Before he can unleash any more of it, the raven suddenly dive-bombs the whipping shadows. A gust of too-powerful wind hits the bird, catching it by its open wings, throwing it back into the midnight sky an instant before the shadows suddenly change direction. I have a split second to realize who the tornado is heading toward before I scream out a warning.
“Jim, no!”
He’s frozen. I don’t know if he ever noticed the shadows coming—but the rolling black clouds aren’t just shadows. They split, almost as if pushed apart by the powerful wind. There’s a cloaked figure looming right behind Jim, reaching toward him with hands bathed in a silvery glow.
His face is hidden by the shadows and his hood. Something tells me that it’s a male, though, and his coloring makes two things super obvious: he’s Unseelie, and he’s gunning for an unsuspecting Jim.
I can’t let that happen. I have to do something to save him.
As if the Unseelie senses my desperation, he turns the shadow cyclone into a freaking hurricane right as he wraps the shadows around him and Jim, swallowing the two of them up entirely.
No!
I throw my arms up to cover my face as I dash toward him. I get slapped with hunks of ice torn from the wintry ground, whipped with rocks and dirt and debris kicked up from the wind, but I stumble as I yell again. “Jimmy!”
My only response is a full-throated male scream that is eerily cut off before it’s finished.
8
This is my nightmare come to life.
The night I followed the gnome Grimly into the depths of the shadowy woods to find his raven’s feather, I came face to face with one of the tricky and cruel faerie folk. It was a shapeshifter who first appeared as Jim, then Rys in a bid to keep me from retrieving the raven’s feather. It had hurt to see Jim, even when I knew it was impossible for him to be standing there in Faerie, but to see Rys after we were initially separated?
It fucked me up and good.
I almost gave up on paying Grimly off then and there. If it wasn’t for a stroke of luck—when the raven flew away, leaving a feather to float down in front of me before I turned my back on the shapeshifter and got the hell out of there—I probably would’ve. I snatched that damn feather, guarding it with my life until I could give it away, and even after I made it back to the protective circle, I still had the fake Rys’s cajoling whisper making me doubt… well, everything.
And that’s when I had that nightmare.
I was in the shadowy woods of the Shadow Realm, facing off against Rys and Jim while my old boyfriend was demanding me to choose. I stuttered and I stumbled—like I was just doing—but before I could come up with an answer, I saw a raven and some shadows that turned into a faceless creature who whisked Jim away.
Nightmare? Who am I kidding? It was a fucking premonition, and I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do.
He’s gone.
Jim’s… gone.
I need him back.
It’s as simple as that. No matter what, I’m not going to let some bastard pop up from the shadows and take him. He doesn’t deserve that. If it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t even be in Faerie.
I have to do something.
My mind is a blur. I keep replaying the moment that the Unseelie appeared from the depths of the shadows, latching onto Jim even though he didn’t have his permission; the fact that it had to have burned the shit out of his hands didn’t seem to bother the mysterious fae.
I don’t know who that was or why he went after Jim, but my instinct is to chase after him. Doesn’t matter that he disappeared back into the shadows, taking Jim with him. Now that the tornado has stilled to an eerie breeze, I start to run.
I don’t get far. Maybe three or four steps before someone grabs me. Whoever it is is strong. Their grip on my arms lifts me right off of the icy ground before I’m tucked against a chest so warm, I just about melt.
I know this male. This fae. And though his touch sends a soothing wave of energy through me, dulling the sharp edge of my overwhelming panic, I jerk my body, trying to break free from his hold.
“No, Rys, let me go!”
“He’s gone.”
I can’t accept that.
I won’t accept that.
I struggle harder. His grip tightens, not enough to hurt—never to hurt—but I’m stuck.
I still try, even as he says, “Listen to me. He’s already been dragged through the shadows. You’ll never find him.”
“I have to!”
“You won’t be able to. But that doesn’t mean no one will. Look.”
