Sweet Escape (Sweet Series #2)

By Bailey Ardisone

This is book #2 in the Sweet Series.
Book #1, Sweet Oblivion, is free!
~
Sometimes the hardest war to fight is the one raging within yourself...

Life will never be the same for Nariella Woodlinn. Just when she thought she had it all figured out, her world comes crumbling down around her-yet again. With no idea who she is or even where she came from, how can she save herself?
She once thought her biggest problems were the ones brought on by the mysterious man she refused to fall in love with—Mycah. But she quickly discovers none of that compares to what she is about to encounter next.
This time, it isn’t because of who Mycah is.
This time, it’s because of who she is.
~
Naminé risked everything to save her people. Her goal was to bring their only hope back to their Kingdom. As the war rages on around her, Naminé gets thrown into the lion’s den—the false King’s chambers. Can she fool a King who can’t be deceived on his playing field? Forced to do his bidding, can she prevent the downfall of the only hope she worked so hard to bring home? Will she be able to escape with her life and mind intact?

With everyone’s world falling apart and deceit around every corner...can any of them truly Escape?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bailey Ardisone
• Release date: Jul 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301519439

Bailey Ardisone

Bailey Ardisone was born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois. She married the love of her life and spends her days submerged in books, movies, music, or art, and loves traveling. Fantasy books and movies have been a huge part of her life, and one of her greatest passions is Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.Her sister contributed some of the writing in Sweet Oblivion and Sweet Escape.Sweet Oblivion is the first installment of a series.www.BaileyArdisone.com

Book preview

Prologue

I quickly clasped a hand tightly over my mouth to hold in a scream. It was there; it happened, but I clamped my jaw closed so the sound couldn’t escape.

What in the world just happened? I breathed out, just a hair above an audible sound. I stared wide-eyed into Mycah’s ocean blue eyes. Those ocean blue eyes—that were very much alive—stared right back into mine.

Only his weren’t wide like mine. His weren’t bugging out of his head from utter shock, like I was positive mine must have been doing. He looked...like he knew exactly how that happened. Which I guessed he probably did. But I didn’t. I mean—he died. He was dead. Wasn’t he?

Mycah? I questioned hesitantly. Yes, I knew he could heal people and all that, but I didn’t understand how he could have healed himself in that condition. Like when one was dead.

Thank you, he said with reverence that made my eyebrows pull together. I didn’t understand. Why was he thanking me?

Rydan suddenly bent down and grabbed Mycah, who I still couldn't believe was his long-lost brother, by fistfuls of his bloody, torn up shirt. Tell me what is going on right this second, he bit out with way too much menace, making me cringe.

I will, Mycah responded with a tightened jaw, matching Rydan’s glare. He stood up, completely back to normal, with no weak knees or shaky legs—nothing. Perfectly normal. I stayed sitting, unmoving, on the grass. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. I felt...drained.

Did you kill him? he asked Rydan quickly and earnestly, his English accent popping each word. I wanted to run to him. To relish in the fact that he was actually alive right now, but something was holding me in place. There was no movement from me. It was possible my brain had exploded.

Umm...no. But I scared him off. I’m not just going to kill someone—are you crazy? Who was he? Why did he shoot a freakin’ arrow at you? No, scratch that. Why did he KILL you? Because that is seriously what just happened right now. He killed you. You were dead. Yet here you stand. Rydan swept his eyes over Mycah, took a step closer, and then pulled my arm to drag me behind his body away from Mycah, putting himself in between us. But I was sitting down, so the pull had me falling to my side.

I didn’t care. I was too stunned. I still could not speak.

I wasn’t dead. And we need to leave. Now. Mycah clenched his fists and discreetly surveyed the area with his eyes—searching all around us for the killer without looking like that’s what he was doing. But I knew. I could tell. And all I could think was, so not like Jason Bourne. More like...Legolas. If I were capable of feeling any emotion other than relief and shock, I’d have laughed.

