Freed: A Supernatural Prison Romance (Imprisoned by the Fae Book 3)

by Jessica Lynch

  Nine nods at Jim’s hand, gesturing at it with a jerk of his chin. “Put that away. No one touches my mate except for me.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Jim leans back in our shared seat. “Forgot about that.”

  Riley shifts. Only just now do I realize that, in response to Jim’s offer of a friendly shake, she slipped her hands beneath her ass. She drops them into her lap, leaning into Nine again. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Just don’t do it again.”

  “Nine—”

  “He won’t,” I cut in. “Right, Jim?”

  It takes him a second—and me running my finger on top of my hand before slanting my eyes toward Nine—before he remembers just how important it is not to give anyone permission to touch you while in Faerie.

  His dark eyes go wide, an impish smile tugging on his lips. “Yup.”

  Surprisingly, the Unseelie lets it go. Even more shocking, the awkwardness inside of the carriage basically disappears after that. For the decade that I’ve known him, Jim’s always been an easy-going, laid-back kind of guy. Very go with the flow, if a bit tactless at times. Honestly, he’s handling being in Faerie way better than I ever did and I think Nine and Riley pick up on that. They’re not insulted, and they seem to get along with Jim.

  They start talking about the human world. Turns out Nine and Riley live in Newport, an urban area in the next state over from where me and Jim grew up and have our apartment.

  Because we have that much in common at least, I try to join in on the conversation. It, uh, doesn’t go so well.

  I spend the next hour or so wishing that I could ride on top of the carriage with Rys before realizing that, while I might be moping, I’m also acting like a bitch. They don’t deserve that. So, pulling on my big girl pants, I pretend like I’m enjoying myself. Before long, I kind of am.

  So maybe Riley has history with Rys, and Nine scares me more than a little. They’re really not so bad—which is a good thing considering I’m going to be traveling with them for who knows how long.

  Rys is true to his word. Though we stop to let the horses graze, and he joins us for a hurried meal, he pushes the horses as if eager to finish this part of the trip as quickly as possible. Once it starts to get late, I must’ve finally dozed off, letting the rocking motion of the carriage and the thudding of the hoofbeats lull me asleep. When the carriage slows then comes to a quick stop, I jerk awake right as Rys’s handsome face appears outside of my window.

  His golden gaze darts over my shoulder before landing on me. He frowns. “I just wanted to let you know we’re here,” he announces before disappearing just as suddenly.

  And that’s when I realize that I fell asleep next to Jim, his arm slung familiarly over my shoulder as he snores.

  My reaction is immediate and entirely confusing. I shove his arm away from me, waking him up with how forcefully I do it.

  “What’s going on?” Jim mutters, his gruff voice thick with sleep. He yawns and stretches his arm before ruffling his dark hair. “Where are we?”

  Turning away from Jim, giving myself the excuse to put some space between us, I peek out of the window again. No sign of Rys, though I can see the magenta sky over the carriage giving way to purple, the cotton candy-colored grass beneath darkening and turning more brittle. In the distance, the shadows make it seem like it’s past midnight though this side of the Summer Court reveals that I must have slept through the night. It’s morning again.

  I know this place. I know exactly where we are.

  Remembering what Morgan called it, I tell the others, “We’re here. We’re at the Courts’ divide.”

  Finally.

  6

  Once we cross over into the Shadow Realm, Nine takes the lead.

  It makes sense. Like Rys, he’s obviously older than he appears since he mentioned before in the carriage that he spent his first few decades in the Shadow Realm before he was hand-picked by the former Fae Queen to attend her academy and join her guard. He has a home in Scáth, the capital city of the Winter Court, though he’s since moved to the human world to live with Riley. At the very least, he knows what to expect of the Cursed woods so, even if he doesn’t know where exactly to find the missing queen, he’s more qualified to take point than any of the rest of us.

  Just like how we couldn’t use a Seelie portal to cut through the Summerlands, we have to head through the woods on foot. Nine could use shadow travel, and I quickly discover Riley’s talent when it comes to shade-walking is pretty astonishing, but that would mean leaving Rys behind and that’s just not happening.

