moved on to reasoning with Finn.
“You think I don’t agree with you?” Finn raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t think you’re helping,” Duncan qualified. He fidgeted with his jacket and continued to try to stare down Finn, a task I knew was impossible.
“What do you expect me to say to her that I haven’t already said?” Finn asked, sounding surprisingly helpless.
“So you’re saying we leave her here?” Duncan asked dubiously.
“I am right here. I don’t really appreciate the way you keep referring to me like I’m not,” I said.
“If she wants to stay here, then she’ll stay here,” Finn ignored me. Duncan shifted and glanced over at me. “We’re not going to kidnap her. That leaves little in the way of options.”
“Can’t you like…” Duncan lowered his voice and fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. “… you know, convince her somehow?”
Word of Finn’s affection for me must have spread through the compound. Aggravated, I refused to let my feelings for him be used against me.
“Nothing is going to convince me,” I snapped sourly.
“Do you see?” Finn motioned towards me. Sighing, he got to his feet. “We should be on our way then.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice
“Yeah. Really?” Duncan echoed.
“You said there was nothing I can do to convince you? Has that changed?” Finn turned to me. His voice was hopeful, but his eyes were almost taunting. I shook my head firmly. “Then there is nothing left to say.”
“Finn-” Duncan started to protest, but Finn held his hand up to him.
“It is as the Princess wishes.”
Duncan looked skeptically at Finn, probably thinking that this was some sort of trick, much as I was. There had to be something I wasn’t getting because Finn wouldn’t just leave me here. Sure, that’s exactly what he had done a few days ago, but that’s because leaving then was what he thought was best for me.
“But Finn-” Duncan tried again, but Finn waved him off.
“We must go. Her ‘brother’ will notice us soon,” Finn said.
I glanced at my closed bedroom door, as if Matt would be lurking right there. The last time Matt and Finn had a run in it had not gone well, and I was not eager to repeat the experience.
“Fine, but…” Duncan trailed off, realizing too late that he had nothing to threaten either of us with. He gave me another quick bow. “Princess. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
“We’ll see,” I shrugged.
Duncan climbed out my bedroom window, practically falling onto the roof. Finn went behind him, helping Duncan through the window so he wouldn’t accidentally kill himself.
After Duncan was out, he half-jumped half-fell off the roof. Finn watched him apprehensively for a moment, holding my curtain open, but he didn’t follow after immediately.
Instead, he straightened up, looking over at me. My anger and resolution were fading. Part of me believed that Finn wouldn’t really leave things this way.
“Once I’m out this window, lock it behind me,” Finn commanded. “Make sure all the doors are locked, and never go anywhere alone. Never go any place at night, and if at all possible, always take Matt and Rhys with you.” He looked past me for a moment, thinking of something.
“Although neither of them are really good for much of anything…” His muttering trailed off and his dark eyes rested on mine once again. His expression was imploring, and he raised h
is hand as if he meant to touch my face, but he lowered it again. “You must be careful.”
“Okay,” I promised him.
With Finn standing right in front of me, I could feel the warmth of his body and smell his cologne. His eyes were locked on mine, and I remembered the way it felt when he tangled his fingers in my hair and held me so close to him, I couldn’t breathe.
He was so strong and controlled. In the brief moments he allowed himself to let go of his passion with me, it was the most wonderfully suffocating feeling I’d ever had.
I did not want him to leave, and he did not want to leave. But we had both made choices we were unwilling to change. He nodded once more, breaking eye contact, and then turned and slid out the window.
Duncan waited by the tree, and Finn dropped gracefully to the ground. Duncan still didn’t want to leave, and Finn had to convince him to move away from the house.
When they reached the hedges separating my lawn from the neighbors, Finn looked around, checking to make sure no one was there. Without even looking at me, he and Duncan turned and disappeared.
