Waking up in strange places was becoming too much of a habit, Beth decided. She struggled to open her eyelids, though they felt like a body-builder might be holding them down. She certainly wasn’t on her bed, that much she could tell. Or even a bed at all, for that matter, though whatever it was wasn’t wholly uncomfortable.

Beth wiggled her fingers and heard a sound like the crackle of dried leaves. She took a deep breath and smelled pine and earth. Was she in a forest? How had she gotten to a forest?

Then she remembered Trina and the needle. A forest made sense if Trina had taken her somewhere. Trina was a tree nymph, after all. Anger coursed through her at the memory. She had just gotten home! And no one would think to put those clothes in the dryer.

Why had Trina drugged her? If the nymph was worried about Ronan taking her heart, kidnapping his wife would probably only expedite the process.

After a few more minutes of focus Beth managed to open her eyes. A few more minutes after that she managed to keep them open. The sun was beginning to rise through the leaves of the trees overhead. Whatever drug Trina had used on her had immobilized her, but she was starting to get feeling back into her toes and fingers, at least.

“Trina?” Beth asked, unable to form more than a whisper. Her throat felt dry and tender.

“I’m here, Beth.” Trina sounded like she was crying. “I’m so sorry. But they said I had to.”

“Who?”

“The other nymphs. Wh-What’s left of my family. They said I had to.”

Ronan had warned Beth about potential enemies but she hadn’t expected them to act so quickly or be so close to her to begin with. She tried to groan and failed. “Why?”

“Because of what I owe to the Queen. Because of Mac Nevin.”

Those were the things that Beth already assumed, so none of her questions had been answered. “What’s the plan though, Tri? You have to know this is only going to piss him off more.”

“The plan is to kill him. He’s wronged us enough.” A male voice answered this time. “All of us owe the Queen for our hearts. The sickness nearly took everyone.”

Sympathy clogged Beth’s throat for a moment. “I don’t see how killing Ronan will stop the Queen from coming after you.”

“It will give us a chance to escape. The Knight keeps track of where we are. If he’s gone, we can run.” The desperation in his voice was hard to miss.

“Run where?” Beth bent her elbow and shook her hand around, wincing at the pins and needles.

“To the Light,” Trina answered. Her soft fingers grasped Beth’s arm, squeezing gently, silently begging Beth to understand.

“The Light will provide for us sanctuary. We will be safe from Lady Maeve’s wrath.” The male voice reminded Beth of heavy trees groaning against strong winds, she felt it reverberate through her bones.

“It is a lovely thought,” she admitted. “But from what I’ve heard of Lady Etain, she is just as bad. Worse in some ways.”

“Ah, but we do not owe her our hearts,” said the male nymph.

Beth became aware of her feet being bound together.

“Not too tight, Thorn,” Trina pleaded.

“Heaven forbid we chafe the bait.” The sarcasm seemed out of place in his mouth.

“Who is this guy, Tri?” Beth asked, thinking of Benji. He would be heartbroken if this was Trina’s betrothed. Although to be fair, he was probably already heartbroken. The object of his affections had drugged and fae-napped his best friend. Beth couldn’t imagine Benji taking kindly to that.

“A cousin,” Trina murmured, so softly that it almost got lost in the sound of actual wind blowing through the leaves.

Beth was minutely relieved. Her wrists were drawn together in front of her and bound. The nymph named Thorn came into view above her. He looked down at her, regarding her face with a thoughtful expression.

“Should we gag her?” he asked.

“No!” Trina sounded appalled. “What purpose could that possibly serve? She is my friend, Thorn. She did not marry the Knight by choice.”

Thorn was actually fairly attractive. He was the complete opposite of the gnarled old oak that Beth had pictured upon hearing his voice. His hair hung around his face in long brown, bark-like dreadlocks. His eyes were a warm brown and his skin was caramel like Tri’s. His jaw was strong and straight-edged, as was his nose.

