1. Chapter One

The sound of a twig snapping jolts me awake. The windows rattle as a howling burst of wind beats relentlessly against the panes, its force almost palpable. My heart pounds in my chest as adrenaline floods my veins. Instinctively, I reach for the dagger that I keep hidden under my pillow.

"It's probably just the coming storm," I whisper, trying to settle my racing heart. I'm just on edge. A loud snore above me draws my attention to Lemon, my ferret, in his hanging nest. With a sigh, I shut the book I fell asleep reading, setting it down on the floor beside me. After snuffing out the candle, I lay my head on the soft pillow and pull the blanket over my shoulders.

My eyes are just beginning to close when I hear the scrape of metal as each of my locks disengages.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

The door swings open, and a shadowed figure steps over my threshold. As I try to get up, a tingle of magic, like a gale of wind, pins me down to the bed. Despite this, my eyes remain wide open, refusing to blink.

"Sybil Vandeleur," a deep baritone voice murmurs.

As a scream threatens to escape, my body spasms in my failed attempts to move. My breaths come in ragged gasps, making me dizzy and light-headed. Cold fear coils in my gut.

In the glow from the dying fire, an icy blue gaze meets mine. A metallic taste fills my mouth as I will my body to fight the magical hold on me. I glare back, both fear and determination flooding my veins. Magic rolls beneath my skin, an uncomfortable need to metamorphose battling with the magic that holds me down. I take a steady inhale and reach deep inside, willing my body to shift into my equine form.

"Not so fast, little unicorn," he says as he strides to my side, clamping an iron bracelet over my left wrist. My magic immediately diminishes down to a spark. With a lift of his hand, the wind magic pinning me down relaxes, and I tense even more. The stranger pulls me to my feet, towering at least a head over me.

"Wh—who are you and wha—what are you doing in my house?!" I stammer, attempting to move so I can push away from him.

He roughly grabs the back of my head and brushes aside my hair with his free hand. With a calloused thumb, he traces the six-sided star mark in the center of my forehead. The movement sends an odd humming sensation throughout my body as a deep woodsy scent mixed with leather fills the space between us. Realizing how close his movement brought his body to me, I jerk, trying to pull out of his grasp.

"Who I am is none of your concern. As for why I am here," he pauses, grasping my wrist tightly while tying them together, then pulls me roughly to my feet. "The King and Queen of Shadowvale sent me on a mission to retrieve you and bring you before them."

My heart drops.

Shadowvale? That is hundreds of miles north of here. A kingdom mostly of witches and wizards that are rarely spoken of. Kallistar hasn't had many relations with Shadowvale since the war ended over a hundred years ago. Few people dare trespass through the looming forest that separates us from the Northern kingdom for fear of the shadow monsters.

"Release me!" I yell, kicking out at him. A flicker of motion in the doorway precedes five more shadowed figures crowding around the towering male before me.

"I said, let me go!" I glare, gritting my teeth.

He pulls my wrists again, and I stumble towards the door. Digging my heels into the floor, I try to buck my body away, which only elicits a growl from the male as he turns to look at me.

"There must be some kind of mistake." I object again, looking frantically around the room for anything that might help me. Fear, like cold lead, settles in the pit of my stomach and sweat perspires along my skin. I'm not a fighter, so I resort to using my words–the only thing I can use.

"Yes, my name is Sybil, but I don't think I am who you are looking for. I'm just a local healer. Half-trained at that." I attempt to clarify, because this must be a huge mistake. "I am no one of importance, nor have I done anything for or against the kingdom of Shadowvale. I have never even ventured outside this small village. You have the wrong person!"

Lemon chatters quietly behind me, but I do not dare to turn my head and draw attention to him. Instead, I look into the male's cold blue eyes and plead, pulling at my restrained arms. "Please, let me go. I have little to offer, but if it's gold and silver you want, I have a small savings in that healing salve tin. Just take it and leave me in peace." Tears prick at my eyes, blurring my vision, as I look towards the shelf where my savings sit in an old dented silver tin.

In a deep rumbling voice, he declares, "you cannot buy your way out of this." He nods to the figure behind him, who shakes the tin, causing the silvers and coppers I had saved to restock the pantry before winter to quietly clink together. "We are not here for your money, however little you possess," he continues.

