Torn

“Hey, I’m a good tracker. I’ve brought in way more people than you have. ”

  “That’s because you’re seven years older than me,” Finn replied. That made the clumsy kid twenty-seven. He looked much younger than that.

  “Whatever. Elora picked me. Deal with it. ” The kid shook his head. “What? Are you jealous or something?”

  “Don’t be absurd. ”

  “So where is the Princess anyway?” He looked around my room. “She ran away for this?”

  Page 4

  “This is my room. ” I walked out of the closet, and the new tracker jumped. “You don’t need to be condescending. ”

  “Um, sorry,” he stumbled, blushing. “My apologies, Princess. ” He offered me an unsure smile and did a low bow. “I’m Duncan Janssen, and I’m at your service. ”

  “I’m not the Princess anymore, and I’m not going with you. I just finished explaining that to Finn. ”

  “What?” Duncan looked uncertainly at Finn as he adjusted his jacket again. Finn sat down on the edge of my bed and said nothing. “Princess, you have to come. It’s not safe for you here. ”

  “I don’t care. ” I shrugged. “I’d rather take my chances. ”

  “It can’t be that bad at the palace. ” Duncan was the first person I had ever heard genuinely call Elora’s house a palace, even though it sort of was one. “You’re the Princess. You have everything. ”

  “I’m not going. You can tell Elora that you tried your best, and I refused. ”

  Duncan once again looked to Finn for help. Finn shrugged at Duncan, and his shift to indifference startled me. I had put my foot down on the subject, but I hadn’t really expected him to listen.

  “She can’t possibly stay here,” Duncan said.

  “You think I don’t agree with you?” Finn raised an eyebrow.

  “I don’t think you’re helping. ” Duncan fidgeted with his jacket and tried to stare Finn down, a task I knew was impossible.

  “What do you expect me to say to her that I haven’t already said?” Finn asked, sounding surprisingly helpless.

  “So you’re saying we simply leave her here?”

  “I’m right here, you know,” I said. “And I don’t really appreciate the way you keep referring to me like I’m not. ”

  “If she wants to stay here, then she’ll stay here,” Finn said, continuing to ignore me. Duncan shifted and glanced over at me. “We’re not going to kidnap her. That leaves little in the way of options. ”

  “Can’t you, like”—Duncan lowered his voice and fiddled with the zipper of his jacket—“you know, convince her somehow?”

  Word of Finn’s affection for me must have spread through the compound. Aggravated, I refused to let my feelings for him be used against me.

  “Nothing is going to convince me,” I snapped.

  “Do you see?” Finn motioned toward me. Sighing, he got to his feet. “We should be on our way, then. ”

  “Really?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice.

  “Yeah. Really?” Duncan echoed.

  “You said there’s nothing I can do to convince you. Has that changed?” Finn turned to me. His voice was hopeful, but his eyes were almost taunting. I shook my head firmly. “Then there is nothing left to say. ”

  “Finn—” Duncan started to protest, but Finn held his hand up.

  “It is as the Princess wishes. ”

  Duncan looked skeptically at Finn, probably thinking that this was some sort of trick, much as I was. There had to be something I wasn’t getting, because Finn wouldn’t just leave me here. Sure, that’s exactly what he had done a few days ago, but that’s when he thought leaving was what was best for me.

  “But Finn—” Duncan tried again, but Finn waved him off.

  “We must go. Her ‘brother’ will notice us soon,” Finn said.

  I glanced at my closed bedroom door, as if Matt would be lurking right there. The last time Matt and Finn had a run-in it had not gone well, and I was not eager to repeat the experience.

  “Fine, but…” Duncan trailed off, realizing too late that he had nothing to threaten either of us with. He gave me another quick bow. “Princess. I’m sure we’ll meet again. ”

  I shrugged. “We’ll see. ”

  Duncan climbed out my bedroom window, practically falling onto the roof. After he was out, he half jumped, half fell off the roof. Finn watched him apprehensively for a moment, holding my curtain open, but he didn’t follow after immediately.

  Instead, he straightened up, looking over at me. My anger and resolution were fading, leaving me hopeful that Finn wouldn’t really leave things this way.

