A flap in the tent opened, a few others stepping inside, and for the first time I blinked, noticing my surroundings.
I lay in a tent, dressed in a clean tunic and trousers that felt soft and warm against my skin, so unlike the scratchy rags we had to wear as prisoners. Sunlight filtered through the cracks. Sun. Actual sun on my face. I touched my cheeks where the rays hit, wanting to run out the tent and lather myself in it. My breath hitched as I caught a glance at the outside world through a little slit in the flap. Green. The leaves on the trees were green. Not black or gray or covered in tar. Not filled with holes or mottled by slugs.
“Oh, good,” a man with blond hair said. He smiled, dimples appearing in his cheeks, and I marveled at his perfectly coiffed hair, gelled and styled with a part straight down the middle. “Tell me, do you recognize my voice? We had a few chats while you slept.” He winked, and the woman next to him rolled her eyes.
“Blood and earth, Charming. She didn’t hear you flirting with her while she slept.”
“I’ve been known to charm women out of sleep,” he said. “They’d much rather be doing other things when they’re around me than sleeping.”
The woman massaged her temples, walking across the room, her movements so smooth, reminding me of a cat.
She stuck out her hand. “I’m Shadow.”
Wayfinder, Charming, Shadow. What was with these names?
“Who are you people?” I clutched my covers tight. “Where am I? What do you want with me?”
“Well, at least offer to buy me dinner before you start firing off all these questions,” Charming said.
Shadow elbowed him, and Wayfinder let out a snort. She glared at him. “What? I think he’s funny.”
Charming crossed his arms. “Thank you.”
Shadow sat on the end of the bed. “I’m sorry about these idiots. You’re in Mosswood Forest.”
My last memory flooded my mind. Standing outside the border. That had been why. Wayfinder had wanted to cross it with me, then he... he drugged me with something.
I gaped at him.
No one got into Mosswood Forest, no one except the mountain dwellers, who had built the border years ago, betrayed my father and Elwen. They were responsible for so many deaths, so much pain and suffering because of what they’d done. And he’d brought me here? Directly to the land of my enemies? Spirits below.
“Are you insane?” I hissed. “We can’t be here. They’ll kill us if they see us.”
“Who?” Wayfinder asked, brows knitted.
“The mountain dwellers.” I spoke the words slowly, like he might be an idiot who wouldn’t understand them.
Wayfinder stepped forward. “Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing I’m one of them.”
My entire body tensed. “You—you’re a mountain dweller?”
“We all are,” Shadow said gently, still seated on my bed.
Charming shot me a smile. “I won’t bite. Unless you want me to.”
Unbelievable. So not only had I been kidnapped, but I’d been taken by a mountain dweller to a region that I didn’t know, where danger lurked around every corner.
“Why am I here, then? What do you want from me?”
“Well, that’s for Boss to explain.” Wayfinder gave a shrug. “He should be by soon.”
“Your boss?” I asked, the ominous tone behind his words sending a shiver down my spine.
This boss didn’t sound like someone I wanted to meet.
Fuck.
I needed to find a way out of this place, needed to escape and get to Jasper as soon as possible. He’d help me rescue Jillian and Driscoll. He’d help me save the earth court.
