He could tell immediately that the room was empty, but checked the bathroom anyway, then returned to the bedroom and stared at the rumpled bed. Taking deep breaths to keep the panic at bay, he tried to think, then realized that Sarah had probably gone downstairs to breakfast when she didn’t find him in his room. The tray outside in the hallway nearly tripped him when he raced out of the room, but he stepped over it, leaving it where it sat.
Breathless when he got to the sunroom, his heart sank when Sarah was nowhere to be found. His parents saw the alarm on his face. “What’s wrong?” his mother asked, getting to her feet.
“Sarah isn’t in her room; the door was unlocked,” he said, sinking into a chair, the panic making it hard to breathe. “I thought she’d be here with you.”
Just then, Colin, Keaton, and their wives walked into the room. “What’s wrong?” Darby asked, racing over to Reese, her face full of concern.
“I can’t find Sarah,” he said, jumping to his feet. “We have to start looking for her.”
“I told you something was wrong,” Darby said, looking over at Colin. “How long has she been gone?”
Reese shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said, taking a deep breath, Darby’s presence soothing him. “I checked on her before I went to sleep; it must have been close to midnight. She was sound asleep. I covered her up and turned off the light.”
“Good,” Colin said. “That gives us a place to start. Have someone find the captain of the guard and we’ll start a search as soon as we can. Are you sure she’s still in the castle?”
“I’m pretty sure; there are guards posted at all the doors,” Reese said. “I chose the men myself. They’re all loyal to Loughmore and the Seelie.”
Just then, a messenger came running into the room. “I have a message for Master Keaton,” he announced.
He’d no sooner given the sealed envelope to Keaton when the housekeeper came storming into the room. “Someone’s locked the library door and I can’t find the key,” she announced, her hand on her hips.
There was a brief silence as they all thought the same thing, but Reese was on his feet and running out the door before anyone could react. “It has to be Sarah; she must have locked herself inside the library last night,” he said, more to himself than anyone else.
Holding onto a thin thread of hope, he banged on the library door and called Sarah’s name several times but was met with only silence on the other side. “Reese, I have the key,” his father said. “You’ll break the door if you keep pounding on it.”
As soon as the old door swung open, he raced into the library, calling out Sarah’s name, but again, he could sense that the room was empty. Crushed, he bowed his head and took deep breaths, fighting off the panic that had sprung to life again.
“I think she was in here,” his mother called from across the room. “Look, there are a bunch of books about Fae history piled up here on the desk, and one of them is open.”
Reese walked over to where his mother was standing, sat down at the desk, and looked around the room, hoping for any sign that Sarah had been there. Then he saw a chair overturned in a back corner of the library back in the shadows and got back to his feet. Afraid of what he might find in the darkness, he took slow, steady steps toward the chair, but found an overturned bookcase and signs of a struggle.
“Over here,” he called, staring at the mess, his heart breaking with a feeling of loss so powerful, it made him want to curl up in a ball and cry.
“Looks like there was a struggle,” his father said, coming up behind him and putting his hand on his shoulder. “That’s a good sign.”
He whipped around so fast to look at his dad that it made his head spin for a second. “What? How can you say that?” he demanded, anger replacing panic for the first time. “They have her.”
“Yes, they have her, but they didn’t kill her,” Keaton said. “That means we have some time to save her, and I think I know how.”
***Sarah***
Sarah opened her eyes to find Simon staring at her for a second time and tried to run, but found that she couldn’t move. He grinned at her. “Won’t do you any good; I made sure you’re not going anywhere,” he said. “Sorry about knocking you out, but I really didn’t have any choice.”
Looking down, she saw that she was tied to the chair, loops and loops of rope around her and fastened at the back. Her head hurt and her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton, but she stayed silent, glaring at Simon and trying to figure out how to escape. “I know what you’re thinking, and you can just forget it,” he said, getting to his feet. “There’s no escaping from here; even if you do manage to get lose, you’ll never find your way out.”
When she still didn’t speak or look at him, he began circling her chair, taunting her. “You know, you’re actually pretty lucky. At first, the Unseelie just wanted you dead, but Portentia had a better idea,” he said, pausing to see if she’d respond.
She kept her lips firmly pressed together even though she wanted to scream, especially when he got right up in her face and said. “Maybe they’ll let me breed you first; just imagine what a child with our DNA would be like.”
It was impossible not to react to his words. “What are you talking about?”
“Ah, that got your attention,” he said, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “I should let Portentia explain it to you, but this is so much fun, I can’t stop. You see, instead of killing you, we’re going to give you to the Unseelie to use as a breeder. It was all Portentia’s idea. Just think of it, a whole race of Pixie’s doing the bidding of the Unseelie, and you’ll be the one to start the whole thing.”