He eases me back to my feet, turning me so that I can see that Riley is sprinting toward us, Nine directly on her heels.
“We heard the scream. What happened?”
“He took Jim!”
Nine glances over my head. “Who did?” he asks Rys.
“I can’t say. I didn’t see his face, but no doubt it’s a Cursed One. He shadow-traveled right behind us, pulling Elle’s human into the shadows with him before I could stop him.” Rys squeezes my shoulder. His touch grounds me further, and when I rip my wild stare away from Riley to look up at him, he brushes his lips against my temple. “I would have. Believe me, my darling. For you, I would’ve gone in his place.”
I shudder, trying to get control of myself. Not gonna lie. The sweet kiss helps almost as much as his gentled tone.
Swallowing roughly, my hand shoots out to clutch his upper thigh. Right now, I just need to touch him, almost as much as I need to breathe.
“I believe you,” I whisper. I can barely get the words out. It feels almost traitorous, giving in to my desire for Rys while Jim is gone. And I don’t know if it’s because of the touch or because—finally—I can admit that I still want Rys more than anything else, but I feel fucking awful leaning into Rys instead of running after Jim, no matter how fruitless that would be.
Because he’s right. I can’t find him on my own. As a Seelie, Rys might not survive jumping into an Unseelie portal. But that doesn’t mean no one can.
Nine is Unseelie. But Riley?
She’s the freaking Shadow. If anyone could trace the shadow that whisked Jim and his abductor away, it has to be Riley.
“What about you?” I ask her. “Can you follow after him?”
Riley sets her jaw. “I can sure as hell try.”
“I’ll go with you,” Nine says. His mirror-like eyes glitter viciously. “Where did the Dark Fae take him from?”
I wiggle out of Rys’s grip; now that I’m not fighting against him, he lets me go, even if I can sense how reluctant he is to do so. I dash over to the spot where Jim was standing right before the wind started to pick up.
“Here. He was right here.”
“Riley?”
“I’m on it.”
Riley lifts her arms up. I can’t really tell what she’s doing, the leather gloves nearly invisible in the dark, purple night, but I can sense the way she twists her wrists, tugging the shadows toward her.
Her power as the Shadow is… it’s different. Instead of a hurricane, strong yet uncontrollable, the black shadows that Riley controls are tame. They greet her like a long, lost friend, curving around her feet before wrapping up her legs. Because Nine is standing right beside her, they cling to him, too. Can they tell he’s Unseelie? Maybe.
When the shadows have thickened and grown, reaching the middle of her belly, she shoves at the space in front of her. The shadows follow her gesture, forming an impossibly black patch right where Jim was standing before he was snatched.
“Ready?”
“Always.”
Riley jumps into the shadows. Nine grabs her hand before she’s completely gone, linking her to him as he vanishes next. A moment later, the shadows disperse.
And that’s when I see it. Something dark, something skinny… even though there’s barely any light, the inky black color still stands out against the old layer of snow on the ground. I don’t think I ever would have paid it any attention—it looks lik
e a flat stick, or a weird leaf—except I still have the ear-splitting caw echoing in my ear.
Anything’s better than the memory of Jim’s broken scream...
My stomach lurches as I push myself toward it. I…. I know what that is. If it wasn’t for the debt I owed Grimly, and what I went to that clearing to do, would I have even had the nightmare I’m living through now? I don’t know, but I sure as hell earned the feather I gathered for Grimly.
And look. Here’s another one.
I swoop down, picking it up. Unless I’m wrong—and I already know I’m not—this is from the raven that came screeching down toward us right before the Seelie in the shadows grabbed Jim.
Was it the same raven from all those weeks ago? Did it drop its feather on purpose this time, like it did then?
This is Faerie. I wouldn’t doubt it at all.
Just… why?
Rys eases right up behind me. “What do you have there?”
I show him.