I’m not going anywhere. What did you mean we have to go back? What did you mean they're calling us? Who are you? What are you? Because it looked to me that yes, you were indeed dead. As Rydan’s questions became more intense, his body mimicked his emotions, and he stepped even closer to Mycah as his own fists clenched.

God, they were similar.

Too similar. It freaked me out.

"I can explain. I will explain. But first, we need to get to safety. It is imperative that we get to safety, Rydan. You do not understand," Mycah whispered, but his voice was filled with force. With authority.

I’m not moving from this spot until you answer me. How do we go back? Rydan practically growled.

Through the Ëlemmiire. Or the Weeping Willow, I mean. It is the last of our sacred gateways. But you do not understand. It will lead us into enemy territory. As Mycah said those last words, his eyes flickered to mine for just a brief second. That is why we need to leave and strategize first. We cannot possibly just go walking back into—What do you think you’re doing?! Mycah grabbed Rydan by his arm when he started walking toward the huge, beautiful Weeping Willow tree. The one I used to feel safe under. The one I used to think of as my true home.

I don’t believe a word you’re saying! Don’t you get that?! Get your sick hands off me! Rydan wrenched his arm out of Mycah’s grip and kept walking to the tree.

"You’re an Isil’Elda, Rydan. You’re not human. Don’t you get that? Mycah followed him. A very important one, I might add. If you get yourself killed because of your own stupidity, I will be the one our mother blames!"

Rydan whirled around to face Mycah. I was pretty sure I saw steam billowing out of his ears. A what?! Our moth... He couldn’t get the word out. He shook his head, running a hand through his messy black hair. What is wrong with you? Is this some kind of psychotic joke?

Rydan, you can feel it’s true. I know you can. You have a gift. You know you’re different. Don’t you remember me? Mycah suddenly stopped and looked to the ground, confusion passing over his expression. Where’s Xavier? When did he leave you?

STOP! Just...stop! Rydan roared and started circling the large trunk of the tree. The cold wind whipped through my hair, stinging my eyes and making me squint. The long, graceful branches pulled toward Rydan. It was a beautiful sight.

You’re still so incredibly stubborn. Mycah raked a hand through his own chaotic midnight blue locks, mirroring Rydan’s actions without even realizing it. Didn’t you see her? Didn’t she try calling you?

Who? Rydan instantly snapped around to face Mycah full on, his expression wild. He waited for Mycah’s answer.

The Dream Weaver. I do not know her or her name. She’s the one who told me to come here. I’ve been looking for the Lassaira Ëlemmiire for the past eleven years, since our Kingdom’s portal was destroyed. And now I’ve finally found it. But I do not know how our uncle has been able to infiltrate—wait...he’s winning. He must be winning the war. Mycah’s voice grew quiet and concerned, and again his eyes flashed to mine with pain. We have to hurry. We have to go back. But not until we come up with a plan. If you and I are captured the moment we pass through, it would be the end for our people.

What did she look like? Rydan spoke so softly I almost missed what he said. I couldn’t understand his expression. He looked crazed.

Long blonde hair, piercing green eyes. It doesn’t matter, Rydan. Did you not just hear what I said? Mycah was exasperated, and I could see the tension he carried throughout his body.

So it was real... Rydan whispered to himself, his gaze cutting back to the tree. He looked scared. How does it work? he asked, waving a hand toward the tree.

Mycah hesitated. You’re royalty. Anyone birthed of royalty can pass through. Everyone else must be ordained. You just have to will it. He spoke the words tentatively—like he wanted to tell Rydan but wasn’t sure if he could trust him with the information.

I’m...what? Rydan rolled his eyes and shook his head in dismissal. Whatever. He reached up and touched the trunk of the tree. Like pure, utter magic, his hand crossed the invisible threshold, disappearing into oblivion. He jerked his hand back like it was painful.

Rydan, what is the matter with you?! Are you not listening to a word I am saying? Mycah yelled, his British accent thick.

