Captured by the Fae (Fate of the Fae Book 1) Read online

  I was in the body of a man.

  Despite the blurry reflection, I knew I looked like the male in the flyers.

  I remembered nothing before I’d woken up a few minutes ago, locked up in a dark cell, deep beneath the earth. Nothing made sense.

  How had I gotten here? How had I been turned into a man? Maybe this was a dream?

  The sound of the large metal doors clanging open had ripped me out of a dark place, and guards had dragged me up an endless amount of stairs until I’d ended up here.

  Then my mind blanked. Was that it? Nothing else to give me a clue as to what was happening? I tasted my heart in my throat. My head ached as I tried to think. Heat radiated from the sand beneath my feet, and the sun above scorched the bare skin on my arms, my forehead, my neck.

  Despite the heat, the chains were cool to the touch around my wrists. Thick magic chains cuffed them, so fighting back hadn’t been an option. Maybe, if I’d been prepared, I could have fought my way out. I’d fought my way out of a tight spot more times than I could count. But that was when I’d been in a body I knew. This one was large, heavy, slow. I didn’t know how long my legs were, how far I could reach. I didn’t know how hard I could hit. This guy was powerful. Between fight or flight, I bet he would do the former. Speed wouldn’t be on my side here, and that was what I always relied on.

  I glanced down at the chains again. My hands were bound in front of me. It would allow me to fight, at least. The Fae worked with all kinds of spells all the time. I’d seen them use them for everything, from adding flavor to food, to making their equipment indestructible, to using it against each other—and against humans.

  I studied my large, calloused hands. When I balled them into fists, they were the size of a child’s head.

  The groaning sound of a large, metal door lifting on the opposite side of the arena drew my attention, and the crowd hushed. The silence was deafening. A wild, bloodcurdling roar sliced through the quiet, followed by the incessant cheering of the crowds.

  A vicious monster appeared. The large, scaled body had an oily sheen to it. Scales like armor slid over each other as the creature crawled out of the darkness, and long, white teeth dripped menace. Spikes protruded at inconsistent intervals along the neck, and the creature sported a thick tail. Red eyes promised death, and nothing blocked the way between me and the monster.

  “I’m not a king slayer!” I shouted. “I didn’t do it! You’ve got the wrong person! I’m a woman! A human!”

  Laughter rippled through the crowds.

  No one would listen. I was being forced to fight this monster, punished for a crime I didn’t commit.

  The monster stood on the other side of the arena, head low, a growl emanating from the back of its throat.

  The chains around my wrists fell off, as if their time had expired, and I could finally use my arms. At least I could try to defend myself.

  The monster spun around, those red eyes locking onto me, and it let out a scream that sounded more like the screams of a woman than a monster. It shook the large body, those oily scales shimmering in the light, and pawed the ground like a bull about to charge.

  And I was painted in red, the only target that monster saw.

  Oh, Goddess, this was where I died.

  3

  I should have focused on the monster. I should have been ready to fight for my life. Instead, I looked up at the Fae King, and our eyes locked. A chill ran down my spine.

  He was incredibly powerful. I felt his magic pulsing from him like a wave, but he was mesmerizing, too. Incredibly handsome…and dangerous—like a predator that attracted its prey with beauty, only to rip its head off.

  With our eyes locked, time stood still. The world slowed to a halt, and everything faded away. All I knew was the gaze of that Fae King, staring into my soul.

  And he looked like he wanted to kill me himself. Hatred filled his icy eyes. He glared at me like I was the epitome of evil.

  Well, the feeling was mutual. Because he was about to be the reason I died. And for what? I had done nothing wrong. I was innocent! But no one would hear me out. This was hardly a fair trial. Death-by-monster wasn’t a fair punishment, either.

  I noticed Lucia, the future Fae Queen of Jasfin. Her presence next to Rainier demanded attention. A magnetic power drew my gaze.

