A hand on his shoulder, and Merc sidled next to him. “How?” It was all Hadrien could get out before Merc grabbed the book and disappeared.
Oh shit, oh fuck and it was time to go and Hadrien stepped back to feel rough, sharp stone against his back and he was in a cell, stone walls and a closed wooden door. An Asian woman all in white stepped in front of him and placed her hand against him, pressing one finger against a spot on his chest.
Pain exploded through his body, forcing him on the ground as sobs sounded from his throat.
Through slitted eyelids, there came the approach of sandaled feet, the shoes the kind he would see on old samurai movies. “Hadrien.” The voice was above him, the same man from earlier. “I have questions, and you will answer me.”
Chapter Fifty
‡
Taneasha sat in the lone wooden chair in the otherwise empty room, arms crossed over her chest and leg jerking in place.
Room. More like a dungeon. No windows, concrete floor, bare walls. Since that night when she’d been grabbed from the vampires and separated from Miss Miller, she’d been stuck here in a cell for gods knows how long, but tonight, an elf had dragged her down here with no explanation. So now she sat, waiting. Jerks.
From the far wall the loud bang that signaled a door being opened, and in walked the redheaded woman from that night, the one who seemed to be in charge of it all. She was wearing that sword, the one Taneasha dreamed of, swinging at her in nightmares that had her screaming herself awake.
The woman locked eyes with her, and inside she was frozen, trapped, a hare under the sharp gaze of an eagle, unable to move even if stillness meant her eventual end.
The redhead turned her head, breaking eye contact, and sensation returned to Taneasha’s limbs. “We’ve never been formally introduced. My name is Fallon.” Fallon looked her over in two quick glances, her attitude smug superiority. “How are you faring, Taneasha?”
Hard on the heels of that fear, anger burbled inside, crowding out the last remnants of shame of how she had been so pathetic only a moment before. Taneasha shouted out, “You can’t keep me here! I’m just a kid and I made a mistake. You’re not allowed to kidnap me and I want to go home!”
Fallon walked around the room, unhurried movement and not looking at her, instead looking at the bare walls. “It’s nice to have wants. Afraid, though, that in this case…I don’t think it’s happening.”
“I told you, it was a mistake. My mom and dad will get me out.”
Fallon’s head turned to her, and Taneasha’s chest went concave under the force of those gold eyes. She’d seen eyes like that before, the only time she’d seen her master bow his head to someone. Frightening eyes. Scary eyes.
Those eyes only held hers for a moment, but Taneasha gulped in breath when Fallon turned away and began to speak again. “You have strange ideas of what a kid is allowed to get away with. As for your mom and dad, they may want you out, but again, it’s not happening. You were in the company of necromancers. Under no law are you going to get free.”
Pull it together. Okay, this wasn’t working. Another tact was called for. Putting on her most contrite face, she said, “Listen, I’m sorry. I was misled, and they used my ignorance against me. I see that now, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to make up for my actions.”
Fallon’s face was bland as she nodded. “Glad to hear it. You’re going to be making it up here, in these rooms, for a very long time.”
Here came the anger from being locked up, and being jerked around, and she was tired of it. She exploded, pointing her finger at Fallon in sharp, jerky movements, “Listen you fucking bitch, I’m not staying here for another gods damn minute-”
Fallon pulled free her sword, stepping towards her. Taneasha threw her hands up, backing away until she hit the wall, and next to her ear a wshhh and Fallon’s hand on her shoulder, holding her against the wall.
She stayed where she was, but after long moments of nothing else happening, Taneasha lowered her arms.
Fallon’s face was inches from hers, rage in every line of her face. Taneasha shifted her eyes to the left, where that huge sword was not even an inch away from her face, and it was now, after the delay, her cheek began to sting, a warm wetness running down the side of her face.
Blood. Blood…and the sword. She…
She cut me…
The blade sank deep into the wall, the metal radiating cold against her skin, Fallon’s eyes radiating cold scant inches from her own. With a slow, deliberate movement, Fallon brushed the tip of her forefinger against her cheek, pressing in enough for Taneasha to feel the bite, before the swordswoman pulled her finger away, holding up that finger so Taneasha could see the smear of blood.