Rydan?! What are you doing? I finally found my words and chimed in with panic. No...he couldn’t leave me. My chest started caving in the moment his bright mercury eyes flickered to mine, full of guilt, before going right back to the tree. STOP!! I wanted to scream.

But it was too late. He passed through.

RYDAN!

RYDAN!!! I screamed so loud my eyes instantly popped open, as my strangled voice cut through the darkest of nights. There was no moon. No moonlight to paint its soft glow over the expanse of the ‘Duck Room’—To play with Mycah’s deep blue eyes as he lay next to me, staring at me with pained concern. It was dark.

Very dark.

It matched my mood.

Four times. This was my fourth time tonight that I’d relived the events that happened earlier that day through a never-ending nightmare. I couldn’t escape.

There was no escape.

I would find no solace in sleep from this.

My best friend was gone, and the memory of his departure haunted me.

How could he do it? How could he just leave me like that? Now after round five, I went to swipe away the cruel tear that stung my cheek as it fell. Only Mycah’s soft thumb got to it first. I looked up through my blurry vision and watched as he brought his hand to his lips and kissed the thumb stained with my salty tear.

Please don’t cry, love. My heart can’t take it, he whispered so softly, so strained, I barely heard him.

I closed my eyes. Sleep kept dragging me back under, but my brain couldn’t handle the memories, and an hour later I was back screaming Rydan’s name each time. But a part of me wanted to see him again, even if it was only a memory.

So I would sleep.

I begged for sleep and was rewarded right away. Because at least there he was still alive. He was still safe. I couldn’t even think about reality and what the truth might actually be. Mycah tried to warn him that he could be walking into a death trap.

I may never see him again.

And he just left.

Just like that.

Chapter One

~Nari~

A week.

An entire week had come and gone since Mycah left me here in Kennebunkport, Maine to go back home. The day before that, Rydan left to go back to that same place. Which was also his home.

I was alone. All alone.

A week full of fake smiles and robotic pleasantries. A week of forced kindness and feigning interest. Sure, one week may not sound long compared to the concept of millennia of time.

But I swear I literally could hear the long hand scratching and crawling its way to the next minute slowly, painfully, and unbearably, as it made its way around the clock.

Torture.

Pure and utter torture.

Pain.

Could there ever be anything more painful than this? If it were possible, I’d never have ripped myself from my bed. I would be there right now, clutching for sanity and relief from the ache their absence had left me with.

My soul had been mutilated—stripped apart to be left bare and wanting, needing. Needing its other parts. Needing to be whole again. I realized this wasn’t normal. When Mycah left briefly last time, in the effort to protect me from evil, the feeling was similar to this. But I never could have imagined it being a million times worse than it was. He was too far away. I couldn't sense him. I couldn't feel him. He was just too far away. Like he had vanished off the Earth completely. And maybe he had...

I reached for my cell phone from my sweatshirt pocket at the risk of getting in trouble and let my thumb hover over the speed dial number I had set for Rydan.

#8

His favorite.

I needed to hear his voice. Always, since the moment he walked through that traitorous tree I once called ours, every call went straight to voicemail. But that right there was the only thing that had carried me through this excruciating week. The three seconds I got of his voice he’d recorded for his voicemail greeting.

I wouldn’t with Mycah. I couldn’t.

It hurt too dang much to even think of the sound of his voice in my head. But that didn’t even matter—because he didn’t have a voicemail greeting. Apparently there was no cell reception in their homeland. Our home, I guessed...A strange place filled with mythical creatures—or so Mycah says, and I was just supposed to up and accept it. Yeah, right.

An entire week and I still couldn’t comprehend any of this.

Now, I was eighteen, and for the first time in eight years Rydan wasn’t here to tease me about being older than him. It wasn’t by much, but he still liked to call me Ms. Oldie-pants for the entire day.