  Her cornflower eyes locked on me, too. They were scornful, narrowed at me. Her blonde hair hung over her shoulders like waves of silk. She sat next to the King, polished and regal and every bit as royal as he needed her to be. She angled her body toward him, and she looked at me down her nose, satisfaction in her eyes.

  Hostility twitched and twisted inside me when I looked at her. She enjoyed this.

  The monster let out a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. The spell broke, the bubble burst. Time sped up, and the monster was going to kill me.

  My pathetic existence wouldn’t end like this. I would fight back with everything I had.

  The monster swished that thick, leathery tail as if it was soft and furry, like the tail of a cat. It held its head low, red eyes sizing me up. A long, pink tongue ran over the sharp teeth, and a shudder racked my body.

  The creature didn’t run and attack the way I thought it would. I’d tried to figure out a pattern, but this monster was smarter than that. Instead of charging head-on, it circled slowly around me, stalking me.

  The crowd held a collective breath, and I moved as the creature did. I kept my back to the wall, facing the monster at all times. When it circled left, I did the same. I would stay on the opposite side of the arena and keep away from the monster for as long as I could.

  I stepped on something hard and looked down. A spear lay in the sand. I kneeled down and wrapped my thick fingers around it. The spear was thin and strange in my foreign hand, but I would figure it out. I didn’t know if the spear was there on purpose or if this was a mistake.

  But thank Goddess for something I could use to defend myself.

  Although I doubted a spear would be enough to take on the armored monster, it was better than nothing at all.

  The beast suddenly lunged forward, teeth bared. Instead of stepping back, I stepped in toward the creature and pointed the spear at its face. I burrowed the back of it into the sand, so the monster would leverage itself against it. When the creature charged, the spear did what I needed it to do—the tip pushed in between two of the large scales, and blood poured out.

  The monster let out a feminine scream and backed up. It regarded me with red eyes and snapped its jaws. It was angry that I’d done damage.

  This time, the creature seemed to calculate its next move. How smart was this thing? I was in trouble.

  It backed away, tail flicking again. Those eyes locked on me and followed my every move. I waited. Storming the monster put me at a great disadvantage—I was only human. Or…whatever. In this body, I wasn’t sure what I was. The monster was enormous, and I would let that count in my favor—or try to. Usually, I had speed on my side, but I was in a body I wasn’t used to. I had to figure something out.

  Dead was dead, no matter what body I was in.

  When the beast charged again, I ran forward, too. I let out a vicious battle cry that sounded strange to my ears, coming from my mouth in such a deep bellow.

  I saw the steps falter—the creature was unsure about my reaction. It expected me to curl away in fear.

  Was I terrified? I was scared out of my mind, but backing down would only get me killed. I’d learned a long time ago the only way to win a fight was to give it my all.

  When the monster hesitated, I took my chance. I leaped forward, spear pointed at the head. I tried to get it into the eye. The monster turned its head last minute, and the spear skipped off the scales and clattered to the ground on the other side of the large body.

  I looked up, and the monster’s lips turned upward, almost like a smirk. I held my breath, and terror froze me in place, but only for a second. I’d need to fight, or die a coward, and I wasn’t
one to give up so easily.

  The beast crept closer. I was without a weapon and in trouble. I started backing away. This was exactly what I shouldn’t do, but I had nothing to charge with now.

  My back hit the wall, and I knew this was it. I was done. This monster was going to kill me, and I had no way to stop it. I glanced toward the hovel where we’d waited. It was too far for me to make a run for it. The guards poked their heads out, eagerly watching.

  Everyone rooted for me to die.

  Great.

  The monster opened its jaws, let out a roar that made my bones rattle, and it snapped the giant mouth at my head. I ducked, and a deafening metal thud sounded. I blinked my eyes open and glanced up at the monster just above me.

  It had gone for my head…and missed?

  The crowd gasped. I looked at my hands and realized they were my hands. Whatever other body I’d been in was gone. I was myself again.