“A black feather?” He frowns. “It all happened so fast. But, before the Dark Fae appeared, I thought I saw a bird flying—”
“It’s a raven.” When he gives me a strange look, I shrug. “Morgan told me so.”
“Yes. But I’ve been to the Shadow Realm plenty of times before, Leannán. I’ve never seen any birds—ravens included—flying these woods. It’s too dangerous. They rarely survive.”
I don’t tell him that this isn’t the first time that I’ve encountered that raven. Because, now that Rys says that, I realize he’s right. Except for the raven that always seemed to be flying overhead, I didn’t see any other wildlife. Sure, I heard the thunderous hoofbeats from the mysterious rider, but that was it. That raven… it has to be the same one that Grimly was interested in.
It gave me one of its feathers the day I confronted the shapeshifter who pretended to be both Jim and Rys. The feather fluttered right at my feet when I was ready to run away from the second apparition, but I was so grateful that I could escape, I never thought about it again after I handed it off to Grimly.
Did it gift us another feather tonight? Is it just a coincidence? Am I grasping at straws because I need this to make some kind of sense?
I don’t know. But, just in case, I don’t want it.
Right when I’m about to let it drop back to the ground, Rys stops me.
He holds out his hand. “If you don’t want it, can I have it?”
I don’t know why he’s so interested in it, but I place it against his warm palm anyway.
Rys slips it inside of his cloak. Once the feather is gone, he holds out his hand again. This time, I know exactly what he wants.
I slip mine into his, letting Rys tug me until I’m standing up again instead of crouching in the frozen dirt. He doesn’t even have to pull too hard before I shuffle toward him, falling into the cradle of his open arms.
And then we wait.
It feels like forever before we hear from either Nine or Riley again.
I’m ashamed to admit that I cling to him for much longer than I should’ve. When I finally realize just what I’m doing, I push away from Rys before starting to pace around the clearing.
Rys tries to get me to rest. It’s late, and I know I should’ve been asleep hours ago, but it’s just not possible. When I don’t know what happened to Jim, who took him, or why, the least I can do is wait for him to come back.
Even though I’ve only known them for a couple of days, I have all the faith in the world that the mated couple will do everything they can to find Jim and save him from the Unseelie.
I have to. Because the alternative is believing that Jim is lost and I’ll never be able to make this right between us again.
That can not happen.
Rys does his best to comfort me. I hate that it feels so completely natural to turn to him, that the last few weeks of distance he’s put between us disappears as suddenly as that. It only reminds me that our relationship is the way it is because that’s how he wants it. That, if he let down his guard around me for once, we could be together—and Jim would still be safe at home in the human world.
I don’t want to blame him. I know this is all my fault. But when Rys mentions that he brought some dust with him, I threaten to pull every single strand of tawny hair out of his head if he even thinks about dusting me right now.
After that, he just keeps in step with me as I pace.
Nine is the first to come back. He slips out of the shadows, searching the clearing as soon as he fully appears a few feet away from me and Rys.
His head swivels, his expression turning murderous for a moment before he demands, “Riley hasn’t returned yet?”
I shake my head. “No.”
The Unseelie curses under his breath. It’s in the beautiful fae language, so I don’t know for sure what he said, but no matter how pretty it sounds, I know cursing when I hear it.
“Can’t you trace her?”
“I did. We split up to search for Jim, then I found her again. I told her to come back here. She said she would.”
He curses again, and I draw closer to Rys. When Nine lets his temper get the better of him, he starts to give off this freaky silver light that I just know means trouble. I get the feeling that his normally controlled demeanor is hiding a ticking time bomb. That, when it comes to his mate, he’s primed to explode.
No, thanks.
I want to ask him if he was able to track Jim down. Since he came back alone and Riley seems to still be searching, I’m guessing that’s a big, honking nope. Though I don’t say it out loud, I’m hoping the fact that Riley is still missing means that she’s had more success than Nine.
Unfortunately, when she suddenly appears—and she’s by herself—I can feel all of my hope fading.
