Switched

by Amanda Hocking

  Garrett managed to steal a dance with me, and that was a relief. I had been dancing nonstop for an hour because everyone kept cutting in. He complimented me, but not in the creepy perv way everyone else seemed to be going for.

  Every now and then I would catch Elora spinning around on the floor, or Willa would sneak me a smile as she twirled around with some foxy young guy. It was unfair that she got to pick who she danced with, but I was stuck with every stranger who asked.

  “You’re probably the most ravishing Princess we’ve ever had,” the Chancellor told me after he cut in for a dance.

  His pudgy cheeks were red from exertion, and I wanted to suggest that he sit down and take a break, but I thought Elora would disapprove. He held me much closer than was necessary, and his hand was like a massive ham on my back, pressing me to him. I couldn’t pull away without making a scene, so I just tried to force a smile.

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” I demurred. He sweated so badly, it had to be bleeding onto my dress. The beautiful silver and white fabric would be stained yellow after this.

  “No, you really are.” His eyes were wide with some kind of weird pleasure, and I wished someone would hurry up and cut in. We had just started dancing, but I couldn’t take much more of this. “In fact, I’ve never seen anyone more ravishing than you.”

  “Now, that, I’m certain, cannot be true.” I glanced around, hoping to spot Willa somewhere so I could try to pawn him off on her.

  “I know that you’ll be expected to start courting soon, and I’d just like you to know that I have a lot of things going for me,” the Chancellor went on. “I’m very wealthy, very secure, and my bloodline is immaculate. Your mother would approve of this arrangement.”

  “I haven’t made any arrangements yet . . .”

  I craned my neck, knowing that if Elora saw me, she would accuse me of being rude. But I didn’t know how else to react. This blubbery man had grabbed my ass during some kind of marriage proposal. I had to get out of there.

  The Chancellor lowered his voice. “I’ve been told I’m an excellent lover, as well. I’m sure that you don’t have any experience but I could definitely teach you.”

  His expression grew hungry, and his eyes had dropped lower than my face. It was taking all my restraint not to push him off me, and in my head I screamed to get away from him.

  “May I cut in?” Tove appeared at my side. The Chancellor looked disappointed at the sight of him, but before he could say anything, Tove had put his hand on the Chancellor’s shoulder and taken my hand, pulling me away.

  “Thank you,” I breathed gratefully as we waltzed away from a very confused-looking Chancellor.

  “I heard you calling for help.” Tove smiled at me. “You seem to be using your persuasion more than you think.” In my mind, I had been begging for a way out, but I hadn’t uttered an actual word.

  “You heard me?” I gasped, feeling pale. “How many other people heard me?”

  “Probably just me. Don’t worry. Hardly anybody can sense anything anymore,” Tove said. “The Chancellor might’ve noticed if he hadn’t been too busy staring at your chest, or if you were more skilled at it. You’ll get the hang of it.”

  “I don’t really care if I get the hang of it. I just wanted to get rid of him,” I muttered. “I’m sorry if I’m wet. I’m probably covered in his sweat.”

  “No, you’re fine,” Tove assured me.

  We danced the appropriate width apart, so he probably couldn’t feel my dress to tell if it was soaked or not, but there was something relaxing about being with him. I didn’t have to say anything or worry about being felt up or ogled. He barely looked at me and said nothing else at all, but the silence between us felt completely comfortable.

  Elora finally interrupted the festivities. The christening ceremony would be happening in twenty minutes, and she noted that I needed a break from all the dancing. The dance floor emptied and everyone took seats at the tables edging the dance floor, or milled around the refreshments table.

  I knew that I should sit down while I had the chance, but I was desperate to have a moment to breathe, so I went to a corner hidden behind extra chairs and leaned against the wall.

  “Who are you hiding from?” Rhys teased, finding me in the corner. Dressed in a flashy tux, he looked dashing as he sauntered over to me, grinning.

  “Everyone.” I smiled at him. “You look really good.”