Sarah was sure that she was going to be sick when his words soaked into her brain and she fought at the bonds simply out of desperation. When she’d exhausted herself, Simon was grinning at her. “I’ve never liked my women spirited, but you might be fun,” he said, reaching out a hand to touch her breast.
But before he could, the door burst open, and a woman came striding into the room. “Touch her and you’ll never touch another woman for the rest of your life,” she said, coming into the light.
“I wasn’t going to do anything to her,” Simon wined and slinked off into a corner.
The woman came nearer, studying Sarah as she approached. “So, you’re the Pixie I’ve been hearing so much about,” she said. “It’s hard to see with all those ropes around you, but I think you’ll do quite nicely.”
“Miranda,” the woman barked, “get these ropes off of her so I can see what’s under them.”
A young woman Sarah hadn’t noticed before came out of the shadows; her head bowed. “Yes, Mother,” she said, then knelt at Sarah’s feet and started untying the knot.
“You stupid girl, put a spell on her first so she doesn’t escape,” Portentia barked at the girl.
“Yes, Mother,” she answered and got to her feet.
Sarah couldn’t believe that she actually felt sorry for the poor girl, but it was plain to see how unhappy she was. Her shoulders hunched up, she started mumbling a spell, and Sarah felt herself beginning to lose feeling in her legs. The sensation traveled up her body, and soon, she was barely able to hold her head up.
“That’s enough,” Portentia snapped. “Do you want to kill her?”
“I’m sorry, Mother,” Miranda said, but there was no emotion in her voice.
“Untie her now, and put her over there on that cot,” Portentia said.
Sarah tried to fight, willed her body to work, but in the end, had to endure Simon’s hands on her when he carried her to the cot. “We’ll be back for you in a few hours. Maybe you should take a nap; it’s going to be a long night for you,” Portentia said, leaning over her, an evil smile on her face.
Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see the woman’s face, Sarah concentrated on breathing, trying to keep herself calm. It was maddening not to be able to move, and she knew that panic was her enemy just then, so she took one breath after another until the sound
of the big wooden door closing and the lock clicking into place told her that she was alone.
She opened her eyes slowly, afraid that Simon would be staring at her again, but the room was empty, a single candle on the table the only light in the darkness. Her eyes filled with tears when she remembered Simon’s words, but then Reese popped into her mind and his words to her when she’d been so scared. The fear slowly began to recede when she realized that thanks to Reese, she knew who she was, knew that Pixie’s had powers far greater than just their ability to reason.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the spell holding her hostage, visualizing it around her, then seeing it whipped away by a strong wind. Over and over, she played it out in her mind, summoning strength from somewhere deep inside her until her limbs began to work again, and her brain was no longer filled with fog.
She wanted to whoop with joy, but only smiled to herself, then quietly crept off the cot and over to the door. Disappointed when she saw Simon sitting in the hallway, she crept back over to the bed, laid down in the same position, and closed her eyes. Her best hope now was to find a way to escape when they came to take her away, and she wasn’t going to blow it by letting Simon know she could move again.
Chapter Twenty
***Reese***
Reese slammed his fist into the wall, then turned on Keaton. “They’re going to auction her off?” he asked, his voice hard.
Keaton back up a couple of steps. “Don’t shoot the messenger, Reese,” he said. “All I know is that there’s supposed to be an auction tonight somewhere in the woods around here. No one’s come out and said it’s Sarah, but it’s too much of a coincidence.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. I mean, I thought the Unseelie wanted all the Pixie’s dead,” Reese said. “Why would they be auctioning her off?”
“I think someone got greedy,” Colin said. “We can use that to our advantage.”
“Why don’t we just find her?” Reese asked, tired of standing around talking. “We know she’s still in the castle; no one saw them leave.”
His mother came over to him and put her hand on his arm. “Reese, we’ve searched the castle twice, including all the secret passageways; we’re not going to find her.”
“We have to keep looking; there must be someplace we haven’t looked,” he said, not ready to give up.
His mother shook her head. “Reese, if we haven’t found her by now...” but she didn’t finish her sentence. “Oh, my God, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
“What?” he asked, grabbing his mother by the arms.
“The dungeon,” she said. “We haven’t looked there; it’s been sealed off for years, but there still has to be a way down there.”
“How could I have been so stupid,” his father said. “Come on, I know where the door is.”
