Sneak Peek

Ellery

Dirt kickedout from under Adira's hooves as I pulled back on the reins and she skidded to a halt in front of the manor. My head spun, my stomach rolled, and I was barely off her back before I bent over and threw up.

I shook from the force of it as my body tried to purge itself of all the horror and wrongness tearing it apart, but it was impossible. The emotions tearing me apart wouldn't be dispelled that easily.

"Lery!"

Scarlet's hands fell on my shoulders as more bile spewed from me, but I could never get rid of how wrong I felt. They'd taken my mother, thrown her into a prison carriage, and driven her to the palace.

And to free her, I would need five thousand carisle… or more likely, a miracle.

The force of my heaving caused tears to stream from my eyes, but my broken heart would have made them fall anyway. They'd taken her because of me.

They took her because I made the mistake of falling in love with Ryker, the duke's son. The man had come to me, threatened me, and driven us apart, but knowing that I'd ended things with his son wasn't good enough for him.

The duke also wanted me to suffer. He intended to show me how much power he had in Tempest, and how easily he could take everything I loved. I no longer had his son; on the duke's orders, and because of my own secrets, I'd pushed Ryker away to protect my mother, and it was all for nothing.

Nothing!

The duke had still taken my mother and shattered my heart by doing so. I'd also hurt Ryker, the one immortal who deserved it least.

Maybe we hadn't professed to love each other, and I didn't know if Ryker felt as deeply for me as I did for him, but he did care for me. He'd told me things about himself and his life that he'd never told another; he'd trusted me, and I'd shattered that trust because his father threatened to imprison my mother.

And then the duke had gone and had her taken anyway!

"Lery." Scarlet rubbed my back. "It's okay. We'll get her back."

With the back of my hand, I wiped away my snot and tears as I tried to pull myself together. Vomiting and sobbing like a baby weren't the answers to getting my mother back, but I didn't know how to accomplish that.

"We don't have five thousand carisle," I whispered.

"I know."

My stomach rolled, but I managed to keep from puking again, probably because there was nothing left to throw up. With my hands on my knees and my head bent, I struggled to keep my mind from spinning into a hundred different directions.

I had to get myself under control and think. I had to fix this… somehow.

But how? HOW?

When I stood up, a wave of dizziness assailed me. I managed to keep from falling over by planting my feet apart, but I swayed as I stood there.

Scarlet's warm brown eyes swam before me as I stared at my best friend. Worry creased her forehead and pinched her lips together. Strands of dark red hair had fallen from her braid to frame her pretty face.

"They took her to the palace," I said.

"So, the duke didn't have anything to do with this."

But I knew that wasn't true. He'd had everything to do with this. They'd taken her to the palace, and the king, but I had no doubt that Ryker's father was behind this.

I focused on the Revenant Woods, that haunted, shadowed place I knew so well. I'd grown up amongst the trees, ghosts, and monsters who thrived in the forest.

I'd also fallen in love with the duke's son in those woods… a mistake my mother was now paying for.

Ellery

My chest constrictedand panic threatened to overwhelm me again, but I somehow managed to keep breathing as my ribs crushed my lungs. Just think. Just think.

"I can't make that much money by becoming the Hooded Robber again," I murmured.

And before I'd justified my stealing because I was helping others but now, I'd only be helping myself. And my mother.

"It would take at least a month or maybe more to steal that much money," I continued.

"The most we ever stole was from Ryker."

"And that was about three thousand carisle."

"And more than double what we'd ever stolen from anyone else before."

I rubbed my temples as I recalled that chest full of money, that damn chest that I couldn't resist stealing. When I opened it, I'd almost drooled over all the carisle within.

For a time, that money helped bring some relief and joy to the residents of The Hollows and other towns before Ryker tracked it, and me, down. I'd managed to escape him, and he still didn't know I was the Hooded Robber, but he'd reclaimed his money.

"We got lucky when we stole Ryker's money," I murmured. "Or completely unlucky."

When I stole it, I set all of this in motion, and it had all culminated in a broken heart for me and prison for my mother.

"We robbed for months before we stole that much money," I continued.

"Before Ryker, we probably didn't get a combined total from all our other robberies as what we received from him."

All I wanted was to sit down and cry, but I couldn't. I had to work through this, figure it out, and move to free my mother.

"I haven't stolen in months, but anyone with money is still avoiding the woods. What little anyone in the forest does carry with them won't get my mother out of prison," I said.

"It could take months to steal five thousand carisle."

"And if the Hooded Robber returns to stealing, after being on hiatus for a couple of months, and I show up at the palace with five thousand carisle…."

"It wouldn't look good," Scarlet said when my voice trailed off.

"I don't think King Ivan is smart enough to put two and two together, or at least not attentive enough as he's mostly focused on himself, but the Duke and Ryker might notice."

Ryker would definitely notice any new activity from the Hooded Robber. He'd been hunting me for months. When I stole his money, it changed his life and mine; it also made Ryker determined to hunt down the amsirah who robbed him.

I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks, but I was sure he was still hunting the Hooded Robber. If I started stealing again, he'd stalk the woods for me, and it would only be a matter of time before he found me again.