  “Funny, I was just gonna tell you the same thing.” Rhys stood next me, putting his hands in his pockets and smiling even wider. “Although ‘good’ doesn’t even begin to do you justice. You look . . . otherworldly. Like nothing else here can even compare to you.”

  “It’s the dress.” I looked down, hoping to keep my cheeks from blushing. “That Frederique is amazing.”

  “The dress is nice, but trust me, you make the dress.”

  Gently, he reached over and fixed a wayward curl that had fallen out of place. He let his hand linger there a minute, his eyes meeting mine, then dropped his hand.

  “So, having fun yet?” Rhys asked.

  “A blast.” I smirked. “What about you?”

  “I can’t dance with the Princess, so I’m a little bitter,” he said with a sad smile.

  “Why can’t you dance with me?” I would’ve loved to dance with him. It would’ve been a blessed reprieve after everything I’d been through tonight.

  “Mänks.” He pointed his thumbs at himself. “I’m lucky I’m even allowed in.”

  “Oh.” I looked down at the floor, thinking about what he’d just said. “Not to sound rude or anything, because I’m glad you’re here, but . . . why are you here? Why aren’t you banned or something equally ridiculous?”

  “Didn’t you know?” Rhys asked with a cocky grin. “I am the highest mänks in the land.”

  “And why is that?” I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or not, so I tilted my head, watching as his expression got more serious.

  “Because I’m yours,” he replied softly.

  He was invited because he was my mänsklig, my opposite, but when he answered, that wasn’t what he meant at all. Something in his eyes made me blush for real this time, and I smiled sadly at him.

  One of Elora’s aides burst into the corner, ruining what was left of the moment, and demanded that I take my seat at the head table with the Queen. The christening ceremony was about to start, and a knot formed in my stomach. I hadn’t heard what my name was to be, and I was depressed about the idea of changing it.

  “Duty calls.” I smiled apologetically at Rhys and started to walk past him.

  “Hey.” Rhys grabbed my hand to stop me, and I turned to look at him. “You’re gonna be great. Everyone’s raving about you.”

  “Thanks.” I squeezed his hand gratefully.

  A cracking echoed through the room, followed by a tinkling that I didn’t understand. The sound was coming from everywhere, so it was hard to place right away. But then it looked like the ceiling was raining glitter, and the skylights crashed to the floor.

  TWENTY-TWO

  falling

  Rhys realized what was happening before I did, and, still holding my hand, he yanked me behind him. We were in the corner, out of the way of most of the glass, but from the agonized screams, I gathered that everyone else wasn’t so lucky.

  Dark figures fell through the broken skylights, landing on the floor with surprising grace. Blood and broken glass layered the floor. Before I recognized them, I remembered the uniform. Matching long black trench coats, like a crime-fighting team.

  The word seemed to swell through the room without anybody saying anything: Vittra.

  Vittra had broken in, crashing through the ceiling, and Trylle guards circled them. In the very center I saw Jen, the tracker who had been so fond of hitting me, his eyes scanning the room.

  “You are not invited. Please leave.” Elora’s voice boomed above everything else.

  “You know what we want, and we’re not leaving until we get it
.” Kyra stepped forward, Jen’s accomplice from before. She walked on the glass with bare feet but didn’t seem to notice. “She’s got to be here. Where are you hiding her?”

  Jen turned toward me, and his black eyes met mine over Rhys’s shoulder. When he grinned wickedly, Rhys realized we were in trouble. He started to push me toward the door, but before we made it, Jen bolted toward us, and everyone burst into life. The Vittra scrambled, going after the guards and other Trylle.

  Elora glared at Kyra, who collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain. Nobody had touched her, and based on the look in Elora’s eyes, I figured that Kyra’s agony had something to do with Elora’s abilities.

  I saw Tove bound over the table he was sitting at, using his powers to send Vittra flying without even touching them. People screamed, and I felt a strong wind blow through the room, surely Willa’s attempt at helping.

  Then Jen was in front of us, blocking out the chaos of the ballroom. Rhys stood his ground in front of me. He moved to defend me in some way, but Jen lunged forward and punched him, throwing him to the ground.