I couldn’t take it! I was going crazy being left behind like this. Not to mention the psychotic break I experienced from the conversation Mycah and I had right before he left me.

"You healed me, Nariella. You did it. Not me. You." He tucked my long, dark brown hair behind my ear, waiting for my reaction. I could hardly make out his scent from the strong smell of briny ocean water that enveloped us.

"Huh?" was all I could muster. I think I heard my brain crack. Or maybe it was the sound of my world beginning to shatter...

"You’re not human, love. Don’t you know that? You couldn’t possibly think someone with sparkling violet eyes like yours would be human." He lightly chuckled as he searched my eyes for the truth. His English accent that painted his velvety voice was way too sexy, but the words did not escape me, and they made for a good distraction to how alluring he was.

"What are you saying? Of course I’m human. My eyes...it’s just a strange anomaly. That’s all. I am human. I mean, sure I’ve always known I wasn’t normal but only in the sense of my craziness. I’m human, Mycah." I pulled back from him and started to walk away in the opposite direction of where we stood on the beach along the Atlantic Ocean. I couldn’t take this. I wasn’t even sure I could handle him not being human. And Rydan...my god...Rydan....

"Nariella. You’re a Healer. Do you have any idea what this means?" Mycah caught up to me with little effort. I tried to walk faster but it was no use...No pace I reached could be fast enough to out run Mycah. He was too powerful. His special abilities were insanely high off the crazy chart.

I immediately dropped to my knees, sinking into the rough sand below. How? How was this even possible?

"How?" I echoed my thoughts in a whisper.

Yo! Nari! Earth to Nari! Zaylie’s high-pitched Australian accent combined with a knock on my head snapped me out of my daydreaming. Whether I was awake or asleep, I was assaulted by memories of the moments my world got flipped upside down like a burning pancake.

Oh, what? Sorry, I was...distracted. I lightly shook my head and looked around. Empty. The classroom meant for our Literature class had already been cleared out.

Class ended five minutes ago. We’re going to be late for our next one. You okay?

No. I’m not okay, Zaylie. I’m not okay. I roughly grabbed my things and headed for the door. She followed.

What’s wrong? You’ve been acting so strange all week, she grabbed me by the arm making me spin around to face her. You can tell me. What’s going on, Nari?

I stared into her soft, golden-brown eyes and hesitated. It was tempting.

Very tempting.

I wanted to break down and spill every detail I kept bottled up inside of me since the day Mycah crashed into my life. But could I? Would I be breaking some kind of elf law or something? As much as I loved Zaylie, I didn’t exactly want to be carted off by the elf police and thrown into elf prison. Or hung by elf executioners.

Okay, I really had no idea how any of it worked...and my brain could not get over the word ‘elf.’

Well? she said. Sincerity, trust, and love were all injected into that one little word as she squeezed my arm. I looked around the hallway for nobody’s benefit but my own, because we were alone. Everyone else already sat in class waiting for the final bell that was about to ring any second.

Okay. Wanna ditch? I whispered. I had no idea why I was whispering, but I’d never cut class before and felt a bit of sneakiness was in order. Yes, I was an eighteen year old who acted more like an eight year old. What could I say?

What?! Are you serious? she matched my whisper.

As a heart attack, I answered firmly.

Let’s do it, she whispered with a grin. I grinned in return, which felt foreign and weird, like I hadn’t truly smiled in years, as we linked arms and started tip-toeing down the hallway toward the exit. Why are we whispering?

Zaylie squeezed my hand gently to comfort me. I stared down at our clasped hands, and then moved my gaze out to the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. I fidgeted on the sharp, hard rock that we sat on.

Could I do this? Could I tell her?

I opened my mouth...and then quickly closed it again. I could feel heat creeping up my face. I was embarrassed. How did one go about telling one of their best friends that their other best friend and person they were in love with were...Night Elves, exactly? I couldn’t even think about telling her what Mycah claimed I was.

Umm... I slowly exhaled.

...umm? she repeated.