  “Once I’m out this window, lock it behind me,” Finn commanded. “Make sure all the doors are locked, and never go anywhere alone. Never go anyplace at night, and if at all possible, always take Matt and Rhys with you. ” He looked past me for a moment, thinking of something.

  “Although neither of them are really good for much of anything…” His dark eyes rested on mine once again. His expression was imploring, and he raised his hand as if he meant to touch my face, but he lowered it again. “You must be careful. ”

  “Okay,” I promised him.

  With Finn standing right in front of me, I could feel the warmth of his body and smell his cologne. His eyes were locked on mine, and I remembered the way it felt when he tangled his fingers in my hair and held me so close to him I couldn’t breathe.

  He was so strong and controlled. In the brief moments he allowed himself to let go of his passion with me, it was the most wonderfully suffocating feeling I’d ever had.

  I didn’t want him to leave, and he didn’t want to leave. But we had both made choices we were unwilling to change. He nodded once more, breaking eye contact, and then turned and slid out the window.

  Duncan waited at the bottom of the tree, and Finn dropped gracefully to the ground. From the window, I watched Finn coax a hesitant Duncan away from the house.

  When they reached the hedges separating my lawn from the neighbors’, Finn looked around, checking to make sure no one was there. Without even looking at me, he and Duncan turned and disappeared.

  I closed the window, locking it securely the way he’d said to. I felt a terrible ache watching him go. Even though he had done this kind of thing before, I couldn’t wrap my mind around Finn really leaving and convincing Duncan to leave me too. If he was so concerned about the Vittra, why would he leave me so unprotected?

  It finally dawned on me. Finn had never left me unprotected, no matter what I or anybody else wanted. As soon as he had realized I wasn’t going with him, he hadn’t wanted to waste any more time arguing. He would wait in the wings until I changed my mind or …

  I shut the curtains tightly. I hated being spied on, but I also found it strangely comforting that Finn was watching over me. After having my window open for so long, my room felt chilly, so I went over to my closet and pulled on a heavy sweater.

  Page 5

  The adrenaline rush from seeing Finn had left me wide awake, but I was looking forward to curling up in bed, even if I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

  I settled into my bed, trying futilely to forget about Finn. Within minutes, I heard a loud banging downstairs. Matt let out a yell, but it was cut short, leaving the house in total silence.

  I jumped and ran to my bedroom door. With shaking hands, I opened it, hoping that Finn had tried to sneak back in and had a misunderstanding with Matt.

  Then I heard Rhys screaming.

  THREE

  insentient

  Rhys suddenly went silent. I barely took a step out of my room when I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and before I could react, she was there.

  Kyra, a Vittra tracker I had dealt with before, appeared at the top of the landing. Her dark hair was in a pixie cut, and she wore a long black leather jacket. She hung on to the railing, crouching down. As soon as she saw me, she sneered, sho
wing more teeth than any human would.

  I rushed toward her, hoping for the element of surprise, but I was out of luck.

  She dodged before I got close and sent a swift kick into my abdomen. I stumbled backward, gripping my stomach dramatically, and when she came at me again, I punched her in the face.

  Unfazed, Kyra lunged at me and returned the blow much harder. When I fell down, she stood over me, smiling, with blood dripping from her nose.

  I scrambled to my feet, and she grabbed my hair, yanking me up. I kicked at her as she lifted me, and she rewarded my moxie by kicking me in the side so hard I cried out. Kyra laughed at that and kicked me again.

  This time I saw white and everything faded out for a moment. My hearing got wonky, and I barely hung on to consciousness.

  “Stop!” a strong voice shouted.

  When I blinked open my swollen eyes, I saw a man running up the stairs toward Kyra. He was tall, and beneath his black sweater he was well muscled. Kyra dropped me to the floor when he reached the top of the stairs.

  “It’s not like I can really hurt her, Loki,” Kyra said, her voice bordering on whining.

  I tried to get to my feet again, even though I felt dizzy, and she kicked me down.

  “Knock it off,” he snapped at her. She grimaced and took a step back.

  He stood in front of me, towering above me, and then knelt down. I could scramble away from him, but I wouldn’t get far. He cocked his head, looking at me curiously.

  “So you’re what all the fuss is about,” he mused.

