Jacinta watches on in amusement as his eyes flick between me and Kaylee. “Okay,” he says. “How come I’m just finding out about it now?”
“Because it’s a girls’ day,” Kaylee deadpans. “But if you’re jealous, you could always grab a chair and join in. I’m sure there’s enough time for you to get a manicure.”
A horrified expression crosses his face. “Uh…no,” he says. “Just come and find me before you go.”
“Okay,” she smiles. He bends down and gives me a quick kiss on the lips then disappears out of the nail boutique faster than a bat out of hell.
An hour later, we’re make our way down to the food court for some lunch. I promise to get something easy so Kaylee still has time to meet up with Rylan before we need to head back.
We stand in line at the salad bar when Jacinta is hit with the sudden urge to use the bathroom. She squirms and crosses her legs as she tells me her order. She runs off with me and Kaylee left behind in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
We order our salads and wait patiently for the young girl behind the counter to put it all together. After an agonizingly slow five-minute wait, she hands the food over. I reach up to grab it and see Jacinta out of the corner of my eye. Perfect timing.
Kaylee and I start walking to meet her in the middle as Kaylee scans the food court for an empty table. I glance up at Jacinta as she approaches and stop walking as her eyes widen in fear.
My brows pinch together as I try to work out what could possibly be wrong when a dark shadow approaches from behind, hovering above me.
I spin on my heel, seeing two men. I instantly push myself between the men and Kaylee, giving her a hard shove to get her as far away from these men as possible. I position myself, ready for a fight as I study the scene before me and prepare for whatever may come next.
“Fairy Knights,” I hear Jacinta scream from behind us. I force my eyes to focus harder only to realize Jacinta is right. It is indeed Fairy Knights, using a glamor to hide their true identity from the other humans.
The Fairy Knights loom over us. They must be at least eight feet tall and look more like a person made of the earth. “Get help,” I scream to Jacinta, thankful she’s still too far away to be in any immediate danger.
Trusting Jacinta to do as she’s told, I launch myself at the closest knight, nailing my fist right into what I can only assume are his ribs, though seems to look more like tree roots. He grunts in pain as he blocks my next advance. “Make one more move and she’s dead,” a sickening voice says from beside me. Dread fills me as I glance towards the sound to find a petrified Kaylee in the hands of the other Fairy Knight. His large hand circling her throat and squeezing as his hollow eyes gleam with pleasure.
I immediately halt my attack and leap towards Kaylee when the other knight grabs my upper arm, yanking me back into him. The Knight presses his finger into his wrist and the world around me begins to blur then vanishes completely from sight.
Chapter 17
Rylan
There’s nothing I hate more than these damn shopping trips. I don’t know what possessed me to come along today, I wasn’t even on the chaperone roster, but the moment I heard Bianca had put her name down, dread-filled me and I just knew I had to go, though she doesn’t need to know that.
The last time she was here she ended up fighting against a vampire who had almost taken her life. I killed him a split second before he had snapped her neck, though she still ended up in the infirmary. Granted, she was put there because of my bullet. The image of her in the vampire’s hands is one that will never escape me. That day I vowed I would do anything to protect that woman.
There’s no way she was coming back here without me watching over her, though I’d never tell her that. She’d probably say I was turning into some creepy stalker and then call me an overprotective asshole just for good measure. I can just imagine the look on her gorgeous face.
I make my way through this maze of a mall, trying my hardest to give the girls some space and not be the creepy stalker I’m slowly becoming. I walk past the lingerie shop I saw her in earlier this morning, holding up the most amazing red lace thong and matching bra.
God, just the memory of the cheeky smirk she gave while she was holding it does things to me no other woman could. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to actually see her strutting around in it, putting my hands all over her, and tearing it off her silky skin.
Fuck. I’m in public. I’ve got to hold myself together.