Not only that, but though he believed I was a man because of my lightning bearer ability, he might start thinking differently about things if the return of the robberies coincided with my mother being taken. Once he put two and two together, he would come for me.

I could turn myself in to King Ivan. They'd taken my mother to the palace, which meant he would decide her fate.

If I went to the King and revealed that I was a lightning bearer, it might give me some leverage. After he got over his shock at learning a female lightning bearer existed when none ever had before, he might…

Ellery

Might what?What would he do?

He'd find a way to use me to his advantage, of that I was certain, whether it was to breed me or to turn me into one of his minions I didn't know and couldn't think about it. If it could somehow get my mother free though…

I'll do it. I'll do anything.

But there was no guarantee I could get her free by revealing such a thing, and if I did, Ryker would learn the truth about who I was. He was the only one, beside me, who knew the Hooded Robber was also a lightning bearer. My mother knew I was a lightning bearer, but she didn't know I was a thief.

But still, there had to be some way I could leverage my ability to get her free. I could never reveal my ability to control all five of the weather elements to the king.

I was the only known amsirah to ever do so and I had no idea what he'd do with that knowledge. He'd either kill me for being such an anomaly and possessing so much power or for sure try to get children out of me.

Our abilities were genetic. There was no guarantee that a lightning bearer would produce a child, grandchild, or any other lightning bearer in their line, but there was a chance they one day might have a descendant who possessed the ability.

It was guaranteed that if an amsirah didn't have a lightning bearer in their genetic line then there was no chance of them possessing the ability. My great-great-great-great-great uncle on my mother's side was a lightning bearer. He got the ability from his great grandfather, and it could be traced back further throughout my line.

The ability often skipped generations for centuries at a time before materializing in a descendent. No one knew what would happen if a female possessed it and had a child; I was sure they'd all be eager to find out.

They might be especially excited to see what would happen if they learned I could control all five of the weathers… or terrified. I shuddered at the thought of what they'd do to me.

They could never learn about my ability to wield all five of the weather elements. The possibility of revealing my lightning bearer ability was terrifying enough, and would most likely result in me being used as a pawn by the men who'd trapped us in Tempest, but I'd do anything to free my mother.

If the king and aristocrats hadn't paid the warlocks to trap us all here, I'd reveal everything while I tore that palace apart to free my mother. And then we'd flee.

I'd hate to give up the only home I'd ever known and loved so much, but I would. However, we were stuck here, trapped, and at the mercy of the assholes who imprisoned us.

I couldn't storm the castle and get free. I was trapped here and they'd hunt me until they had me.

The most frustrating part of my ability to be the first to control all five of the weather elements was my inability to do anything with them. For years, I'd kept my powers hidden and rarely used some of them out of fear of what would happen, and now, instead of helping me, they'd only get me in more trouble.

The idea of handing myself over to those men made my skin crawl, and my stomach somersault as I swallowed back more bile. We were all at their mercy and now they wanted five thousand carisle to free my mother.

As I ran my fingers through my hair, I tugged at the ends as a scream built in my chest and panic swirled inside me. My chest was again squeezing the air from my lungs and blood from my heart until I was sure both would explode.

I couldn't breathe as my gaze darted wildly around. It was all falling apart, and I had no control over any of it, and I was the cause of at least some of it.

"Ellery…."

I didn't hear the rest of what Scarlet said as my eyes landed on one of the numerous posters lining the trees across the road from my manor. Without thinking, I started walking toward it.

Most of the posters told of the King's newest decree, which banned hunting in the Revenant Woods. However, one of them was still a poster about the Hooded Robber.

Since I'd stopped robbing months ago, some of the desire to catch me had faded. I wasn't as big of a nuisance anymore.

But one of them still proudly declared…

WANTED

HOODED ROBBER

$11,000 REWARD

I stopped in front of the poster and ripped it off the tree to hold it in both hands. I read it again and again as my mind spun with possibilities.

Ten thousand of that reward money was from Ryker. He'd been so determined to catch me and willing to do whatever it took that he'd offered ten thousand carisle of his own money as a reward.

And I had what he wanted more than anything.

I had no clue how he felt about me anymore, but I was sure it wasn't good. I'd never told Ryker about his father coming to see me; never revealed that part of the reason I ended things with him was because the duke had threatened him and my mother.

I'd also ended things with him because I was already in love with him and falling more every day. However, if he ever learned of my many secrets, it would tear us apart. The duke had been the bomb, but my secrets were the spark.

The duke had already proven that he wasn't to be trusted since I'd done as he'd asked, and he'd still taken my mother. Did that mean that Ryker was in danger too? Or would I be putting him in danger by going to him with this?

However, I didn't know what else to do, and I had nowhere else to turn.

I battled my guilt, terror, and queasiness as I stared at the poster and tried to formulate a plan… any plan that wouldn't involve me going to Ryker, a man who most likely hated me now, but try as I might, I couldn't think of anything. There were so few options and all of them were bad.

I might as well start with the option least likely get to me killed, locked away, or raped… At least, I hoped it was.

I didn't have any other choices or anything to lose. I had to find Ryker.