My fear turns to anger.

I knee him in the groin and twist, scrambling over the bed behind me and frantically grab for my dagger. In my elated freedom, I stupidly pause. It's enough for the man to grab a fistful of my hair and yank me back. Crashing into his hard chest, he snakes his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides. His breath is warm against my ear as he growls. "Do not try to escape, Shifter. We have a long journey ahead of us and trying to thwart me will do you no good. Now, be a good girl." He reaches onto the bed, grabbing the dagger exposed in the blankets from our struggle and tucks it into his belt loop.

"I have a name, and I don't feel like going anywhere with you," I spit out, struggling against his hold, my body shaking.

He shoves me roughly towards the open front door before turning to the guards. He looks over at me, then at his accomplices ordering their next moves. "Grab whatever supplies or evidence you can find and load them onto the horses." I narrow my eyes in anger, quickly resolving to find ways out of this scenario forced upon me. "I've got the girl. I'll meet you at the forest pass."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Lemon slinking along the edge of the bookcase. He has a small leather pouch around his neck where I usually keep our family ring; the one item returned to me upon my parents' deaths. That little rascal must have grabbed it from the shelf. How did he know how much it means to me?

Lemon scampers along the floor in the shadows, then under my skirt up to his pocket. Lemon trembles as he curls into a tight ball. Even though I can feel his terror, his familiar warmth is a comfort to me as the stranger pushes me into the dark.

The chilly night air creeps along the exposed skin of my arms as the male directs me towards a cluster of trees only paces away from my house. Shadows weave between their trunksandmy body shudders involuntarily.

"Aramis." One of the males calls out from the doorway, tossing a dark bundle towards us. My captor turns and catches it with ease, shaking out what appears to be my heavy woolen cloak. He slings the fabric around my shoulders and roughly fastens it at my neck before proceeding to guide me forward again. Our walk takes us past my small garden, turning brown with the change in the season. The shapes of the plants are barely visible in the dim moonlight as we trek through the glen and towards the forest edge. The night is still, apart from the soft melody of crickets chirping and a gentle breeze.

"Don't knock it off. Freezing before you get there would be rather useless," he says callously.

"I would be perfectly fine with no concern of freezing to death, had you and your cronies not broken into my house, ransacked my property, and tied me up." I attempt reasoning with him once more. "Now, Aramis, this is a big mistake. You. Have. The. Wrong. Person." I enunciate each word vehemently as I stare him down, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists tightly. Twisting my wrists, I try to slip through the knots, which only seem to tighten. "Goddess damn you!" I dig my heels into the ground and shove my bound fists into his back.

"I don't make mistakes," Aramis asserts coldly as he turns around to face me, his height towering over my slight frame. "You are exactly who they tasked me to retrieve. Now, we can do this the easy way, and you can cooperate, or we can do it the hard way." Another thrill of shock goes through my body as he stares at me with a mocking leer.

"I am not leaving my home." I take a step backwards as he takes one towards me. I frantically try reaching out for my magic as I continue to back away. Shifting into a unicorn would nearly guarantee my escape. The tingle of magic pulses under my skin before it abruptly goes still. I look down at my wrist, at the iron cuff. I can't shift. My mind races as I contemplate my options. I can find my way in the dark with my eyes closed. I spent my entire childhood exploring the glen and woods, practicing my power to shift forms and guiding myself home by the stars. However, I don't know how far this male's magic extends and if I'm able to get far enough away before he could pin me again. The sound of quiet nickering stops me in my steps. Hot air blows across the back of my head as the large, dark shape of a towering war horse leans over my shoulder.

Aramis reaches out a hand and rubs the velvety snout before turning his attention to me, a broad grin on his face at the sight of my terror. He eyes me like I'm something that both repulses and fascinates him. "Afraid of a horse?" he snorts. "His name is Percy."

"I refuse to go anywhere with you," I spit out with anger, eyeing him and then the horse. "Not to mention the indignity of such a ridiculous act. A unicorn riding a horse? It's unacceptable. Abominable." I take a step to the side and an unexpected gust of wind hits me, causing me to lose my balance and stumble back into the stallion behind me.