I take a seat on one of those uncomfortable little couches that appear in the middle of the walkways, doing my best to pass the time as I wait for this boring day to tick by. Men just weren’t created for malls. I pull my phone out to check the time. 1:45. Is two hours enough time for girls to get their nails done? Surely, it is. I start to get up to find them so I can spend some time with Kaylee before we have to leave.
I jam my phone back into my pocket when the most frustrating voice comes up beside me.
“Rylan, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Penny says, grabbing my arm and forcing me to sit back down as she squishes in on the couch beside me.
“Here, I am,” I grumble. Hoping I don’t come across too rude, but seriously? This woman just doesn’t get it.
I. Am. Not. Interested.
“I thought we could do lunch,” she suggests, placing her hand on my thigh. I glance down at it in repulsion. Geez. How the times have changed. Before I met Bianca, I would have jumped at this opportunity. The woman is attractive as hell, but she’s got nothing on Bianca.
“Thanks, but I’m actually meeting with some friends,” I say, removing her hand and getting up.
Her face drops ever so slightly. “Oh, sure, maybe next time.”
Doubt it. “Sure,” I say, walking away.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I quickly snatch it up as it’s most likely Kaylee wondering where I am.
“Yeah?” I answer, without looking at the caller ID.
“RYLAN,” Jacinta screams through the phone. Déjà vu creeps through me and I know in an instant it's Bianca. “You have to help. She’s gone. They’re both gone.”
Gone? What does she mean gone? Both? I hear the sound of air rushing past the phone and I realize she must be running. Where though? To me? “Where are you? Where’s Bianca and Kaylee,” I demand.
“Food court,” she cries. “Please hurry. They’re gone. They took her.”
I don’t think I’ve ever run faster in my life. I sprint through the crowds, knocking people out of my way as I go. I hear the frustrated protest of the people I pass, but I just don’t have it in me to give a shit. I make it to the food court in no time, only to find Jacinta a mess on the floor.
She jumps at my arrival and I grab her, yanking her off the floor and up to my eye level. “What the hell happened?” I demand, the order in my voice snapping her out of her sobs.
“Two Fairy Knights, they just showed up out of nowhere. Bianca tried to fight them off, but one grabbed Kaylee around the throat and said he would kill her if she didn’t stop then the second knight touched her and they just disappeared,” she says, sniffling and wiping at her eyes.
“Fuck,” I roar, letting go of Jacinta’s arms. “Let’s go.”
I race out of the mall with Jacinta hot on my six though she’s not quite fast enough to keep up. I head into the parking lot and scan the cars. Bingo. A sports car. I punch through the window and reach through to unlock the car. I immediately duck down to hotwire it, not giving a damn if anybody sees. By the time the engine purrs to life, Jacinta has caught up and is diving into the passenger side.
I peel out of the parking lot and speed back to the Academy, breaking at least fifty traffic laws as I go. Fear begins to creep into my system, fear of the unknown.
Where the hell are my girls?
I tell Jacinta to call the chaperones and alert them to what has happened, so if I fail to keep Bianca and Kaylee safe, at least the rest of the students will
be spared. I barely hear Jacinta as she rushes through the story to whoever is on the other end. She hangs up and immediately makes another call.
I push the car faster and faster each time I hear the story repeated, imagining the things I’m going to do to the animals who dared put their hands on my woman and sister.
Jacinta picks at her freshly manicured nails, deep in thought as I speed along the highway. Five more minutes and we’ll be there.
“Oh, my God,” she whispers in terror.
“What is it?” I snap, urgently.
“They’re in the Fairy Kingdom.”
“No,” I say, hopelessness rushing all over me and I pray they’re still alive when I come for them.
“Fairies can only teleport that quickly if it’s directly to and from their Kingdom, especially if they are taking passengers.”
Shit, I should have worked that out myself. “I’ll get them back even if it kills me,” I vow.
“I know you will,” she says with complete faith, but the question is, what state will they be in when that happens.