  He reached forward, taking my face in his hands. Not painfully, but he was forcing me to look at him. His caramel eyes fixed on mine. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

  This strange fog settled over me, and as terrified as I was, I felt my body relaxing, losing its ability to fight. My eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and, unable to stop it, I fell asleep.

  I was dreaming of water. But anything more specific than that I couldn’t remember. My body felt cold, like it should be shivering but wasn’t. My cheeks were warm, though, resting against something soft.

  “You’re telling me that she’s a Princess?” Matt asked, his voice a deep rumble above me. My head lay against his leg, and the more I woke up, the more I realized how terrible my body felt.

  “It’s not that hard to believe, really,” Rhys said. His voice came from somewhere on the other side of the room. “Once you get all the Trylle stuff, the Princess part is pretty easy to take. ”

  “I’m not sure what to believe anymore,” Matt admitted.

  I opened my eyes with a struggle. My lids felt unnaturally heavy, and my left eye was swollen from where Kyra had punched me. The room swayed, and I blinked it into focus.

  When my vision finally cleared, I still didn’t understand what I was seeing. The floor appeared to be dirt, and the walls were brown and gray stones, looking damp and weathered. It reminded me of an old cellar … or a dungeon.

  Rhys paced the other side of the room, fresh bruises on his face. I tried to sit up, but my entire body hurt and my head felt woozy.

  “Hey, take it easy,” Matt said, putting his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t listen.

  I pushed myself up until I was sitting, which took a lot more effort than it normally required. I grimaced and leaned against the wall next to him.

  “You’re awake!” Rhys grinned. He was probably the only person in the world who could look happy in this situation.

  “How are you feeling?” Matt asked. For his part, he didn’t have any visible bruises, but he was a better fighter than Rhys and me.

  “Great. ” I had to lie through gritted teeth because it hurt to breathe. Based on the intense shooting pain in my diaphragm, I guessed I had a cracked rib, but I didn’t want to worry Matt. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

  “I was hoping you could shed some light on that,” Matt said.

  “I already told him, but he won’t believe me,” Rhys said.

  “Where are we, then?” I asked Rhys, and Matt scoffed.

  “I’m not sure exactly. ” Rhys shook his head. “I think we’re in the Vittra palace in Ondarike. ”

  “Ondarike?” I asked.

  “The Vittra capital,” Rhys explained. “But I don’t know exactly how far it is from Förening. ”

  “I figured as much,” I said, sighing. “I recognized the Vittra who attacked the house. Kyra went after me before. ”

  “What?” Matt’s eyes were wide and disbelieving. “These people went after you before?”

  “Yeah, that’s why I had to leave. ” I closed my eyes because it hurt too much to keep them open. The world wanted to spin out from under me.

  “Told you,” Rhys said to Matt. “I’m not lying about this stuff. After what happened, you would think you’d cut me a little slack. ”

  “Rhys isn’t lying,” I said, wincing. It was getting harder to breathe, and I had to take very shallow breaths, which only made me more light-headed. “He knows more about all of this than I do. I wasn’t there very long. ”

  “Why are these Vittra people coming after you?” Matt asked. “Why do they want you?”

  I shook my head, unwilling to risk the pain of speaking.

  “I don’t know,” Rhys answered when I didn’t. “I’ve never seen them go after anyone this way before. Then again, she’s the first Princess I’ve been around, and they’ve foretold of her for a while. ”

  I’d wanted to know what they were foretelling, but everyone gave me vague responses, so all I knew was that I’d be powerful someday. But I didn’t feel very powerful, especially right now. It hurt too much to speak, and I was locked up in a dungeon.

  Page 6

  And even worse, not only had I failed to save myself, but I’d gotten Rhys and Matt dragged into this mess along with me.

  “Wendy, are you okay?” Matt asked.

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  “You don’t look okay,” Rhys said.

  “All your color is gone, and you’re barely even breathing,” Matt said, and I heard him getting to his feet next to me. “You need a doctor or something. ”

  “What are you doing?” Rhys asked.

  I opened my eyes to see what Matt was up to. His plan was simple and obvious—he went to the locked door and pounded on it.

  “Help! Somebody! Wendy needs a doctor!”

  “What makes you think they’d even want to help her?” Rhys asked, echoing my exact thoughts. Kyra had gone out of her way to hurt me when she captured me.