  Even if he does offer to split up so that we can get to Scáth faster.

  Because that’s our plan. With our only lead that the Winter Queen is still hiding somewhere in her Court otherwise the land would’ve started to thaw once the Summer King returned, Nine decides that visiting the capital and tapping some of his old contacts is our best bet to begin. He also offers to journey ahead, but Riley thinks we should stay together, so we do.

  I know from Riley that she’s never been to this part of Faerie but, I’ve gotta say, it definitely agrees with her. While Nine is glowing brighter, his pale skin illuminating a bright silver glow that acts like some kind of flashlight, Riley’s reaction was a little different when we moved into the shadows—though no less noticeable.

  One step past the border that separates the two courts and she jolts, almost like she’s been electrocuted. The shadows wrap around her without any prodding, creating a cloak for the half-human, half-fae that rivals the one the imps traded me all those weeks ago. Despite the fact that she slept almost as long as me and Jim did, she’s even more re-energized, bouncing around like she’s had five espressos or something. She zips around the snowy clearing, jumping through the shadows until she gets used to the way they fuel her.

  I’m jealous. Jim? He’s amazed. He watches the younger woman so intently that Nine eventually steps in front of him, scowling as he announces, “I don’t like the way you’re watching my mate.”

  “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, buddy. We’re cool.”

  Riley laughs as she hops from one shadow to the next, appearing right behind him. Nine’s lips twitch, like he wants to smile at her joy but he doesn’t want to back down in front of Jim.

  In the end, he just says warningly, “Keep it that way.”

  Jim nods and, as if wanting to remind Nine that he has nothing to worry about, he reaches down to grab my hand.

  I was expecting it. I know Jim. He wasn’t being a perv any more than I was, watching as Riley shade-walked; like how he marveled at her pointed ears, he was just in awe of how different the fae are from us humans. So of course his first instinct would be to show Nine that he’s here with me.

  Before he can slip his fingers between mine, I pretend like my nose is affected by the sudden cold, rubbing the tip of it as I casually move away from him. He pauses for a moment, seems to remember the conversation we had back at Rys’s house, and doesn’t say a thing.

  Phew.

  It takes Riley a few minutes to burn off the energy. By the time she’s come down from the sudden high, she has a trail of black shadows following behind her. She pulls them toward her, as skillfully as any Unseelie I’ve ever seen, and weaves two more shadowy cloaks out of them. One for me. One for Jim.

  Huh. Well that explains why Rys let it slide when the imps didn’t make me one with my new Faerie clothes. Though the imps are amazing tailors, when it comes to weaving with the shadows, Riley’s got them beat.

  And he obviously knew that. Just like Riley knows just how much of the dark shadows Rys can tolerate.

  Spoiler alert: not much.

  Because it would only weaken him, she doesn’t offer Rys one; he pulls on the same dark cloak he was wearing when he rescued me from the Faerie Market. He doesn’t bother with glamour, using the heavy fabric to cover him up instead. Since we’re going to be in the Shadow Realm for much longer than the last time we were here together, he�
�s saving his Seelie magic and his glamour in case we need it later.

  Nine keeps on his shadowy duster, the only one of us who doesn’t bother to hide in the darkness.

  Once we’re ready, Nine slings his arm over Riley’s shoulders, an easy yet possessive touch as he starts to guide us through the trees. The shadows have reinvigorated him as much as Riley and he’s ready and raring to go. No more rest for him.

  Though it’s not my first choice, I walk alongside Jim, keeping my eye on him while also keeping some distance. I can’t help but remember some of the dangers I’ve heard about—and experienced myself—when it comes to these woods. In case one of the faerie folk tries to mess with him, or he starts to stray from the path, I want to be there to help him.

  I owe him that much.

  Uncharacteristically quiet, Rys brings up the rear, watching our backs. I hope he’s not too tired. The four of us were able to rest inside of the carriage while Rys drove the horses, and I know crossing into the Shadow Realm definitely didn’t do him any favors.

  He lost some of his bright shine within minutes of moving into the dark. When I pointed it out, he brushed me off, agreeing with Nine that we should move quicker just in case one of Oberon’s enemies watched us go.

