Chapter 26
T he next night, a heavy mist flirts with my ankles as I pace around the courtyard, keeping a wide berth between me and the fruit.
Shiva’s angry yells at Abnehor break my concentration, and I roll my eyes. She’s so fucking fake. I edge closer to the door, slithering in and out of the crowd, becoming one with the shadows.
All at once, I move. Out the door, past the trees, into the forest. I was right, no guards stop me. This time, I turn left. Towards Ellyllon. Towards Dad. My legs are violent propellers beneath my body. Jagged glass scrapes across my lungs and the night air tears my throat to pieces.
Still, I run.
A sharp, sudden pain splits through my skull. A hand wraps itself into my curls, yanking me back. It releases me, but I’m already falling. Sticks on the forest floor scrape my hands as I try to cushion my fall. A warm, firm body leaps on top of me as my back hits the floor with a thud.
Dae presses his hard body against mine, eyes wild and darting. His horns circle his head like a dark halo. Lips twitching in the moonlight, for a moment, he appears more Jinn than Fae.
I’m never going to make it. He’s going to hold me here, separating me from my family forever. There is no deal to save my mother and there is no escape. A desperate wail rips its way through my lips.
His hands move quicker than I can follow, tracing my neck before his fingers wrap around my throat. I fill my lungs with big gulping breaths, sucking in as much air as I can before he chokes me, praying he’ll let me go before I die or pass out.
But the choke never comes. He just holds my neck firmly, keeping me in place, watching me.
A rough, guttural groan escapes his lips as he leans down and presses his forehead against mine. I can almost taste the oranges and jostaberries he’s eaten tonight.
Wld eyes soften as his grip wavers, and he rolls over. Coldness envelops my exposed body. The fog around us creeps in to consume us both in a watery mist as Dae’s breaths come in heavy pants beside me.
I’ve failed. Again.
“What’s your plan here, Dae? If my mum dies, I’ll never forgive you.”
Dae sighs. He reaches over and runs his index finger down the side of my face, gathering up a few forgotten tears. He pops his finger into his own mouth, tasting my sadness.
“I’ve got one, okay. I’ve got a deal I’m working on and I’ll save you and your mother. That’s what you care about, right?” Despite not trusting him or any deal he could ever make, a little spark of hope rears its ugly head, meeting the other little sparks he’s created in there. “Besides, I wanted to see you more.” Delicate, long-fingers scrape through his midnight-black hair, disturbing the fog that has settled around our heads. “It wasn’t enough. Meeting up with you in the night. I wanted to keep you. I still do.”
“Is that a joke?”
“No. I’m not joking. And another thing, I don’t owe you an explanation for kidnapping you. Humans have been our slaves for years. I can take whoever I want.”
“You just want to hurt people. You like being in control. It makes you feel powerful.”
“It’s not that simple, Elly.” The familiarity with which he says my name sends an unwelcome shiver through the tops of my legs.
“What’s the deal?” He doesn’t even look at me, so I give up and go for another question. “Where’s Obi?”
He rolls his eyes. “Look, I feel bad about it. Does that help? I sometimes feel bad that I kidnapped you and brought you here. Obviously, I could have gone about this in a more grownup way. I didn’t think this far ahead. I didn’t want you to die, and I wanted to be around you, so I took you. And it’s partly your fault, sitting there in the forest crying. You practically delivered yourself like a goddamned present.”
“It never occurred to you to control yourself?”
Dae barks out a mean laugh. “What, like you do?”
“Yeah, exactly like I fucking do. Listen, whatever, okay, you feel bad. Then send me back. If you really feel bad, send me home. I’ll only keep running if you don’t.”
Dae’s soft black hair falls in front of his eyes as he rolls over to his side. “Stop saying that, you know I struggle to say no to you.”
“Send me back.”
Dae inches closer, eyes darkening, hand trailing up to cup my face.
“Send me back.” My voice wavers.
With a tilt of his chin, his lips softly and sweetly graze my neck, right above my vein. An explosion shoots through me, trailing to my thighs as I press myself against him. His teeth slip out, gripping flesh. We both groan.
I bring my hands up to his chest, almost involuntarily. Gathering what strength I can, I shove. Hard. Dae falls back to the grass as I rub the spot he’s bitten.
“I said, send me back.”
“No.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.”
Dae sighs, jumping up. “Come on, let’s go home.”
“That’s not my home.” We walk most of the way in silence, far too much distance between us.
Just before the oak door, Dae pauses and says, “You can be a bit stupid sometimes, Elly, to think I wouldn’t have guards at the mist. You’ve almost escaped once. They’d have killed you if they saw you sprinting at it the way you were. I expected more. Next time you try to escape, strategise and sneak, don’t run like a mad person through the woods at night.”
I feign a shrug. “Dead now or dead later, what’s the difference?” I ask, but the words are beginning to taste like lies.