Now Fallon spoke again, no humor in her voice. “You took a woman who cared for you, and you gave her to necromancers, knowing what they were going to do to her.” The drop of blood dripped down the swordswoman’s finger and disappeared beneath the cuff of her jacket. “If it was up to me, I’d shove this sword through your chest and be well rid of you, kid or not.”
The sword shifted against her cheek, metal brushing against her, and Fallon continued. “Kid. Right. All I see is a necromancer wannabe, and to me there is no reason why I should let you go when I’ve killed hundreds of your kind. Now, do you think this is my version of scaring you to straighten you out, or do you believe I mean every word I’ve said?”
Shivers wracked Taneasha’s body with Fallon’s gaze trained on hers, death the only emotion lurking in those eyes. Her throat closing, she forced out the word, fought against the suffocation. “Believe.”
Fallon held still for long moments more, until Taneasha was bare inches from screaming, from letting the begging in her head free from her lips. In an abrupt and simultaneous movement, Fallon pulled the sword free from where it was buried while letting go of her shoulder, backing away as Taneasha’s legs gave out from under her.
Crumbling to the floor, Taneasha used the last of her energy to pull her limbs into her, using any momentum to get as far away from that sword as the dimensions of the cell would allow.
Her sword sheathed, Fallon moved backwards, circling the cell again, her gaze moving away from Taneasha. “Fortunately for you, your punishment is not mine to decide. Those above me seem to think there is something in you worth fighting for. I don’t see it myself, but I’ve been overruled.”
Fallon twisted, crouching down so she was level with the girl though this time she didn’t come any closer. “You are going back to school, Taneasha, and at this school, you are going to be taught to harness your gifts. And if you fuck up again, your death will be immediate, and there are no other chances.”
“If I-don’t…want to?”
Where the bravado came from, Taneasha didn’t know, but Fallon didn’t even acknowledge her words. “This is going to work out in one of three ways. One,” Fallon held up one finger, “You are going to see the error of your ways and use the rest of this life in making amends for this mistake you’ve made. Second way, you’re going to somehow screw-up, and you’ll be executed during the training.”
The door opened again. Taneasha couldn’t take her eyes from Fallon, but from the periphery of her vision she took in male and bald, average height and average weight.
“Third and final, you’ll get through this schooling while pretending to be reformed, but once you’re done you’ll go back to the path that led you to grabbing Larissa Miller and handing her over to Garof. You’ll do everything you can to become powerful enough to destroy the Guild, probably starting with me. You go that route? You better pray to be lucky enough to pull it off, because otherwise?” And Fallon leaned in, her voice a slow poison. “I’m skinning you alive.”
Fallon stood, pivoted on her heal and headed for the door, unheeding of the puddle spreading under the girl.
She passed the man who had come in earlier, lowering her head in a sign of respect and saying “Shisen,” without stopping.
The door closed w
ith an awful thud, all hope gone in the lingering resonance.
The man stepped forward, his face smooth, not a hint of thought or feeling on that countenance, only detached interest as he looked her over. “Taneasha. We have much to learn.”
The End
Note from Danielle Monsch
Peoples! Thanks for reading The Dream Crafter, the second book in the main saga of my Entwined Realms series. I appreciate you spending some time in my world, and I hope you enjoyed.
Let me share a not-so-secret secret with you. Reviews are the absolute BEST WAY for readers to discover authors. Reviews help both retailers and advertisers discover authors and books to recommend to their customers. As a small-time author, I am very dependent on reviews – but, I’m very aware that the time spent writing a review could be spent doing things much more enjoyable. So, to show my gratitude, if you leave a review for me anywhere and email me at [email protected] with the link to it, I will gift you the next book in the series when it comes out. Thank you!
If you’d like to read other books in this series, we start with a Gargoyle as our hero, a Human teacher as our heroine, and extra Fallon and Laire waiting for you in Stone Guardian!
