The air changed the second I crossed the border.It wasn’t just colder. It was cleaner, sharper, like walking into a place too ancient to belong to the rest of the world. The sky overhead was silver instead of blue, and the trees hummed with power I didn’t trust and didn't like eitherI didn’t care.Let the magic bristle around me. Let the guards follow me with wide eyes and tense hands. They knew who I was. The name alone bought me silence.Asher Sanchez.There was weight in it. Power. History. The kind that made even the Fae step back.But names didn’t matter right now. Not really. Not when she was still gone. Not when I could still feel that bond like a thread wrapped tight around my chest, pulling, always pulling toward her. Ever since the day I met herAnd she was here. I knew it in my bones.The palace rose in the distance like it had grown out of the cliffs themselves, beautiful in a way that didn’t comfort, only warned.Two guards approached, pale armor gleaming.“I need an au
The air changed the second I crossed the border.It wasn’t just colder. It was cleaner, sharper, like walking into a place too ancient to belong to the rest of the world. The sky overhead was silver instead of blue, and the trees hummed with power I didn’t trust and didn't like eitherI didn’t care.Let the magic bristle around me. Let the guards follow me with wide eyes and tense hands. They knew who I was. The name alone bought me silence.Asher Sanchez.There was weight in it. Power. History. The kind that made even the Fae step back.But names didn’t matter right now. Not really. Not when she was still gone. Not when I could still feel that bond like a thread wrapped tight around my chest, pulling, always pulling toward her. Ever since the day I met herAnd she was here. I knew it in my bones.The palace rose in the distance like it had grown out of the cliffs themselves, beautiful in a way that didn’t comfort, only warned.Two guards approached, pale armor gleaming.“I need an au
The air changed the second I crossed the border.It wasn’t just colder. It was cleaner, sharper, like walking into a place too ancient to belong to the rest of the world. The sky overhead was silver instead of blue, and the trees hummed with power I didn’t trust and didn't like eitherI didn’t care.Let the magic bristle around me. Let the guards follow me with wide eyes and tense hands. They knew who I was. The name alone bought me silence.Asher Sanchez.There was weight in it. Power. History. The kind that made even the Fae step back.But names didn’t matter right now. Not really. Not when she was still gone. Not when I could still feel that bond like a thread wrapped tight around my chest, pulling, always pulling toward her. Ever since the day I met herAnd she was here. I knew it in my bones.The palace rose in the distance like it had grown out of the cliffs themselves, beautiful in a way that didn’t comfort, only warned.Two guards approached, pale armor gleaming.“I need an au
Something was wrong.I didn’t have proof. No phone call. No message.Just this… pull in my chest. This itch under my skin like the bond between us was fraying, slipping further out of reach.She should’ve come back by now.She always ran when she was overwhelmed. I got that. But she didn’t stay gone. Not like this. Not this long.I leaned back in my chair, jaw tight, fingers tapping the edge of my desk. My office was quiet except for the sound of my beta pacing near Ethan. Loyal to the bone. Deadly in a fight. He’d known me since we were kids, and he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut when I got like this.“Ethan,” I said finally, my voice low, steady. Dangerous. “Find her.”He didn’t even blink. “How far out?”“Wherever she went after the woods. She ran. She was upset. She didn’t come back.” My hands curled into fists. “She should’ve come back. At least to the restaurant”He nodded once, already moving. “I’ll check the security cams along the border. Maybe she headed toward town
The room was too quiet.Too soft.The silken sheets beneath me weren’t chains, but somehow they still felt like a trap.I sat on the edge of the massive bed Arlo had offered—more like insisted—I use. My hands gripped the edge, knuckles white, heart loud in my ears.Safe.That’s what I was supposed to be now.So why did it feel like I was just in another cage?I exhaled slowly and looked around the room. Gold-trimmed walls. A massive window draped in rich green velvet. The faint smell of lavender. It was beautiful. Luxurious.Wrong.I didn’t belong here.My fingers brushed the inside of my wrist, where faint marks still lingered—reminders of iron cuffs, the cold sting of captivity.I shouldn’t be here. Not in the land of the Fae. Not in this bed.Not near Arlo.He hadn’t stopped staring at me since they brought me in. Like I was some ghost he hadn’t expected to see again.I guess I hadn’t expected to see him either.Not after everything.Not after the woods. After he and Asher, argued,
The silence after I said it stretched too long.He didn’t deny it.Didn’t even flinch.Just sat there on the floor across from me like he wasn’t a prince of the freaking Fae realm. Like he hadn’t just kept a mountain-sized secret from me.I stared at him, blanket clutched tight around me.Arlo didn’t move.“I didn’t tell you because I wanted to be Arlo to you,” he said finally, voice low. “Not the prince. Not the heir. Just… me.”I laughed. It came out wrong—cracked and bitter.“Well, congrats. You got what you wanted.”I stood and paced toward the far wall, needing space. Air. Anything but this tight, tangled feeling in my chest. I was still too sore to move fast, but it didn’t stop the fury curling in my gut.“You don’t get it,” I said, turning back to him. “You don’t know what I’ve been through. What I just ran from. And now I’m stuck here, in another prison I don’t understand, and the one person I thought I might be able to trust turns out to be a damn prince.”His face flickered