Two minutes later, I come screeching into the Academy parking lot, barely stopping before I fly out the door. I hardly notice Jacinta as she flies out the opposite side and takes off towards the dorms. I make it to Ms. Peterson’s office and barge in. She is mid-meeting with some idiot who I don’t take the time to notice.
“I need a team put together. Now,” I demand, not asking but telling.
“Calm down. What’s going on? What do you need a team for?” she asks, standing from her desk.
“Bianca Moore and Kaylee Neill have been abducted by two Fairy Knights from the mall not twenty minutes ago. We need to go after them,” I demand.
Peterson goes ghostly pale as she realizes the severity of the situation. “Where have the girls been taken?” she asks.
“It’s believed they’ve been taken into the Fairy Kingdom.”
Regret flashes in her eyes and she quickly glances away to compose herself. An apology in her eyes as she looks back. “I’m sorry, Rylan. I understand Bianca is a student of yours and, well Kaylee,” she cringes, clearly remembering my sister. “But I cannot authorize such a rescue mission. It’s suicide to go after them and I will not put my faculty at risk like that.”
I pace the room, trying to get my emotions under control so I don’t lose my shit at the woman before me. It was a long shot coming here, but I had to try. “Please. Call The Guard, get them to send the Front Line,” I beg.
“I can try, but you know as well as I do what they’re going to say. Bianca is eighteen now, an adult in their eyes and not yet an official member of their ranks. And Kaylee... surely you must know they will not entertain the idea.”
“Damn it,” I growl, knowing she’s right. Us on the Front Lines risk our lives for The Guard every day, yet when we ask for something in return. Nothing. “I’ll go in myself,” I say, realizing my only true option.
“I cannot allow you to do that. It’s too dangerous,” she says urgently as I head for the door.
“Just as well I’m not asking permission,” I snap, crossing the threshold and slamming the door behind me.
I head back to the parking lot, digging through my pocket for the keys to my SUV. I’m just about there when Trey and Daniel fall in step beside me with Jacinta hovering behind.
“No,” I say immediately, knowing exactly where their minds are at.
“Yes,” Daniel demands.
I give a rough shake of my head, dismissing them as I approach my SUV.
“Any bets Peterson denied you a team. You need us,” Trey says as they follow behind me.
I turn on them, sending each of them a ferocious glare. “I don’t need you kids getting in the way.”
Jacinta surprises me by getting in my face. “Stop being such an idiotic moron and allowing your ego to get in the way. YOU. NEED. US,” she yells, poking me in the chest with each word. “There’s no way you’ll even get close to entering the Fairy Kingdom without my help and you’re going to need these idiots to help you get the girls out while one of you fights off the Knights.”
Without another word, she storms past and climbs straight into the front seat of my SUV.
God, that girl is going to be put in her place the moment we get back from this…if we get back from this.
“Fine,” I growl, staring Daniel down with the absolute look of death. “Keep your feelings out of this,” I warn. He scoffs at me but wisely keeps his mouth shut. “Get in,” I order the boys, knowing without a doubt that I’m going to get fired for this, but if it means getting Bianca and Kaylee back, I’d do it a million times over.
I fire up the engine and before I know it, I’m shooting back down the highway, while Jacinta hatches out a plan to break into the Fairy Kingdom.
Chapter 18
Memories come flooding back and I’m startled into consciousness. The foul smell hits me first and I open my eyes to take in my surroundings. I lay in a darkened room and prop myself up on my aching hip.
My hands are bound behind my back and tied to what looks like the root of a tree. I scan the area for any immediate threats and quickly realize I’m alone.
Where the hell am I? What happened to Kaylee? God, I hope she’s alright. Panic surges through me. I need to find Kaylee and get out of here.
My eyes adjust to the darkened room and focus on the area around me. A basement? No, that’s not right, not even close. I shift around on the cold, damp floor. Is that soil? Maybe an underground bunker cut from the earth? God, please tell me someone hasn’t dug out a grave and thrown me in.