"So, you're really a unicorn…" His expression is a mask of disgust, but his eyes hold a glint of curiosity as they scan my face. He pulls his hand away from the horse and runs it through his blonde hair, making it look mischievous and unruly. "I've heard your kind are proud, untamable creatures. That you are impossible to capture." The corners of his mouth pull into a smirk as he whispers, "or conquer. Looks like those tales were wrong."

"Ha!" I scoff, rolling my eyes. "You know nothing about me or my kind."

"We ride," Aramis commands, ignoring me. "Now." Before I can protest, he slides his hands under my cloak, around my waist, and hoists me on top of the horse's back, then pulls himself up behind me. I'm so useless in this human form. Holding the reins in his right hand, his other clamps tightly around my midsection. Lemon squirms in my pocket and I pray he doesn't notice. Aramis guides the horse northward and starts off at a trot.

"Let me go!" I yell, only resulting in another chuckle from my captor as I struggle under his grasp. Realizing the futility of my efforts, I try to calm my breathing and reassess the situation.

Why does he care that I'm a unicorn shifter? What would the king and queen of Shadowvale possibly want with me? Yes, we are known for our skills at healing, but I'm only an amateur healer from a small town in Kallistar. Surely, they have hundreds of healers with a better reputation than me? And if they just needed my healing services, all they had to do was ask. I would have come willingly.

The sound of hooves beating the ground brings me out of my thoughts as a group of riders approaches us from behind. My body tenses and I twist my wrists, trying to free them, but the rope tightens painfully once again. A warm chuckle near my ear has me slamming my head backwards, and I hear a satisfying grunt before his arm tightens around me.

A chuckle off to my right side drags my attention to another one of my captors. He removes his hood, revealing his gold-flecked brown eyes, tanned skin, and hair rich as dark hot chocolate.

"Ye sure yer doing okay there, Aramis? It looks like ye have yer hands full. I could keep her contained for the journey," he says with a light brogue accent, laughing warmly before winking at me.

"I am not an animal. I don't need containing," I seethe through clenched teeth. The minute I get my horn back, he will regret his actions. My words aren't the only sharp thing I'd like to stab him with. I scowl as I narrow my eyes towards the male.

"Don't test me, Nero," Aramis scoffs to his companion, clearly unconcerned. "She just needs to understand she cannot escape me."

"Umm, hello?" I say, continuing to wiggle and twist. "That ‘she' you are talking about is right here. Just tell me why you abducted me!"

"Stop—moving—so much," Aramis's voice deepens slightly, his body tensing behind me.

"Or what?" I question, bitter laughter escaping from my mouth. "You'll kidnap me, block my magic, let your goonies ransack my house and force me to travel hundreds of miles against my will?" As I speak, my cheeks heat in embarrassment. I can feel the firm bulge between our bodies, my thick cloak doing little to conceal it, as I realize the effect my movement has on him.

"That is enchanted rope," he replies coldly, ignoring my retort. "The more you fight it, the tighter it'll become, cutting off circulation to your hands. I don't think a healer would want to lose her most precious asset, would she?" He clears his throat before slightly loosening the arm holding me, stroking a finger along the rope before continuing. Immediately, the material relaxes, no longer from cutting into my skin.

Aramis turns in his saddle to speak to Nero, who rides to our right. "If we take the path up through the mountain pass, we can stop and make camp until morning once we've reached the first clearing."

The wind bites into my cheeks as we pick up speed. I shiver and try to pull the edges of my cloak tighter around me as best I can, but the bitter cold seeps through the weave of the fabric. The only warmth radiates from the male behind me, but I hold my spine stiff to avoid as much contact as I can. The trees blur as we race past them along the path.

I don't want to give up hope, but I can't see any way out of my situation. Despair claws at my heart, while a bitter mixture of uncertainty and fear coats my tongue. Briefly closing my eyes against the hopeless feeling, I let my mind wander to tomorrow's festival.

Staring into the night sky, a flash of dancing gold, purple, and burgundy light streaks through its velvety darkness, leaving a burning trail in its wake—an infinite streak of beauty. It was just a taste of what tomorrow's sky would offer. In all my life, and all the tales and books I had read, I had never once heard of one of the glorious stars falling before its time during Bolide.

What did it mean? Is this an omen of unfortunate events to come?