Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Ellery

Dirt kicked out 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 as my body tried to purge itself of all the horror and wrongness tearing it apart, but it was impossible. I wouldn't dispel the emotions tearing at my insides 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 pushed us apart, but knowing 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 didn't have his son; on the duke's orders, and because of my 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 the 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; Ryker had trusted me, and I'd shattered his trust.

I'd done what the duke told me to do, and he'd taken my mother 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 roiled, 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 in several 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 had nothing to do with this."

But I knew that wasn't true. He had everything to do with this. They'd taken her to the palace and the king, but I didn't doubt 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.