She’s out of breath, and when Nine immediately stalks toward her, she holds up one hand, the other rubbing a stitch in her side. “Not now, Nine.”
“Riley—”
“What? I told you I would come back and I did. I just made one last stop before I backtracked.”
Nine looks like he wants to argue, but settles on shaking his head, just relieved that she’s back. “Very tricky, my mate.”
Riley flashes him a quick grin. “Hey. I learned from the best, Shadow Man.”
“Hm. Well, is that all? What else did you learn?”
At Rys’s interruption, Riley loses her grin. She looks at him, then turns to me. And I know, even before she says a damn thing, that I’m not going to like what she found out.
“Where’s Jim?” I ask.
“I definitely found him.”
“You did? That’s great!”
“Yeah, well. Hold off on that for a sec, Elle. There’s a reason I couldn’t bring him back with me.”
A million reasons why start running through my head, all of them fucking awful. “Is he okay? Did you see him? Is he—”
Dead?
“He’s alright. I mean, I think he is. Okay. This is what happened. Shade-walking… think about it like a subway. If I don’t get off at the right stop, I could end up at the wrong station. Get it? Well, I figured I’d go one more stop past where I thought they took Jim and I arrived just in time to see them marching him inside.”
Marching. Marching is good. Marching means that Jim’s up and walking on his own two feet.
But marching where?
Rys asks before I get the chance. “Where were they bringing Elle’s human?”
Riley shares a quick look with Nine before fiddling with her pointer finger. She’s plucking at the leather glove, suddenly transfixed by the way it’s molded to her hand.
My stomach drops. “Riley. Please. You’ve gotta tell me. Where did they take Jim?”
She looks up through the fringe of her lashes. “I don’t know exactly, but… based on the building and the gate and the bars… prison?”
No.
I clutch Rys’s arm. “Is there a prison nearby?”
“Oh, my darling,” he says softly. “I’m so sorry
.”
My knees buckle. If it wasn’t for my death grip on Rys's arm, I would’ve dropped like a stone.
Like earlier, he lets me hold onto him for as long as I need. Since we have an audience—I can feel the way Nine and Riley are watching me, as if they’re expecting me to fall apart—I pull myself together a lot quicker. It’s bad enough that I’m the only full human of the four of us. No way do I want any of them to think I’m the weakest link, not when I haven’t given up hope on getting Jim back.
We broke out of Siúcra, and that’s supposed to be impossible. If Riley is right—and I hate to admit it, but I’m sure she is—then the Unseelie captured Jim only to imprison him in one of the nearby prisons.
“I can’t leave him there,” I say out loud.
I’m not really talking to anyone in particular. I just need to get that out.
Even so, I’m not so surprised when Rys answers me.
“Leannán… I’ll get him back for you. I promise.”
Nine’s head jerks toward Rys. For one fleeting moment, I think it’s because a fae never promises something unless they’re positive that they could fulfill it; it’s like a bargain, one that a fae will be held to.
But then Nine says softly, “You still call her Leannán?,” and I realize that something else has caught his attention.
I remember early yesterday morning. When I first found Nine and Riley sitting with Rys. He called me by my nickname then, too, and Nine noticed. I didn’t think anything of it then… but now?
“Does it matter?” I ask Nine. “It’s just a name.”
From the way Nine continues to watch Rys closely, I don’t think it’s just a name.
You know what? I don’t give a shit. If Rys wants to call me any damn thing, even ‘Helen’ at this point, he can if only he’ll back up his word by saving Jim for me.
And it’s not like he doesn’t already know that that’s my true name, either. Before I explained to Jim how important it was to stick to nicknames, he blurted my full name out in front of Rys and Saxon. So what if Saxon later told me that it didn’t count unless I gave it away myself? Whatever. This is all my fault. I’ll do whatever I have to to make this right with Jim.
Freed: A Supernatural Prison Romance (Imprisoned by the Fae Book 3) Page 8