Yeah. Um. I shot my eyes to hers for the briefest of seconds before looking back down at our hands again. Oh god. I couldn’t do this. She’d think I was crazy. Heck, she’d probably run away screaming. I knew that's what I felt like doing when Mycah was confessing the truth to me that day at the Weeping Willow before Rydan found us there. Oh yeah, and not to mention before Mycah was shot with an arrow by an evil hunter from their world. I mean...our world. What if by telling her I would put her in danger? I would just die if she got caught in the middle because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

Nari, is this about Mycah? Or Rydan? I haven’t seen those blokes in a while and you haven’t mentioned a single word about them. Are they okay? she tried pulling the truth out of me.

I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s driving me crazy, I finally said.

Why don’t you start from the beginning, she caressed my back slowly. First, why don’t you try telling me what happened between you two. Do you love him?

What? No, I don’t lov...love him, I answered too quickly, suddenly feeling shy about actually saying my feelings out loud. I had never been in love before, so I’ve never had to confess those feelings out loud to anyone before either. I hadn’t even told Mycah how I felt about him yet. He left before I got the chance.

Ha! Please, girl. I see the way he looks at you. You’ve completely caught his fancy. And don’t pretend he hasn’t got yours. You're so obvious, ya know. She laughed. My cheeks burned in response.

Ugh. Great. So the whole world knows? I dropped my face into my hand and cringed. So. Embarrassing.

And Rydan? she inquired.

I love Rydan, but like a brother. He’s my very best friend. And you’re right. I do...have feelings for Mycah. I don’t understand them. They're so strong, it seriously scares the heck out of me. Is it normal to feel so strongly about someone you barely know? And so soon? It’s like my soul feels less when he isn’t near me. Now...it is even worse. I feel completely empty with him so far away.

I decided I needed to grow up. I was eighteen now...I really needed to start acting like it. So I tried to explain these strange feelings to probably the only person in the world I’d actually want to, but part of me wondered if they had something to do with the whole elves thing. As much as I loved Zaylie and loved that I finally had a friend who was a girl to be able to share these deep parts of me with, was it possible that she’d even be able to understand?

What do you mean, with him so far away? Where is he? she asked, her eyebrows pulled together.

He’s gone. Mycah and Rydan left. They left me. I looked away and held my breath, trying desperately to hold back my tears. I didn’t want to cry. I was so over crying.

Mycah and Rydan did WHAT?! Zaylie yelled, way too loudly, shooting straight up off the rock. I almost wanted to laugh at her reaction, but the overwhelming sadness from the situation was too much.

Yeah... was all I could manage.

Tell me everything, she said sternly as she claimed her side of the rock again.

I looked over at the spot Mycah and I had stood just a week ago, discussing this very thing. I let the memory replay in my mind for the zillionth time.

"How?" I echoed my thoughts in a whisper.

"I don’t know the details. I was very young. But I do know you’re incredibly special, Nariella. And I don’t just mean to me. You have to be special in order to be born a Healer. They are so rare," Mycah grew quiet, as if lost in thought.

"Why didn’t you tell me? Why have you kept this from me until now if it's true?" I asked, not really sure I could endorse all the crazy just yet.

"That is precisely why I didn’t tell you. If my uncle knew of your existence...if he found out you were a Healer...Nariella, I will do everything in my power to prevent that. Even if that meant keeping the truth about who you are...what you are...from you. I couldn’t have you trying to heal the whole world if you knew what you were capable of. I couldn’t risk your exposure. I only want to protect you, love. You don’t understand what he is capable of. He brutally murdered my father and then after trying to get to me, he killed my mentor and Guardian, Ender, who was more like a second father to me than anything. I would die if anything happened to you, too." He stretched his fingers behind my ear and closed his eyes as he barely touched his forehead to mine. My stomach did a flip at the same time my heart skipped a beat.

"I’m so deeply sorry you’ve lost people you love, Mycah." I tried to keep my voice strong but the pain he showed in his eyes reached my heart and made it difficult to speak.

