Chapter 3
This was certainly a very interesting hallucination.
From his razor-sharp cheekbones to his long pointed ears, the man who was currently restraining Tamsin’s wrists was, unmistakably, an elf. And the sort of elf that she’d spent an embarrassing amount of time daydreaming about as a teenager. The studded leather armor he wore barely protected his modesty, let alone anything else. Intricate green tattoos swirled across his bare torso and shoulders, glowing with a faint mystic light.
Tamsin could only assume that she’d hit her head really, really hard.
I’m in a coma,she decided. This is all a dream.
Which was just as well, because otherwise she’d be terrified out of her mind.
Bondage Legolas had grabbed her the instant she’d fallen through the stone circle—no, she corrected herself, when she’d imagined that she’d fallen through the stone circle. For all his ethereal beauty, the guy had the muscles of a heavyweight boxer. And even if she could somehow break free of his iron-hard grip, there was nowhere to run. A whole crowd of elves thronged around her, murmuring to each other. Every single one was stunningly attractive, in an alien, feral kind of way.
And every single one was staring at her hungrily.
But there was no need to worry. This was all just a dream. It wasn’t real.
She was quite impressed with her own imagination, actually. The sexy elves might have come straight out of her adolescent fantasies, but she had no idea how her brain had come up with the rest of the scene.
She seemed to be in a large, circular stone chamber, with a high vaulted ceiling like a cathedral. But no cathedral had marble pillars carved like trees, so detailed that she half-expected to see a stone leaf shiver and fall at any moment. The walls were carved too, and inlaid with silver and opal in gorgeous abstract patterns that suggested flowers and ferns.
The only light came from dozens of pale glowing spheres like miniature moons, hovering high overhead without any visible means of support. The complete lack of windows made Tamsin wonder if she was underground. Her grandma’s stories flashed through her mind, about faerie hills and the Fair Folk who lived under them. How sometimes they would ride out and capture a mortal to bring back to their hidden halls…
So that’s what I’m hallucinating, she realized. I’m dreaming that I’ve been captured by faeries.
The murmuring crowd stilled, drawing back and sinking into low bows. A beautiful dark-haired woman in a flowing red gown swept past them all. From the silver and ruby tiara resting on her brow and way all the other elves were groveling, it was clear that the woman was the ruler here…and yet Tamsin could barely spare her a glance.
Wow. This hallucination is getting better and better. Thank you, hormones.
The tall man pacing at the queen’s side was her every guilty fantasy, and then some. Unlike most of the rest of the elves, he was dressed in plain leather armor rather than elaborate jeweled confections. Somehow, the fact that his torso and abs were covered rather than on full display only made him more enticing. He bore no weapon that she could see, but he was obviously a warrior.
He had a brooding, chiseled face, the lines of his nose and jaw rather more pronounced than most of the other male elves. The rugged angles only added to his masculine good looks. He wore his midnight-black hair bound back, the sides braided, the tail falling well past his broad shoulders. Intricate, deep blue tattoos that reminded Tamsin of Celtic knotwork curved over his high cheekbones. The spiral designs covered his exposed shoulders and biceps, too, emphasizing the hard swells of his muscles.
Oh my. Tamsin hoped that she wouldn’t wake up for a while yet. Take your time, paramedics. This coma just got very interesting.
The ridiculously hot warrior was staring at her like all the other elves, yet there was something different in his leaf-green eyes. There was hunger there, true, and heat…but also an intense, focused attention that seemed to penetrate straight to the secret depths of her soul.
Tamsin had the oddest feeling that alone in the room, he was the only one who saw her. A person, a woman, not a loaded dessert cart ready to be devoured. He looked at her like he wanted to know her, intimately, in every way…
“So this is our tithe,” purred the elf queen. “Let us look at you.”
With an effort, Tamsin jerked her attention away from Hotty McBroodypants as the elf queen’s gaze swept over her from head to foot in slow fascination. Tamsin felt rather like a chicken being scrutinized by a peacock.
To distract herself from the unnerving sensation of being studied like some rare and exotic beetle, she examined the elf queen in return. She was the most beautiful woman Tamsin had ever seen, though it was a strange, sharp-angled beauty, not at all human.
Her ears were long, tapering to elegant points. Her ebony hair hung loose down her back, touching the floor. Like the other elves, she had intricate patterns of curving lines and dots on her brow and cheekbones. More lines wrapped round her slender shoulders, spiraling down her bare arms. The designs glinted red-gold against the woman’s white skin.
Are those tattoos, or some kind of cosmetic?Tamsin wondered. From what she could see, every elf had unique patterns. The markings gleamed in the pale light of the moon-lamp, with subtle, every-shifting colors like butterfly wings.
The elf queen circled her. Tamsin couldn’t hear her footsteps, just the faintest sound of silk swishing against marble. The back of her neck crawled. She tried to turn to keep the woman in sight, but her guard tightened his grip, holding her motionless.
“What a delicious thing you are,” the elf queen said, coming back into view. She stroked a long, crimson fingernail down Tamsin’s cheek and under her chin, forcing her to tip her head up. “Well met, little human. At least, well met for me. You may find otherwise.”
Not real, not real.Tamsin made herself meet the elf queen’s eyes without flinching. They were the deep red of flawless rubies, bright and hard. There wasn’t an ounce of compassion in them. None of this is real.
The elf queen’s head tilted, her mouth pursing a little. She turned to address the guard holding Tamsin. “She is glamoured?”
The man bowed as best he could while holding Tamsin motionless. “To keep her calm, my lady.”