  The only reason the monster had missed my head was that I was much shorter than the man I’d been a moment ago. I wore my own clothes again, so I could move more quickly in cotton pants and the loose-fitting tunic. The smell of the beer I’d kneeled in what felt like a lifetime ago rose to my nostrils.

  I took the opportunity. I had to act fast. The monster didn’t know what the hell was going on. Neither did I—no one did—but there wasn’t time to ask questions. I was my usual size once more. Small and fast. I knew my body. I could trust it again.

  I vaulted out from underneath the large belly of the beast. I rolled across the dust and found the spear gleaming in the sun. When I came up onto both feet, I crouched low, spear pointed at the beast.

  It shook itself out and charged with an indignant roar—it was furious it was losing. And I was sick and tired of this. I just wanted to go home.

  The thought was fleeting. I was stuck in a dream world, and I would wake up at any moment. If this monster killed me, I wasn’t going to snap out of this nightmare, back home on the pile of rags where I slept. But still, I couldn’t allow myself to give up to the beast.

  Either way, this would be the end.

  The monster lunged at me, and I dove forward into the same roll I’d used to get away from it. It put me between the creature’s legs. Sharp claws scratched up the sand around me as it spun around, trying to reach me.

  I yanked the spear up as hard as I could, slicing into the soft underbelly where there were no armored scales. Everything had a weakness. The leather skin tore open, and the monster screamed in agony as blood poured out. It splashed on my arms, hot on my skin.

  I didn’t have time to freak out. I tried to get another blow in, but the creature reared up on its hind legs and spun away from me, getting me out from underneath it. It knew I could do damage there.

  It crouched low, and we were back to circling each other, stalking. The wound in its belly gaped and poured out blood, leaving a trail as the beast moved. I pushed my hair out of my face, long and red and in the way. The short men’s cut I’d had a moment ago had been better for battle.

  The creature was done with this back and forth, and so was I. I was getting tired. The strength I’d had in the male body was gone. I would lose if I didn’t end this once and for all.

  I didn’t know what made me think I could do this, but I’d wounded the creature twice, and I still stood.

  As if the monster was ready to finish this, too, it charged again. It limped slightly, trying to step around the pain in its belly. When the monster reached me, teeth bared, mouth open wide as if to swallow me whole, I used the spear as a vault. I ran forward and shoved it into the sand, jumping up. I thrust as hard as I could and ended up on the beast’s elongated face. The teeth were below me.

  The monster suddenly turned into a bucking bronco, trying to throw me off. I grabbed onto one of the spikes. It sliced my hand open, but I gritted my teeth through the pain and held on for dear life. If it threw me off, I would be dead.

  The beast paused, only for a split second to orientate itself.

  It was all I needed.

  I grabbed the spear and shoved the tip into the monster’s eye.

  It let out a terrifying scream and reared up. I swung around, holding onto the spear. My body slammed against the monster’s scales, and instead of shaking the spear out of the eye, the momentum and my weight shoved it in deeper.

  The body went limp and sank to the ground, nearly crushing me. I had to roll out of the way.

  When I came to a halt, a cloud of dust surrounded me, and I coughed. I pushed myself up and sank into a battle stance, in case the monster came again.

  It was dead.

  The lifeless body lay in a puddle of blood that oozed from the belly and eye and turned the sand into a thick, red soup.

  When I looked up, the crowd was completely silent. They all stared at me in shock and awe. I gathered no one had killed a beast like this before.

  A murmur broke loose as they muttered and mumbled to each other and to themselves. A few words traveled to me on the breeze.

  She changed.

  That was what they were staring at—not the beast, which I’d killed.

  They stared at me. The man who’d turned into a woman.

  I still wasn’t sure how it had happened, or why. All I knew was that if it hadn’t happened, or if it had happened a moment later, I would be dead now.

  I ran my hand through my hair, the other hand feeling empty without the spear to protect myself.