When he didn’t respond, I sensed that I needed to change the subject. So I’m a Night Elf too? I bit out, trying to hold back my frustration at the unknown.

"No. You’re not. You’re a Tavas’Elda. A Wood Elf, he answered slowly; his accent made the words sound beautiful, despite their terrifying meaning. My natural born enemy." He pulled me closer to him, as if this new information would scare me. But it didn’t. It only confused me more.

"What?" I asked, not hiding my confusion.

"That danger you felt from me every time I was near...that was your natural instincts telling on me. I hated it. I couldn’t take you being afraid of me. It is an ancient rivalry that has run in our blood for so long; I knew it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how you could be so close to Rydan. But it at least gave me hope that you could overcome it. I guess I’m lucky you didn’t understand it," he chuckled toward the ground. Why did he have to look so sexy all the dang time?

"I have to go. I have to get out of here." This was too much. I felt like crumbling into a tiny pile of confusion. I shot up off the ground. I started to walk away, and then realized the one place I usually escaped to could no longer be my safe haven. The majestic Weeping Willow that Rydan and I spent so much time at was now off limits, according to Mycah. Apparently, as long as he stood on this side of it, there could always be an evil hunter going through it to come after him.

"Nari. I’m the one who has to go. I have to go back, and it has to be now," Mycah breathed out gruffly, pain evident in his voice. I spun around, shocked. There was no way he was leaving me too. Rydan was one thing, but I refused to be left behind while the two of them are off doing who knows what.

"You’re joking, right?" I responded, knowing full well he wasn’t. My chest tightened.

"I have to go after Rydan. I can’t let anything happen to him. He’s important, Nariella. He’s my brother. I’m responsible for him. I don’t know how far he’s gotten, or if he has been captured already—"

"NO!" I covered my ears like a little kid. I couldn’t handle the thought of something bad happening to Rydan. I just couldn’t.

Mycah wrapped me in his arms. His delicious woodsy scent washed over me. I tried not to cry. Please don’t cry...

"I’m so sorry, love," he whispered into my hair.

"I’ll go with you. We can find him together," I said hopeful, my voice full of cracks.

"You can’t. You have to stay here. At least here, you’re safe. I cannot possibly let you anywhere near my uncle, lest you be discovered," he responded fervently, strategically. He was born a king; I could sense the authority in him. And then I could feel him suck in a breath and hold it, waiting for my reaction. Or maybe he could feel the overwhelming emotions of disappointment and despair crashing down on me.

"How can that be true? The Black Eagles...what if they come after me looking for the Sindora?" I reminded him of the human Austrian underground organization that had been hunting him for some strange but very important item that he wouldn’t tell me anything about.

"They won’t. I’ll leave a trail away from here if by chance they do. They’re not interested in you, love. Only me. And if they think I’ve left, they’ll try to follow. Okay?" He tipped my chin up so that I’d look into his bright aqua eyes. And it killed me.

His intense stare left me breathless, and I could not turn away from the multi-faceted blues, purples, and greens he had me mesmerized with.

"I don’t even think I believe any of this. Is this just a nightmare I’m not waking up from?" I asked quietly. Should I be scared he wasn’t human? Scared that Rydan wasn’t, and had never been? Scared that...I wasn’t either? None of this made sense...If I didn’t feel so drawn to the both of them, if it didn’t feel so right to be near them, I would have run and hidden in a hole somewhere by now. But how could I run from myself?

"You know it’s all true. I can feel that you know. You feel it in your heart and in your bones," he said, matching my volume.

"I don’t want you to go." I sniffed, unable to stop the single tear that rolled down my face. It hurt to even say the thought out loud. He wiped it away with the back of his fingers.

"I know you don’t. More than anything I can feel you don’t, he pitched his voice low and drew closer to me. He bent to whisper in my ear, And you must know, that no matter where I am, my every thought will be of you. Only you."