The corner of his lips quirked up. “And why not? I hear he is very handsome.”

Beth managed to cock an eyebrow and purse her lips.

“Thorn,” Trina admonished quietly. “Please. Be nice.”

“She doesn’t seem worried about her husband. That’s a point in her favor,” he said.

Beth didn’t want to admit that she was more worried about them. Yes, they were in a forest so the nymphs had the home field advantage, but Ronan was known for being downright deadly in any situation. She hadn’t personally seen him fight, but it was said by every Dark Fae who had that his skills with the sword were unrivaled. Saying as much now would only hurt the nymphs’ pride and maybe her limbs. With any luck she could convince Ronan not to kill them.

“How will he know where to find me? Did you leave a note?” Beth imagined Benji finding a leaf on the dryer full of apologies in Trina’s neat cursive.

“No,” Trina helped her cousin move Beth into a sitting position. They leaned her against a tree, then Thorn produced more rope and they began tying her to it. “Thorn said he most likely has some sort of tracking spell on you. Probably through your ring.”

Beth glanced down at the hands bound together in her lap. The ring, to which she’d begun referring as ‘shiny’ in her head, was still innocently resting on finger. A tracking spell made sense. Ronan had probably cursed himself for not giving it to her before she’d taken off for the Hedge. For some reason the idea that her shiny had only been given to her for locating purpose stung a little bit.

However, it was still her shiny. And Ronan had at least incorporated aspects of each of them into it, so it still counted as a wedding ring. Nevertheless, she wanted to pout that the beautiful object was a little less personal.

Glancing up she noticed more nymphs, maybe a total of eight. They were so still it took her a moment to distinguish them from the rest of the trees. All of them had either green or brown hair and that same caramel skin as Trina and Thorn, and all wore clothes the color of the trees and autumn leaves. All of them had their eyes on her, so she gave them a wide smile.

A few of them looked away immediately. One of them actually hissed at her and one, a younger girl, smiled back.

“What now?” Trina asked Thorn, her hands clasping and unclasping before her. Beth had never seen Trina so nervous. Usually stress rolled off the she-nymph’s shoulders like she was made of silicone.

“We wait,” Thorn said. “Settle yourself, Trina. It won’t due to have you fluttering with anxiety when we face the Knight.”

Trina fell gracefully into a seated position beside Beth, emitting a small whimper.

Thorn moved onto more important things, like endlessly walking the perimeter of their small ambush site.

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“Tri,” Beth said urgently, fully aware that the whole forest could hear them. “Tri this is madness. I don’t want any of you to get hurt unnecessarily.”

“Don’t you see, Beth? We’ll just hurt more if we don’t do this. The Seelie Court will protect us. The time between Mac Nevin’s death and Maeve picking a new Knight will be enough time for us to get away. Forever.” Her long arms snaked around her knees, pulling them against her.

“Even if you all did manage to defeat the most feared warrior in the entire Dark Court, Etain will only fuck with you guys too! She’s just as bad as Maeve, only sneakier about it.”

Much like the tales of the Hedge King, as children Beth, Delphine and Benji had been regaled with stories of Etain’s wickedness. While the Hedge King was the bogeyman, Etain was the beautiful witch that lived in a hut. She lured you in with food and sweets and then tricked you into climbing inside her cauldron of doom, or something along those lines. Mortal and Fae lore tended to blend together in Beth’s mind.

“You don’t know that, Beth. You’ve only heard stories, just as we have only heard stories. Who’s to say they weren’t just made up by Maeve to engineer a fear of the Light? A fear instilled in us as young ones so that we would not cross into the Seelie realm.”

Trina had a point.

“Well, for your sake, I hope you’re right about them. All I know is that my mother slept with Etain’s Knight without her permission and the protocol was the same as if someone from the Light had slept with Ronan without Maeve’s permission.”