  We take a quick break after a few hours. Now that we’re in the Shadow Realm, Nine reaches into his own pocket to provide us with our next meal and some crisp Faerie water. Since we don’t know exactly how long we’ll be here, Rys wants to conserve as much of his power as he can.

  The shadows suck. Seriously. The last time me and Rys were here together, we only had to travel for two days before we were back in the Seelie Court. Rys didn’t worry about how the shadows were affecting his light because the second we crossed courts, he recovered his strength. It’s at least a five-day trek to Scáth, and that’s if we go straight there. He needs to be careful that the shadows don’t drain him too much. That includes creating a portal to retrieve any of his own supplies.

  Before we left, he promised he’d be fine. And maybe I’m worrying too much. He could survive days at a time being imprisoned in the oubliette. When he was a soldier for the queen, he had to visit the Winter Court on occasion. Besides, Oberon is also Seelie. He wouldn’t send Rys into the Shadow Realm if he couldn’t handle it, right?

  Unless he was testing his loyalty.

  Which… I’m pretty sure he is.

  Lovely.

  After I check that Jim is eating human-safe food—he eats the same meals as Riley so that neither one of them becomes a slave to the faerie fruit—I quickly eat one of my apples, burying the core just in case. Jim makes a face when I do, though he doesn’t ask me about it. I’m glad, too. I didn’t even realize how weird that must seem to some of the others until I did it.

  Though it’s hard to tell when the Shadow Realm is so dark, eventually night starts to fall again. My apple gave me a boost of energy, but it isn’t long before I begin to flag a bit. Jim’s slowing down, too, and while I know the shadows weigh heavily on Rys, he seems fine—but I’m not so sure he is.

  I’m ready to go to bed.

  Problem is where?

  In the Shadow Realm, it’s cold, it’s dark, and who knows what’s lurking in the surrounding blackness? And while I’d give just about anything to cozy up to Rys and share some of his heat like I did when we were in the oubliette… yeah. That’s not going to happen.

  I try to hide my yawns. Since everyone else is still trucking, I don’t want to be the weenie who complains first.

  I didn’t notice how closely Rys was paying attention to me, even though he’s more than a few feet behind us. The third time I yawn, I can’t quite swallow it, and he tuts before calling out, “We can’t go much farther tonight, Nine. We should stop, start over when there’s more light.”

  “He’s right,” says Riley. She’s not buzzing as much as she was before, though she sounds way more awake than I’m feeling right now. “I can’t see anything in front of my face.”

  Me, neither.

  “A little longer, my mate. I’m looking for a fleasc,” Nine says. A what? “They’re native to these woods. We can use the shadows if necessary, but with the humans, a fleasc is best.”

  I have no idea what he’s talking about. And maybe my being so tired is making me short, but I also don’t really care for the way he says “humans” like that.

  “We don’t need one of those things,” I tell him. “I spent weeks in these woods before. I was fine.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “And how did you manage that?”

  I shrug. “I found a place. Well, not a place, but a warm spot in the woods that kept me safe at night. No big deal.”

  Rys lets out a sharp whistle. “You never told me about that.”

  I didn’t? “Like I said, no big deal.”

  “You’d be wrong about that,” Nine says. “I didn’t think it was possible for a human to stumble upon a fleasc.”

  With four pairs of curious eyes on me, I wonder what it was that I said. “I didn’t say it was a flesh-thingy. It was just a circle of flowers. Sure, it was magic, but it didn’t even have any glamour.”

  “That’s exactly what a fleasc in the Cursed woods is,” Rys explains. “Fleasc. A charmed wreath. They’re not uncommon, but humans… I never would’ve thought.”

  “Me, neither. And you found it on your own?”

  Nine sounds so surprised that I wonder if I should be offended. Then I remember that, technically, I didn’t find one. Grimly brought me to it.

  Nine doesn’t need to know that, though. “Do they all have lily of the valleys marking the circle? Because, if so, then maybe I can help find one and we can get some rest.”