  “Rhys!” I reached out for Rhys, but he didn’t move. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t dead, but Jen grabbed me around my waist, restraining me.

  “That’s what you have protecting you now?” Jen laughed. “Did we scare off Finn?”

  “Let go of me!” I kicked at him and tried to pry his arm off me.

  With his arm still gripping me, we both abruptly went flying backward, as if someone had pushed him. He slammed into the wall, and his arm loosened enough that I could scramble away from him on my hands and knees.

  Dazed, I got to my feet and tried to figure out what had happened. Tove stood on the other side of a glass-strewn table, holding his hand palm-out at Jen.

  I smiled appreciatively at him, but my smile disappeared as soon as I got a look at the room. The Vittra clearly had the upper hand. Even though the Trylle in the room outnumbered the Vittra attackers, most of them weren’t fighting back. The trackers were throwing punches and pushing back against the Vittra, but most of the royalty appeared to do little more than cower in fear.

  A visiting Trylle on the other side of the room had begun using fire, and I could feel Willa’s wind whipping about. Garrett had no real powers of his own, but he was attempting hand-to-hand combat with the Vittra, even though they physically appeared to be much stronger.

  Other than Tove, Willa, Elora and the Trylle using fire, none of the other Trylle really seemed to have abilities, or at least they weren’t using them. The room was total pandemonium, and it was about to get worse. Even more Vittra streamed in through the ceiling.

  “This is why you need to work on your persuasion.” Tove looked at me evenly, and another Vittra charged at his back.

  “Watch out!” I yelled.

  Tove turned, throwing his hand back and tossing the Vittra across the room. I looked around to grab a weapon when I felt Jen’s arms around my waist again. I yelled and fought as hard as I could, but his arms felt like granite around me.

  Tove turned his attention back to me, but two other Vittra chased after him, so he only had a moment to send Jen flying back into the wall again. We hit even harder this time, and it jostled me painfully, but Jen let go.

  My head throbbed from the impact, and I blinked to clear it. A hand took mine, helping me to my feet. I wasn’t sure if I should accept it, but I did anyway.

  “You’ve got to be more careful, Tove,” he said.

  “I was just trying to get her free!” Tove snapped, and another Vittra yelled as Tove sent him flying into a table across the room. “And I’m busy here!”

  I turned back to see who had helped me, and all the air went out of my lungs. Wearing a black hoodie under a black jacket, Finn surveyed the mess around me. He stood right next to me, holding my hand, and I couldn’t think or move.

  “Finn!” I gasped, and he finally looked at me, his dark eyes a mixture of relief and panic.

  “This is bedlam!” Tove growled.

  A table had been flipped on its side, and it separated Tove from Finn and me. Using his abilities, Tove sent it sailing into a Vittra attacking the Chancellor, and then he rushed over to us. All the Vittra seemed to be busy, so he had a moment to catch his breath.

  “It’s worse than I thought.” Finn pursed his lips.

  “We’ve gotta protect the Princess,” Tove said.

  I squeezed Finn’s hand and watched as Jen started to get up, only to be slammed back into the wall by Tove.

  “I’ll get her out of here,” Finn said. “Can you handle it down here?”

  “I don’t have a choice.” Tove barely had time to answer when Willa started screaming across the room. I couldn’t see her, and that scared me even more.

  “Willa!” I tried to run to see what was happening, but Finn wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back.

  “Get her out of here!” Tove commanded as he took a step in the direction of Willa’s screams.

  Finn started dragging me out of the ballroom while I strained to see what was going on. Tove had disappeared, and I couldn’t see Elora or Willa. As Finn pulled me, my feet hit Rhys’s leg, and I remembered that he was lying unconscious, bleeding on the ground. I struggled against Finn’s arms, trying to reach Rhys.

  “He’s fine! They won’t touch him!” Finn tried to reassure me. He still had one arm around my waist, and he was much stronger than me. “You’ve got to get out of here!”