I closed the window, locking it securely the way he’d said to. I felt a terrible ache watching him go. Even though he had done this kind of thing before, I couldn’t wrap my mind around Finn really leaving and convincing Duncan to leave me too. If he was so concerned about the Vittra, why would he leave me so unprotected?
It finally dawned on me. Finn had never left me unprotected, no matter what I or anybody else wanted. As soon as he had realized I wasn’t going with him, he hadn’t wanted to waste any more time arguing. He would wait in the wings until I changed my mind or …
I shut the curtains tightly. I hated being spied on, but I also found it strangely comforting that Finn was watching over me. After having my window open for so long, my room felt chilly, so I went over to my closet and pulled on a heavy sweater.
The adrenaline rush from seeing Finn had left me wide awake, but I was looking forward to curling up in bed, even if I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I settled into my bed, trying futilely to forget about Finn. Within minutes, I heard a loud banging downstairs. Matt let out a yelling sound, but it was cut short, leaving the house in total silence.
I jumped and ran to my bedroom door. With shaking hands, I opened it, hoping that Finn had tried to sneak back in and had a misunderstanding with Matt.
Then I heard Rhys screaming.
3. Insentient
Rhys had stopped making a sound. I had barely taken a step out of my room when I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and before I could react, she was there.
Kyra, a Vittra tracker I had dealt with before, appeared at the top of the landing. Her dark hair was in a pixie cut, and she wore a long black leather jacket. She hung onto the railing, crouching down. As soon as she saw me, she sneered, showing much more teeth than any human would.
I rushed towards her, hoping for the element of surprise, but I was out of luck.
She dodged before I got close and sent a swift kick flying into my abdomen. I stumbled backwards, gripping my stomach dramatically, and when she came at me again, I punched her.
Kyra didn’t even take a moment to be stunned. She returned the blow much harder, hitting me in the face. When I fell down, she stood over me, smiling, with blood dripping from her nose from where I’d punched her.
I scrambled to my feet, and she grabbed my hair, yanking me up. I kicked at her as she lifted me, and she rewarded my moxie by kicking me so hard in the side, I cried out. Kyra laughed at that and kicked me again.
This time I saw white and everything faded out for a moment. My hearing got wonky, and I barely hung on to consciousness.
“Stop!” A strong voice was shouting.
When I blinked open my swollen eyes, I saw a man running up the stairs towards Kyra. He was tall, and beneath his black sweater, he was well-muscled. Kyra dropped me to the ground when he reached the top of the stairs.
“It’s not like I can really hurt her, Loki,” Kyra said, her voice bordering on whining.
I tried to get to my feet again, even though I felt dizzy, and she kicked me down.
“Knock it off,” he snapped at her. She grimaced and took a step back.
He stood in front of me, towering above me, and then knelt down. I could scramble away from him, but I wouldn’t get far. He cocked his head, looking at me curiously.
“So you’re what all the fuss is about,” he mused.
He reached forward, taking my face in his hands. Not painfully, but he was forcing me to look at him. His caramel eyes fixed on mine. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.
This strange fog settled over me, and as terrified as I was, I felt my body relaxing, losing its ability to fight. My eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and unable to stop it, I fell asleep.
I was dreaming of water. But anything more specific than that I couldn’t remember. My body felt cold, like it should be shivering but wasn’t. My cheeks were warm though, resting against something soft.
“You’re telling me that she is a Princess?” Matt asked, and his chest rumbled above me. My head lay against his leg, and the more I woke up, the more I realized how terrible my body felt.
“It’s not that hard to believe, really,” Rhys said. His voice came from somewhere on the other side of the room. “Once you get all the Trylle stuff, the Princess part is pretty easy to take.”
“I’m not sure what to believe anymore,” Matt admitted.
I opened my eyes with a struggle. My lids felt unnaturally heavy, and my left eye was swollen from where Kyra punched me. The room swayed, and I blinked it into focus.