  Now he looks impressed. His eyebrows rise, dark slashes that nearly melt into his wild curls. “A few do,” he admits, “but not all. In the Winter Court, any flower powerful enough to thrive in the cold will trigger the magic.”

  “And then we just have to imprint on it. Right?”

  Nine nods. “Yes. Since there’s a group of us, the one most in need of protection will have to do the imprinting.”

  “Hmm. That would have to be the human then,” Rys says.

  “If we find it, I’ll do it. Sure. No problem.”

  From the soft sound of disagreement he makes, I know Rys isn’t happy that I purposely volunteered instead of letting him call out Jim like that.

  Because—whether he’s got a point or not—that’s totally what he just did.

  I wouldn’t have cared if it came to that. Swallowing my pride, inserting myself between Rys and Jim again… it would be worth it if we could find one of the protective circles that saved my ass last time.

  Of course, this is me we’re talking about. Did I really think it would be that easy?

  The five of us travel through the woods for another hour but there’s no sign of any of the protective circles. No flowers. No grass, either, really. In the time since I’ve last been in the Shadow Realm, the ice has thickened. It developed a rocky crust that is both jagged and slippery in certain patches. If it wasn’t for the warmth of Riley’s conjured shadows, I’d probably freeze my tits off.

  The way Riley can manipulate the shadows reminds me of Morgan and the black barrier that hid her cottage from the rest of the woods. Like the fleasc, I could only find it because Grimly pointed it out to me, but I was able to push my way past the shadows. Inside the barrier, it was even warmer than my protective circle, and Morgan was always so good to me.

  “Too bad we can’t just go find Morgan,” I mutter. “Then we wouldn’t need one of those stupid circles.”

  I didn’t mean for anyone to hear me. It was more thinking out loud than anything else. But Jim asks, “Morgan? Who’s that?”

  “Remember how I told you that I’ve been in this part of Faerie before?” When Jim nods, I explain, “Morgan was a friend I made. We… we got separated when she was helping me find my way out of the Unseelie Court.”

  Separated… that’s a good way to put it. Becaus
e I purposely chose not to tell him what I’ve lived through these last two months, Jim doesn’t know anything about either time I was captured by the redcap and his brutish trolls before being sold at auction. The last time I saw Morgan, the two of us had stumbled into one of the redcap’s pit traps. One troll had me slung over his shoulder, the other made off with Morgan. I’m still not quite sure what happened after that—the redcap mentioned that gentle, kind Morgan, um, smashed the rocky troll—but I’ve never seen her again.

  It’s a shame. I only knew her for little more than a week, but I liked her. I miss her, too. I really would like to see her again—and not just because she told me her home was always open to me.

  I didn’t realize that the others were listening to me and Jim until Nine clears his throat. “This Morgan… is she a Dark Fae? Is she like me?”

  It takes everything I have to swallow my snort. Except for their coloring, Morgan is nothing like Nine. She was kind and—for a fae—extremely generous, plus very interested in anything human-related. But I’m not about to insult Nine, so I just say, “She’s Unseelie. She lives in a cottage in these woods.”

  “A cottage?” For the first time since we stopped to eat, Jim perks up. I don’t blame him. Like me, he’s a city kid through and through. He hasn’t complained yet—and I don’t expect him to—but I know he’s no fan of the outdoors. The horse ride was bad enough though the carriage was comfier than I expected, and he was the only one of us visibly disappointed when we left the horses behind us. I don’t think he thought we were going to be sleeping outside in the cold when he insisted on tagging along. “Maybe we should go visit her. I mean, if we’re heading that way.”

  Honestly, I’d love to see Morgan again, check to see if she made it back to the safety of her hidden cottage in one piece. She always looked forward to my visits, and I could only imagine how excited she’d be if I brought two humans with me.

  “I would if I could, but...” I exhale. Hey. It’s not like the others don’t already know that my sense of direction is shit. Jim and Rys know me, and I made sure to tell Nine and Riley while we were traveling toward the Court’s divide. “She’s in the woods somewhere. I couldn’t even begin to remember how to find my way to her place. I’d only get us hopelessly lost if I tried.”