Shadow.
His chest met my nose, his arms wrapping around me as he caught me before I could hit the ground.
I nearly growled, but my modesty took precedence first.
After fixing my blouse and skirt, I shoved him away. “Don’t touch me.”
“That’s not what you said an hour ago, princess.”
A growl unlike any I’d ever released before burst from my mouth as I launched myself at him, desiring to do the utmost damage. Only, he caught me up in his arms again, chuckling the entire time.
“See what I mean, Father? She’s a wildcat who can’t keep her hands off me.”
Father?
I shook my head. Who cares? “I’m going to kill you!”
“Try” was Shadow’s arrogant reply.
Gah! I wanted to scream, to call on a tree to pound this dick into the ground, but my powers refused me here, my access to the source cut off through some means of dark magic. Otherwise, I would have used it to escape as soon as we arrived.
“You bit her,” Shadow’s father said.
A genius, he clearly was, because I still had the marks on my neck from the attack. And if I had my arms free, I’d have pointed to it for reference, just in case he needed to see it up close. But Shadow had me locked up against him, my breasts smashed to his chest as he held me captive in his far-too-muscular hold.
Shadow smiled down at me. “As I said, one thing led to another and—”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” his father demanded, cutting off his jackass of a son.
“Well, I thought it’d just be a taste, but yeah, I’m pretty aware of the mate-bond snapping into place. Why else would I have voluntarily stepped into this dreadful place if not to report the mistake?”
Mate-bond? “What mate-bond?” I wrestled in his arms once more, but he held me with the ease of a much stronger fae.
This was why I needed to take more physical defense classes. I’d grown used to relying on my element, which apparently didn’t work in this dark realm.
“Our mate-bond,” Shadow murmured. “We’re connected now, princess. Forever.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“It’s what you are, right? An Earth Fae Princess?” He cocked his head to the side. “Or are you a queen as the only Earth Fae heir?”
“Enough,” his father inserted, his cloak billowing around him with power. Blue eyes—the same color as his son’s—narrowed at Shadow. “You realize you could be excommunicated for this.”
Shadow shrugged. “Saves me from another year at the Academy.”
A low, angry sound rumbled from his father’s chest. “And what about the girl? Interspecies mating is illegal. They might demand her death, or worse, your death.”
Wait, how’s his death worse than mine? “I don’t even want to be here,” I said, furious. “And you can’t kill me. I’m the sole heir to earth. If I die, the element dies with me.” Not exactly true. Someone, maybe Sol, would probably take over my access to the source. But hopefully, they didn’t know that.
His father didn’t even look at me, his smoldering gaze on his son. “Take her to the dungeon and lock yourselves inside. You know the way. I’ll come for you if and when the Council needs a comment.”
“Excuse me, but I’d like to give a comment right now,” I demanded. “Your son bit me against my will, then kidnapped me and brought me into this realm. I shouldn’t be here. Nor can you keep me here. The Elemental Fae Council will not stand for this.”
Well, they might.
Being bitten by a Midnight Fae definitely broke several of the interspecies laws governing fae relations. But it was against my will. Queen Claire would side with me. She knew me well enough to know I would never do something like this.
“I’m the sole Earth Fae heir,” I added. “My people rely on my connection to the source