  “They haven’t killed her yet, so they probably don’t want her dead. ” Matt had stopped pounding long enough to answer Rhys, then went back to hitting the door and yelling for help.

  The sound of it echoed through the room, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My head throbbed too much already. I was about to tell Matt to knock it off when the door opened.

  This was the perfect time for Matt and Rhys to launch a counterattack, but it didn’t occur to either of them. They both just moved away.

  The Vittra from the house walked into the room, the one who had rendered me unconscious, and I dimly remembered Kyra calling him Loki. His shaggy hair was surprisingly light for a Vittra, almost blond.

  Walking next to him was a troll, like an actual troll. All short and gobliny. His features were humanoid, but his skin was slimy and brown. He wore a hat, and tufts of grayish hair stuck out around the edge. He barely came up to Loki’s hip, but the fact that he was an actual troll made him more intimidating somehow.

  Rhys and Matt both gaped at the hobgoblin, and I probably would’ve too, if I’d been capable of gaping. I could barely keep my head up.

  “You say the girl is in need of a doctor?” Loki asked, his eyes resting on me. He regarded me with the same mild curiosity he had before.

  “Kyra did that?” the hobgoblin asked, his voice unexpectedly deep for such a small creature. He looked t
o Loki for confirmation, shaking his head at the damage she’d inflicted on me. “She needs to be put on a leash. ”

  “I don’t think Wendy can breathe,” Matt said, his features hardening with self-restraint.

  I was sure my condition was the only thing keeping him from attacking Loki. If he hurt them, they wouldn’t be able to help me.

  “Well, let me have a look. ” Loki walked over to me, his strides long and purposeful.

  The hobgoblin stayed by the door, guarding it from Matt and Rhys, but they were too focused on me to consider escape.

  Loki crouched down in front of me, looking me over with something that resembled concern. I was in too much pain to feel real fear, but I’m not sure I would have been afraid of him. Physically he was much stronger than me, and he had some kind of ability that could knock me out, maybe even more than that. But somehow, I knew he’d help me.

  “What hurts?” Loki asked.

  “She can barely breathe, let alone talk!” Matt snapped. “She needs immediate medical attention. ”

  Loki held up his hand to silence him, and Matt sighed heavily.

  “Can you talk?” Loki kept staring at me.

  When I opened my mouth, instead of speaking, an excruciating cough rose up in me. Closing my eyes, I tried to fight it. I coughed so hard, tears streamed down my cheeks, and I felt something wet. I opened my eyes to see bright red splattered all over my legs and Loki’s feet. I was coughing up blood, and I couldn’t stop.

  “Ludlow!” Loki shouted at the hobgoblin. “Get Sara! Now!”

  FOUR

  vitriol

  Loki crouched in front of me, keeping Matt back. He probably knew Matt’s inclination would be to hold me, and Loki didn’t want me moved, afraid that it might rupture something. Matt shouted frantically, but Loki kept insisting that everything would be all right.

  Within moments a woman appeared in the room. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she knelt down in front of me, pushing Loki to the side. Her eyes were almost as dark as Finn’s, and I found something comforting in that.

  “My name is Sara, and I’m going to help you. ” She pressed her hand hard against my abdomen, and I winced.

  It hurt so bad I wanted to scream, but then the pain began to fade. A weird numbing tingle ran through me. It took me a second to figure out where I had felt the sensation before.

  “You’re a healer,” I mumbled, slightly dismayed that she was helping me. The pain in my chest and stomach had disappeared, and she put her hand on my face, fixing my black eye.

  “Does it hurt anywhere else?” Sara asked, ignoring my statement. She looked worn out, a temporary side effect from healing, but otherwise she was incredibly beautiful.

  “I don’t think so. ” I sat up, still a little unsteady, but that was lessening by the moment.

  “Kyra went way overboard,” Sara said, more to herself than me. “Are you okay now?”

  “Yeah. ” I nodded.

  “Excellent. ” Sara stood up and turned to Loki. “You need to control your trackers better. ”

  “They’re not mine. ” Loki crossed his arms over his chest. “If you have a problem with how they do their job, take it up with your husband. ”

  “I’m certain my husband wouldn’t like how this situation was handled. ” Sara looked at him severely, but he didn’t back down.