Then he pressed his lips to mine. Gently, slowly, he kissed me. It was a kiss full of longing and earnestness. Like he wanted me to remember him just by this kiss, and to memorize the way my lips felt tangled up with his. And I would. I raked my fingers through his hair and pulled him even closer to me, and memorized that too. The feel of his silky midnight blue hair laced through my fingers. The way his warm body felt pressed against mine—hard yet perfectly contoured to fit me.

The taste of salt mixed with vanilla sat on my tongue as he pulled away. I touched my face, realizing I was crying, and wiped the tears that were running toward my lips.

"I’ll come back as soon as I can. Wait for me," was the last thing he said to me.

I don’t know if you’ll believe me, I finally answered Zaylie and wiped the fresh tears away.

Chapter Two

~Naminé~

The cold, unyielding manacles cut deeply into my skin as I lay helpless on the floor, desperate to succumb to empty oblivion. From deep within my bones, to the very center of my heart, I would welcome anything to escape the agony and torment of what befell me just hours before.

There would be no comfort from Calen. No strength, no bond, no…nothing at all. The sense of loss was almost too much to bear. I shivered from the thought, though I could feel beads of sweat pouring down my face. Heavy sweat mixed with tears formed a puddle on the ground next to my powerless and seemingly broken body.

I knew my face bled somewhere. I could see the blood slowly dripping off my nose, adding to the puddle of sweat and tears. I desperately wanted to shut my eyes off to the world and say a sweet goodbye, to surrender to the unknown abyss of death and be myself no more.

After hours of lying helpless on the cold dirt floor, I had finally stopped screaming. My throat was raw and coarse, my lips parched and cracked. I tried to scream one final time, to release the anguish that I felt, but alas, nothing came out. Tears no longer fell, the ducts being cleared out and dried up. I felt empty. Hollow. Alone.

Just when I felt my eternal torture would never cease, the feeling came true when I heard a loud banging noise and the deep dark voice of the one that would haunt me until the end of time. I lay very still, hoping he thought me to be asleep...dead...gone from this world forever. I did not care.

"Open the door now!" the terrible voice said to the guard.

Nothing was replied as I heard the fumbling of keys and creaking of the iron door swinging open. Boots entered the cell, and with a very loud and exaggerated sigh, I was suddenly picked up off the floor and carried in someone’s arms. I dared not open my eyes, for I wished not to see the one whose arms I was in. I hung loosely as he carried my defeated body up several flights of stairs. Up and up we went, hours seeming to pass before we finally stopped.

Sarqua, take her to my chambers. Lock her in Salmé’s room. See to it she is awake and alert by the time I return, said the dark voice, as I was suddenly shifted and transferred to a new set of arms. Strangely, these felt warm and comforting. A nice welcome compared to the cold, iron set arms of my previous owner.

Yes, Your Majesty.

And Sarqua, if she utters one more heinous scream from that delicate mouth, you will silence her, is that clear?

Instantly, the warm and comforting arms tightened their hold on me and were not as welcoming when the voice said, With pleasure, Your Majesty.

I did not know how much time went by since the King had left me in the hands of his right hand soldier, Sarqua, but it felt like days. I sat up in a bed with my back against the wall trying to determine my surroundings. To my relief, I had stopped shivering and was now warm inside the blankets and new set of clothes I was given.

How those arms, that for a brief second had been warm and comforting, could take such pleasure in dumping me in a tub, followed by the pouring of multiple buckets of frigid cold water upon my small fragile body was beyond me. How someone could be so cruel, so menacingly cruel as to deliver torture, watch you suffer, and enjoy it was repulsive. True to his word, I would be awake and alert when the King returned. I did not want to see what he would do if I uttered one scream,

Reviews for Sweet Escape (Sweet Series #2)

[Carina Borunda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm really starting to love this series! Just enough of a twist to mix reality and fantasy perfectly in my opinion. I can't stop reading!