Entwined Realms Reading Order
• STONE GUARDIAN
• STONE EMBRACE
• THE CAGE KING
• THE ROOFTOP
• THE DREAM CRAFTER
Do you enjoy Fairy Tales redos, stories that are slightly twisted, very sassy, humorous (as only I can deliver) and promises you a Happily Ever After? Well, you might enjoy my Fairy Tales & Ever Afters series, which begins with my take on Cinderella called Loving a Fairy Godmother.
Fairy Tales & Ever Afters Reading Order
• Loving a Fairy Godmother
• Loving an Ugly Beast
• Loving a Prince Charming
And if you want to know as soon as a book of mine is released, please sign up for my Newsletter! Newsletters are never spam, they always have something to offer (either a release announcement, a deleted scene or first look, a contest goings-on, or maybe even an exclusive story!) and your email is never used for any other purpose or sold/distributed to anyone… I swear this on my Funko POP collection :)
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Entwined Realms Reading Order
• STONE GUARDIAN
• STONE EMBRACE
• THE CAGE KING
• THE ROOFTOP
• THE DREAM CRAFTER
STONE GUARDIAN
Entwined Realms, Book One
Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.
Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets – that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.
Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.
In the course of their investigation Terak becomes entranced by his little human. But when he discovers why Necromancers want her and the great reward that awaits him if he betrays her, he must choose between the welfare of his Clan and not only Larissa’s life, but the fate of this New Realm as well.
Buy Stone Guardian here!
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Fairy Tales & Ever Afters Reading Order
• Loving a Fairy Godmother
• Loving an Ugly Beast
• Loving a Prince Charming
Loving a Fairy Godmother
Once upon a Time, in a Kingdom that was just a little twisted (oh yeah, and kinda far away), Fairy Godmothers Rule! Elf Kings drool, and a Knight was having a bad time with a Dragon.
Too bad he didn’t realize the Dragon would be the least strange part of his day…
Fairy GodMOTHER. As in female – it’s right there in the name. With those divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, no one’s going to be mistaking Tiernan for a female anytime soon, but due to a wish gone wrong, Tiernan is now the only Fairy Godfather in existence. Strangely, most Fairy Godmothers don’t have a problem with this change in the status quo… all except the one Fairy Godmother he’d go and win a kingdom for.
Organized, efficient, logical – and happy with the status quo, thank you very much – Reina never liked that Tiernan was allowed in the program. After all, the FGs do not need a stubborn, infuriating, feckless male messing up tradition, and she wants him gone…like yesterday. Circumstances arise that might let her get her wish, but in a way even she never wished for.
Tiernan’s employment status is called into question, and to prove himself worthy of being an FG, he is given the task of getting a woman named Cinderella a Happily Ever After or lose his position. So Cinderella will get to the ball and get her Prince if he has to dress her down to her shoes himself, and he’s bringing Reina along to help. After all, who said only mortals should get a Happily Ever After?
Buy Loving a Fairy Godmother Here
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About the Author
Born to the pothole-ridden streets of Pittsburgh, PA, Danielle Monsch started writing in a time long ago, a time when there were not enough vampire stories to read and she had to write her own to fill the void. Yes, such a time of darkness did indeed exist.
Danielle calls herself a Romantic Geek, and that sums up both her personality and her writing. In terms of content, she’s drawn to the fantastical – Vampires and Werewolves and Demons and Angels, Sword & Sorcery, Fairy Tales, Updated Mythologies and the like. In terms of content, she needs love and romance (with some hubba-hubba!) somehow and in some amount mixed into the story…even if the story also has battles, bloodshed, and a decapitation or two.
Basically it’s all the good stuff in life, delivered to your door (or your ereader).
Go to www.DanielleMonsch.com for one-stop shopping with everything to do with Danielle. Join her Mailing List (highly encouraged as that is the best, fastest, and easiest way to get all info related to Dani and her books) or if you’d rather, she’s at the usual Social Media hangouts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Just want to send an email? Easy enough, that’s [email protected].
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