  “But Rhys!” I pleaded.

  “He’d want you to be safe!” Finn insisted and finally managed to get me to the ballroom doors.

  I looked up from Rhys and was stunned to see the chaos of the room. Then all the chandeliers suddenly crashed to the floor, and the only light came from the things that were in flames. People were screaming and yelling, and the sound was echoing off everything.

  “The painting,” I murmured, and my mind flashed on the picture I’d seen in Elora’s drawing room. This was it. This was the exact scene.

  And there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I couldn’t even understand it until it was too late.

  “Wendy!” Finn shouted, trying to move me into action.

  He let go of my waist and took my hand, yanking me out of the room. Using my free hand, I pulled up my dress to keep from tripping on it as we raced down the hallway. I could still hear the carnage from the ballroom, and I had no idea where we were running to.

  I didn’t have time to ask him where we were going or to feel thankful that I was with him again. My only consolation was that if I died tonight, I’d at least have spent the last few minutes of my life with Finn.

  We rounded the corner toward the entryway, and Finn stopped sharply. Three Vittra were coming in the front doors of the palace, but they hadn’t seen us yet. Finn changed direction, darting across the hall into one of the sitting rooms, pulling me with him.

  He closed the door quietly behind us, leaving us in near darkness. Moonlight spilled in through the glass, and he ran to a corner between a bookcase and the wall. He pulled me tightly to him, shielding me with his body.

  We could hear the Vittra outside. I held my breath, pressing my face into Finn’s chest and praying they wouldn’t come in the room.

  When they finally ran past, Finn still didn’t loosen his grip on me, but I could hear his heartbeat slow. Somewhere beneath all my panic and fear I became aware of the fact that Finn held me tightly in his arms. I looked up at him, barely able to make out his features in the light from the windows next to us.

  “I saw that before,” I whispered, looking up at him. “What happened in the ballroom. Elora painted it. She knew that was going to happen!”

  “Shh,” Finn said gently.

  I lowered my voice. “But why didn’t she stop it?”

  “She didn’t know when it would happen or how,” Finn explained. “She just knew, and the only thing she could do to prevent it was to add more protection.”

  “So then why did you leave?” I asked softly
.

  “Wendy . . .” He pushed back stray curls from my face, and his hand lingered on my cheek as he looked down at me. “I never really left. I was just down the hill, and I never stopped tracking you. I knew what was happening as soon as you did, and I raced back here.”

  “Are we gonna be okay?” I asked.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

  I looked up at him, searching his eyes in the dim light, and I wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms forever.

  The door creaked open, and Finn tensed instantly. He pushed me back against the wall, wrapping his arms around me to hide me. I held my breath and tried to stop my heart from pounding. We heard nothing for a second, and then the light flicked on.

  “Well, well, if the prodigal stork hasn’t returned.” Jen smirked.

  “You won’t get her,” Finn said firmly.

  He pulled away from me just enough so he could face Jen. I peered around him, watching Jen walk in a slow semicircle toward us. He walked in an oddly familiar way, like something I had seen on Animal Planet. And then I realized—Jen was stalking his prey.

  “Maybe I won’t,” Jen allowed. “But getting you out of my way would probably make it easier, if not for me, then for somebody else. Because we won’t stop coming for her.”

  “And we won’t stop protecting her.”

  “You’re willing to die to protect her?” Jen raised an eyebrow.

  “You’re willing to die to get her?” Finn challenged evenly.

  In the ballroom, Tove had insisted they had to protect me, and I hadn’t thought he even cared for me all that much. Was it just that I was the Princess? Had Elora endured similar attacks when she first came home?

  I clenched the back of Finn’s jacket and watched the two of them stare each other down. I didn’t understand what was so damn important about me that so many Vittra were willing to kill, and, according to Finn, so many Trylle were willing to die.

  “Neither one of you has to die,” I said. I tried to slip around Finn’s arm, but he pushed me back. “I’ll go, okay? I don’t want anybody else to get hurt over this.”