Beth didn’t have to go into detail about what the consequences of that would be. Every Unseelie Fae knew all too well the horror that awaited them in Maeve’s dungeon should they break her rules. A swift death would be a mercy which Beth doubted either monarch practiced.

Trina shuddered, signaling her understanding. “Still,” she said quietly. “We do not owe her our hearts as we do to the Dark Lady. With Etain our slates will be clean.”

“In theory,” Beth agreed. After a few moments of silence she asked, “So, I take it this means you’re moving out?”

Trina opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of nine tree nymphs getting into a battle ready stance, which was disturbingly quiet, followed by the sound of footsteps crunching on leaves. The sun had risen fully by now and Beth could see Ronan’s approach through the trees. He walked confidently, sword drawn. He wore a dark red button down that was obviously Sebastian’s. It made him look like something out of Queen of the Damned. Sebastian and Benji flanked him, slightly behind.

Trina let out a small sob at the sight of Benji and then she was standing, her knee level with Beth’s shoulder.

“I gave you a reprieve, Trina. This is how you repay me?” Ronan’s voice was deep and something in Beth responded excitedly to it. Shivers laced her nerve endings and goosebumps erupted along her skin.

“You will not leave here alive, Ronan Mac Nevin,” Thorn, obviously the leader, said as he stepped into a beam of light. The action made him the only visible nymph, aside from Trina.

Ronan laughed humorlessly. Even to Beth the sound was terrifying.

“Elizabeth, are you harmed?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said hoarsely. She cleared her throat. “Listen, Ronan, these people --” But it was too late.

The nymph’s had moved on the warrior and now spun around him in dizzying circles, each sporting a long, thin sword of their own. They were graceful, like ballet dancers, their willowy arms moving at amazing speeds.

But Ronan was faster. Beth had never seen anyone fight like that, not even in the martial arts films that Benji loved so much. He twirled around all of them, ducking in between and under and even over their swords in some cases.

Benji and Sebastian did not join the fight. Benji’s glare was fixed venomously on Trina, who Beth felt shaking beside her, like a sapling in a windstorm. Sebastian was carefully making his way around the outskirt of the fight, toward where Beth was tied up.

One nymph misstepped and was awarded a gash from his left shoulder to his right, not deep enough to cleave him in two but deep enough to bleed, and to hurt. He let out an anguished cry and Beth flinched, watching him drop to his knees in pain.

“Ronan, um, could you try not to kill them?” She knew she sounded ridiculous, making such a request in the middle of a fight, surrounded by her kidnappers.

Benji and Sebastian regarded her with confusion.

“They took you,” Ronan said dryly, not missing a beat in the deadly dance of blades.

“Only to lure you!” Beth argued.

“I fail to see how that makes it better.”

She bit her lip. “Please? They’re good people! They’re just scared. They’re trying to escape to Seelie territory.”

Ronan slashed another one down, though Beth noted it was a non-lethal wound. “Oh? You do realize that it is my job to ensure no one does that.”

She hadn’t, actually. Shit. This was not going well. “B-But you’ll have to take their hearts if you don’t!”

He shot her a cocky, raised eyebrow before dodging another attack. Right. He knew all this already.

“Ronan, please,” Beth begged. She was desperate now. Trina and her family didn’t need to die just because Maeve was a bitch.

The glance he shot her this time was disgruntled, his sword hand never stopping.

Beth held her breath. Sebastian reached her and pulled a knife from his boot. Trina, who Beth assumed was supposed to be guarding her, simply moved out of the way. Sebastian shot the nymph a calm smile and sliced through the ropes like they were made of melty ice cream.

Beth stood shakily, trying to determine if the drug had worn off yet. Not quite, she determined, when she fell sideways. Sebastian caught her with an “Easy now,” and started to help her stumble to Benji, avoiding the fray.

“You said you weren’t harmed,” Ronan sounded angry. When had he even had the time to look at her?

“It’s just an anesthetic,” said Trina, sounding close to tears again.

