Chapter 5

W alking into the portal was not as simple as I thought it would be. No sooner had I passed through the mirror when I felt a sharp tug at my middle. Then with a jerk I was yanked forward.

I didn’t have time to get used to the sensation before I found myself standing on a candlelit table and looking down into the shocked gray-blue eyes of an Ethereum lord.

I had purposefully chosen to go through the portal late at night, expecting the Ethereum lord to be fast asleep or at the very worst well into a pint if he was a drinker. But instead I was standing atop his dinner table, my foot planted on his plate. What looked like mashed potatoes squished out on either side of my boot.

Who eats a meal this late at night?

Maybe it wasn’t late here, but there was no time to dwell on that.

I quickly pulled my wits about me. It didn’t matter why he was eating so late. All that mattered was that if I didn’t act now, I’d lose the only advantage I had against the beast of a man in front of me: surprise.

Dropping low, I slashed out with my dagger, aiming for the dark lord’s heart. I was swift with my movements, but the lord was faster and shoved away from the table, stumbling to his feet.

Disappointment hit me like a slap in the face when I saw that I had torn his shirt, but missed his flesh.

We both froze for an instant, sizing each other up. It was only for a few heartbeats, but it was long enough for me to catalogue the lord’s features.

He was a large man, easily a foot taller than me and almost twice as wide. His black hair was shorn close on the sides and the middle braided back to the crown of his head and then up into a messy knot, showcasing his long pointed ears. His gray-blue eyes were almost piercing enough to detract from the vein of scars that cut through one eyebrow and down to his cheek.

Despite the circumstances, I felt a twinge of attraction and immediately chastised myself. He was undeniably handsome, and the scar that should have been grotesque or scary somehow only added to his allure.

Taken aback by my body’s reaction, I gave the lord precious time I shouldn’t have, affording him a moment to look down at his chest and see the rip I’d made. Immediately he became enraged.

“You dare attack me?” he yelled and then with an animalistic growl he rushed me.

I slid off the table with speed I wasn’t aware I was capable of, twisting out of the giant lord’s grasp. Rather than running away from him like he probably expected, I adjusted my grip on the dagger and spun back toward him, swiping out again.

This time I managed to make a shallow cut at the base of his throat before he reared away. But the nick didn’t faze him and he dodged my next strike, grabbing hold of my wrist with an iron grip.

The blade was only inches from his chest, right over my intended target. I tried to push the dagger forward and into his heart, but the lord was just too strong. I could see a few drops of black blood coming from the wound I’d made on his neck and it was the motivation I needed to know I was in front of the right person.

His eyes dropped to my dagger and flared as if he recognized it. When his gaze bounced back to me, the hatred in their depths burned so strongly I almost felt singed.

“It’s you,” he practically spat before twisting my arm so that I was forced to let go of the dagger as he took it into his own fist, and my stomach sank.

I brought my knee up to hit him between the legs, but he shifted out of the way. The distraction gave me the opportunity to twist out of his grasp and put a few feet of space between us.

My wrist throbbed where he’d held me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d broken it. But the pain hardly registered as I stared at the beastly fae who stomped toward me with murder in his eyes.

Use your magic , Queen Liliana’s words from training rang in my head. It is your greatest weapon.

I had no excuse for not using my magic yet. It was a disastrous mistake that very well might cost me my life.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I had trained all that time that it should have been the first thing I did, yet I’d been too preoccupied with the physical fight. I should have been ready considering all the preparation Queen Liliana had put me through, yet when the moment of truth came, I’d choked.

I was disappointed in myself, but there was no time to wallow.

Before the dark-haired lord had a chance to use my own dagger against me, I summoned my power and pushed fear into him, blanketing him entirely in the strong emotion.

I expected him to drop to the floor immediately, a blubbering mess of hysterics with wide eyes, tears, and clamoring for an exit. Any other fae I unleashed this much fear on certainly would have been incapacitated immediately, but not this Ethereum lord. The only indication that he felt the effects of my magic was in the widening of his eyes and the slight tremor that now wracked his body. But he was still able to take another step forward, forcing me to take one back.

My own fear rose in my chest as I staggered away. After a few steps my back bumped into the stone wall behind me, halting my retreat.

Almost out of options, I dug deep and threw more at my adversary, just as Queen Liliana taught me. To show him no mercy, for he would show me none as well.

In a split second, I piled hopelessness and panic on top of the fear.

The lord’s steps faltered, eyes going wide, but his grip on the faestone dagger didn’t waver. His gaze clouded over and he shook his head like he was trying to fling off the imposed emotions, but he couldn’t.

“What are you doing to me, little witch?” he bellowed, his voice full of the distress his body refused to show.

Shadows began to move along the walls and a wave of fresh fear rolled over me. With his free hand he reached up and gripped the side of his head, and then his eyes slid closed.

Now was my chance.

With his eyes closed I darted around him and toward the table. I grabbed the serrated steak knife, intending to slit his throat with the blade, but when I twisted back toward the lord, it was just in time to see dark shadows shoot out of his palms.

The dark snake-like ropes flew through the air and wrapped around my body, forcing my arms to my sides, immobilizing me.

I gasped, trying to flee then, reasoning that if I escaped I could come back and attack him another time, but more rope-like shadows attached to my legs, causing me to crash to the ground.

My shoulder took the brunt of the impact, but then my head snapped to the side, hitting the stone floor with a sickening thud.

My heartbeat skipped, causing blackness to invade my vision.

No. Not now. If I pass out now I’m dead.

The reality of the situation fell on me like a cascade of stones.

I’d already failed.

I was without the faestone dagger and incapacitated in every way. My magic didn’t have enough of an effect on the Ethereum lord to overcome his brutish strength.

Rather than bringing home the black heart of an Ethereum lord, I would die in a foreign world, which was exactly what everyone expected of me.

Greif and sadness swamped me, hurrying along the effects of my weak heart, and my vision went hazy as my breathing shallowed.

Through the haze, I watched as the lord stomped toward me, his footfalls rattling in my brain.

He nudged me onto my back with nothing more than the toe of his boot. When I looked up into his blue-gray eyes I saw my powers still affecting him, but yet he was functioning normally.

How powerful was this fae that he could stand up against my magic?

After he killed me, my magic would most likely eventually fade, just like they would if I went unconscious, but it would take time. At least I’d die with the satisfaction that the Ethereum lord would mentally suffer, even if just for a little while, because of me.

It wasn’t much, but it was something.

As the lord watched me, the binds he cast around me tightened, stealing what was left of my breath. My vision continued to darken as my heartbeats ratcheted faster, and it wasn’t long before I fell into familiar blackness.