I look around, hoping to find some way out of this place or at least something to use as a weapon, but all I see is dirt walls and tree roots.
‘The great Bianca Moore took down her captors using nothing but dirt and sticks.’ Yeah right.
Well, at least if I die here, The Guard won’t be able to use me as their poster girl. No, I can’t think like that. I must be positive. I must get to Kaylee and get us out of here.
I look up at the roof and squint into the darkness. Is the roof made out of tree roots? What the hell?
Realization hits. There’s no place like this on earth because there isn’t a place like this on earth. I’m in the Fairy Kingdom and as good as dead.
I lay in the dirt and gravel and begin to notice my body which is covered in cuts and bruises, especially my hip. I must have been thrown in here. I try to adjust myself and get up into a sitting position. My hip angrily protests as my shoulders scream in pain against my bounds.
I focus my attention on the opposite wall, assuming that’s where the door must be. I sit and wait for what could be minutes or hours, waiting to find out what my fate will be.
I think about Rylan and Jacinta, the two absolute loves of my life, knowing they must be worried sick. There’s a great chance that I will never see them again and I pray they don’t try to come after me. Not here. It’s too dangerous, but I know they will, they’ll come after me with everything they’ve got.
A tear slides down my face as I wait in the darkness, knowing that today could very well be the day that my one true love dies trying to save me and there’s not a thing I can do about it.
A blinding flash of light fills the room. I squint against the harsh brightness but force myself to keep my eyes open as a rustling alerts me to visitors in my death hole. My eyes focus on the intruders and I quickly recognize them as the Fairy Knights from the mall. Each looking as imposing as ever with their bodies created from the earth, tree roots twined together creating limbs and torsos, and all sorts of nature acting as clothing. The knight on my right has brown stringy hair, while the other sports what can only be described as seaweed.
“Where’s Kaylee?” I demand. “What do you want with us?” They smirk at me and neither attempt to answer my questions. “Tell me,” I snarl only to get nothing in response.
Anger ripples through me and I rip my hands away from my binds with all my might, tearing the root awa
y from the wall. With my hands still bound behind my back but freed from the wall, I shoot to my feet.
The Knights flinch at my sudden freedom as I charge towards them while kicking my leg out to connect with the seaweed looking fairy. He snarls and backhands me, making me fly back and crash into the dirty wall. Tree roots and vines suddenly snake out from the wall, covering my body, and pinning me in place as the brown stringy-haired knight controls the vines movements.
“Let me go,” I screech, kicking my legs out. The vines begin moving downwards, circling my legs and pulling them back to the wall, effectively pinning my whole body. “I said ‘let me go’,” I repeat, struggling against the vines and roots, only causing them to tighten on my body and making my cuts and bruises ache.
“Give up, child,” the seaweed knight says in a chilling tone. “You cannot win here.”
“Why am I here?” I demand again.
“In due time,” he replies, raising his hand and sucking in a breath. The air in the room suddenly disappears, taking the breath right out of my lungs. I struggle to hold onto consciousness as he robs the room of oxygen and I quickly realize that he’s an air user.
Then for the second time today, my world turns black.
----------
I gasp for breath as freezing water is thrown over my body. My eyes snap open to find the two Fairy Knights hovering over me. “Good, you’re awake,” says the seaweed knight who stole my breath.
“What do you want?” I demand.
“Tsk, tsk,” the other says. “You’re in no position to be making demands, Miss Bianca Moore.”
“What do you want?” I repeat.
“Nothing,” the first guy smiles. “Your very presence is all we need.”
“Okay,” I say. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”
“It has come to our attention that you’re somewhat of a celebrity in your community and therefore have become The Guard’s little princess. Though, I have no idea why. I find you extremely repulsive.”
Heart and Revenge: Slayer Academy (Book 2) Page 16