“I’m fine,” insisted Beth. She threw her arms around Benji when they reached him and he supported her, hugging her tightly. She turned and faced the fight, slung between Benji and Sebastian like a hammock.

Soon all the nymphs except for Trina and Thorn were on the ground. None of them looked dead though, so that was good.

Thorn and Ronan circled each other.

“My wife wants me to spare you,” said Ronan, coming to an abrupt stop.

The forest itself seemed to hold it’s breath, waiting for his next words.

“And as a show of good faith to her I’m going to. But you had better run far and run fast. And do not expect mercy from Riordan or Etain should you gain their ire. They are no more gracious than any other powerful Fae.”

Beth caught Trina’s gaze. They nymph was smiling through tears.

Thorn slowly lowered his sword, a scowl fierce enough to rival Ronan’s on his angular face. “On behalf of all of the Dark Fae tree nymphs, thank you.” The words were obviously difficult for his proud tongue to produce.

Ronan kept his sword up. “If any of you ever endanger what is mine again I will personally escort you to the Unseelie dungeon.” There was too much heat in his voice for the threat to be taken as empty.

Thorn swallowed and Ronan sheathed his sword. He nodded subtly to Benji and Benji shifted Beth’s weight onto Sebastian before snapping his hands into ignition. It was a clear warning to the nymphs not to try any sort of sneak attack.

All of the nymphs tensed in response, even the ones on the ground.

Trina crossed to Beth and leaned in, kissing her cheek. “I’ll never forget this, Beth. I’m so sorry for what I did. I know it is unforgivable.”

“Just be safe, Tri. Don’t piss anybody off.”

Trina nodded, turning to Benji, who refused to even meet her gaze. “I’m so sorry, Benj,” she said softly, tears seeping into her voice. “I really do adore you. I wish things could have been different.”

Benji kept his eyes trained on the rest of the nymphs, his jaw tight. He didn’t respond.

Thorn’s hand encircled Trina’s arm and tugged her away.

“He’s her cousin,” Beth muttered to Benji. Even if he hadn’t asked and didn’t respond, Beth knew he would feel a little better for hearing it.

Suddenly she was swept up and held against a hard chest. She looked up at Ronan, startled. “We’re leaving,” he announced.

Sebastian nodded and turned on his heel, heading back the way they had come. Ronan followed and Benji came last.

Beth leaned around Ronan to try and catch a last glimpse of Trina, but the nymphs had already disappeared into the scenery.

“So my ring is a tracker, huh?” she asked, holding her hand up to further examine her shiny.

Ahead of them, Sebastian chuckled. “Thorny tell ya that?”

“You know him?” asked Beth.

“I know of him. Hard not to hear tidbits about faction leaders when you’re at the Court,” said Sebastian.

“Yes. It’s got a tracking spell placed on it,” Ronan said. “But that works both ways. You should be able to locate me at any time as well, provided I am wearing my ring.”

That took away some of the betrayal she’d felt earlier. “How do I do that?”

“Tell it to find its mate. It will guide you.” He said it as if it were completely normal to talk to inanimate objects.

Beth was about to ask for more specifics but Benji spoke instead. “I can’t believe Trina would do that to you.”

“Take it easy on her, Benj. The lives of her people were on the line.” She kicked her legs up a little bit, testing them. “Ronan, I can walk now. Put me down.”

He gently lowered her feet to the ground, letting go when she was steady. She instantly missed his heat.

“Nice shirt,” she muttered. They all resumed walking. “So where are we?”

“Outside of Falmouth,” said Benji.

“How did you guys all get here? Bus?” She choked back and inappropriate giggle at the thought of Ronan on a mortal bus.

Sebastian grinned, obviously liking that thought as well. “Sadly no. Turns out Ronan has a bike just like me. We’re twinsies.”

Beth didn’t miss the annoyed glance Ronan shot him. She swallowed down another laugh.

They rounded a bend on the loose gravel and there sat the motorcycles as promised, looking dusty from the drive.