  The guards, who’d been staring at me from the hovel, suddenly snapped back to life and ran toward me.

  I turned around, facing them, ready to fight whoever else was ready to take my life.

  But the magic manacles snapped around my wrists before I could do anything. I looked at the guards, furious that they’d caught me yet again, but there wasn’t anger or irritation or sheer disinterest in their eyes.

  What I saw was fear. They were terrified of me.

  I’d just killed their monster. They hadn’t put the cuffs on me because they were worried I would escape. They’d chained me because they feared what else I would do.

  4

  A Fae male stepped into the arena, and he looked every inch a warrior. He was tall and thickset, with muscles for days. Cropped brown hair stressed his hard expression, and his green, merciless eyes tracked me when he walked to me.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  I stared at him defiantly. I wouldn’t do what he said. I didn’t want to do what any of them said.

  When I didn’t move, he grabbed my arm in his giant hand and dragged me with him.

  He was strong, but not only as a warrior. He had magic, too—more magic than any Fae I’d encountered in Steepholde. It flowed through me the moment he touched me. My muscles tensed, and I prepared to go another round. I had to get out of here, but his magic paralyzed me. I wanted to fight him. I couldn’t do anything, though.

  I hated magic.

  He dragged me through the entrance he’d appeared from and up golden carpeted stairs. When we stepped under the roof, the cool breeze and shade brought relief after the scorching sun. I was filthy, sweaty, and covered in blood—the monster’s and my own.

  “Thank you, Dex,” King Rainier said when the warrior—Dex—planted me, wobbly legged, in front of the King.

  “Kneel,” Dex ordered.

  He didn’t give me a chance to defy him again. He shoved me down, and my knees hit the ground.

  “Your Highness,” I said tightly.

  “Look at me,” King Rainier said.

  I glanced up, and our gazes locked. Those icy eyes bore into the depths of my soul, and again, the world stopped. Everything faded away, and the two of us were removed to a different plane. His eyes swirled to become a brilliant azure and then a deep cerulean color.

  “You’re not Zander,” he said, and his words sliced through the spell that seemed to hold us together. In an instant, his eyes changed back to the color of ice. His voice was deep, smooth like velvet, and a shiver ran down my spine.
But his face was hard, contrasting with his warm voice.

  I shook my head. “Obviously not.”

  “Execute her for treason,” Lucia said. Her voice was sharp and unpleasant. “I don’t know what her plan was. Maybe she tried to infiltrate and kill you, too, my love.” She put her hand on his.

  “Be quiet,” King Rainier snapped.

  He shook off her hand. He sat upright and tall, but he was stiff and unyielding.

  The future Fae Queen looked shocked, but Lucia snapped her mouth shut. She leaned back in her high-backed chair rather than leaning toward the King as she had been. She folded her hands in her lap.

  “What magic is this?” he asked me.

  “I don’t know. It’s not mine.”

  “Then how did you shift back into your normal form?”

  “Maybe that form isn’t her normal form,” Lucia interjected. “Maybe that creature is the trick.”

  I glared at her.

  “Lucia,” the King warned.

  She pursed her lips.

  “I don’t know how it happened,” I said.

  “I want answers!” the King barked.

  “Yeah? Get in line. You’re not the one who had to fight for your life down there because someone mistook you for a murderer.”

  The King narrowed his eyes.

  “Are you going to let her talk to you like that?” Lucia asked.

  The King only glared at his betrothed to silence her this time before he turned his gaze back to me.

  He was mistrusting. He didn’t believe me. What was I supposed to do, show him I didn’t have any magic? The fact that I couldn’t show him any magic was exactly the point. I glanced at Lucia. She was unhappy he’d scolded her. But she was the submissive future queen, silent and ready to back her betrothed.

  “My father is dead,” King Rainier said with words filled with sorrow.

  Once again, pain and sadness blossomed in my chest. I didn’t know what to say. Everyone knew, but telling him that seemed harsh, even for me. His sadness stopped me.