When my vision finally cleared, I still didn’t really understand what I was seeing. The floor appeared to be dirt, and the walls were brown and grey stones, looking damp and old. It reminded me of an old cellar… or a dungeon.
Rhys paced the other side of the room, and he had fresh bruises on his face. I tried to sit up, but my entire body hurt and my head felt woozy.
“Hey, take it easy,” Matt said, putting his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t listen.
I pushed myself up until I was sitting. It took a lot more effort than it normally required, and I grimaced when I leaned against the wall next to him.
“You’re awake!” Rhys grinned, and he was probably the only person in the world that could look happy in this situation.
“How are you feeling?” Matt asked. For his part, he didn’t have any visible bruises, but he was a better fighter than Rhys and me.
“Great.” I had to lie through gritted teeth because it hurt to breathe. Based on the intense shooting pain I had in my diaphragm, I guessed I had a cracked rib, but I didn’t want to worry Matt. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“I was hoping you could shed some light on that,” Matt said.
“I already told him, but he won’t believe me,” Rhys said.
“Where are we then?” I asked Rhys, and Matt scoffed.
“I’m not sure exactly.” Rhys shook his head. “The Vittra palace. I think it might be in Colorado.”
“I figured as much,” I sighed. “I recognized the Vittra that attacked the house. Kyra went after me before.”
“What?” Matt’s eyes were wide and disbelieving. “These people went after you before?”
“Yeah, that’s why I had to leave.” I closed my eyes because it was hurting too much keep them open. The world wanted to spin out from under me.
“Told you,” Rhys said to Matt. “I’m not lying about this stuff. After what happened, you think you’d cut me a little slack.”
“Rhys isn’t lying,” I said, wincing. It was getting harder to breathe, and I had to take very shallow breaths, which only made me more lightheaded. “He knows more about all of this than I do. I wasn’t there very long.”
“Why are these Vittra people coming after you?” Matt asked. “Why do they want you?”
I shook my head, unwilling to risk the pain of speaking.
“I don’t know,” Rhys answered when I didn’t. “I’ve never seen them go after anyone this way before. Then again, she’s the first Princess I’ve been around, and they’ve foretold of her for a while.”
I wanted to know what they were foretelling. Everyone gave me vague responses, like I would be powerful someday, but I didn’t feel very powerful, especially right now. It hurt too much to speak, and I was locked up a dungeon.
Not only had I failed to save myself, I’d gotten Rhys and Matt dragged into it along with me.
“Wendy, are you okay?” Matt asked.
“Yeah,” I lied.
“You don’t look okay,” Rhys said.
“All your color is gone, and you’re barely even breathing,” Matt said, and I heard him getting to his feet next to me. “You need a doctor or something.”
“What are you doing?” Rhys asked.
I opened my eyes to see what Matt was up to. His plan was simple and obvious – he went to the locked door and pounded on it.
“Help! Somebody! Wendy needs a doctor!” Matt shouted.
“What makes you think they’d even want to help her?” Rhys asked, and those were my thoughts exactly. Kyra had gone out of her way to hurt me when she captured me.
“They haven’t killed her yet, so they probably don’t want her dead.” Matt stopped pounding long enough to answer Rhys, then went back to hitting the door and yelling for help.
The sound of it echoed through the room, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My head throbbed too much already. I was about to tell Matt to knock it off when the door opened.
This was the perfect time for Matt and Rhys to launch a counter attack, but it didn’t occur to either of them. They both just moved away.
The Vittra from the house walked into the room, the one that had rendered me unconscious, and I dimly remembered Kyra calling him Loki. His shaggy hair was surprisingly light for a Vittra, almost blond.
Walking next to him was a troll, like an actual troll. All short and gobliny. His features were humanoid, but his skin was slimy and brown. He wore a hat and tufts of grayish hair stuck out around the edge. He barely came up to Loki’s hip, but the fact that he was an actual troll made him more intimidating somehow.
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