It took a sledgehammer and a considerable amount of force to unseal the door to the dungeon, but it finally lay in splinters on the floor. Before the dust could settle, Reese was through the door, shining his flashlight into the heavy darkness and brushing aside cobwebs that blocked his way. Intent on finding Sarah, he took the stairs two at a time, heedless of the warnings being called out behind him.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he found himself in a circular room with big wooden doors spaced around the curved walls, and a single hallway leading back into darkness. He stood shining his light around the room looking for any signs that someone had been there, then saw scuff marks on the floor in front of the only door standing open.
He rushed across the room to the open door and shined his light inside, feeling his heart plummet when it was empty. Collapsing onto the cot that stood against the wall, he was sure he smelled Sarah’s perfume, a mix of something spicy and slightly sweet. He put his hand down on the cot, realized that it was still warm, and jumped to his feet.
“They must have just left; the blankets are still warm,” he said, heading for the stairs.
***Sarah***
Sarah heard the sound of voices before the door slammed open, and Portentia walked inside, a lantern in her hand. She was dressed in a long black cloak, a hood pulled up over her head, and the evil look of pleasure on her face chilled Sarah’s blood. “Time for your big night. Everyone is so excited to see a real Pixie, I should have sold tickets,” she said, grinning at Sarah. “What’s it like to be the center of attention, to be the one thing everyone wants?”
It was a struggle not to leap off the cot and tear out Portentia’s eyes, something she felt she was capable of at that moment. Instead, she lay motionless on the cot, trying to look as scared as she could. “Still can’t move?” Portentia asked, poking her in the ribs. “Well, no matter; we’ll reverse the spell when we get there.”
When she turned around to give the men her orders, Sarah let out the breath she’d been holding and closed her eyes. The poke in the ribs had almost been her undoing and her heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest. She managed to hold it together by taking deep breaths, one after another until she was calm enough that when one of Portentia’s men came over and picked her she was limp.
“Load her in the back of the wagon,” Portentia said, then marched out of the room bellowing her daughter's name.
Sarah concentrated on keeping her breathing even as she was carried down a dark dank smelling passageway and out into the dark night. Her head was resting against the man’s chest, so she couldn’t see much, but she recognized the back of the castle and knew they’d come out a door she’d never seen before. She felt her hope of rescue beginning to fade when the wagon pulled away from the castle, taking a dark road through the forest instead of the main road.
She’d been so sure that Reese would find her, had spent the entire afternoon listening for him, but as the darkness of the forest closed around them, she knew that it was up to her to save herself. Any hope of rescue vanished the second they pulled away from the castle, and if she ever wanted to see Reese again, it was going to be up to her to find a way to escape.
***Reese***
“Reese,” his father yelled just as he put his foot on the first step. “They didn’t leave that way.”
He turned and looked at his father, his chest heaving with anger. His father walked over to him and put his arm around him. “You need to calm down and think logically; it’s the only way to control the emotions,” he said. “Take a deep breath and think.”
Reese took a few deep breaths, feeling the anger draining away, and reason beginning to return. Shaking himself like a dog, he looked at the dark hallway. “There must be a door down there,” he said.
He heard everyone sigh with relief to have him back. “Thought we’d lost you there for a second,” Colin said.
“We’re going to find her, Reese; look at who you have helping you,” Rainie said, pulling herself up to her full height. “We’ve got magic, brains, brawn, and best of all, we’re a team.”
Reese looked around the group. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’ll do without her,” he said, then afraid they’d see his tears, turned on his light and entered the dark passageway.
When they emerged a few minutes later into the night, he cursed himself for not thinking about the dungeon, but there were clear tracks for them to follow, and that was enough to sustain him. He wanted to start on foot, but his father sent Keaton for horses, and an excruciating fifteen minutes later, they were on their way, the tracks leading into the trees illuminated by the full moon above them.
When they saw the fire burning in the distance, his father led them into the trees where they scattered out and tied up their horses, then silently began to make their way through. The sight that greeted him when they came upon the clearing made the anger and rage come boiling to the surface, but Colin put a steadying hand on his shoulder.
“You won’t do her any good if you go charging in,” he said. “We should wait for a bit, see what we’re up against.”
Reese knew that he was right, but seeing Sarah lying on the gro
und not moving, made his heart break. “Is she dead?” he asked, his whole world feeling like it was about to shatter into a million pieces. “I never told her that I love her.”
“She’s breathing,” Darby whispered. “Just hang on. We’ll have her back soon.”
Just then, a woman came striding into the clearing, a young woman following along behind her, and Keaton gasped. “That’s Portentia Black; she’s the witch Samuel was working with when he attacked Ballantine,” he said. “We’ve been trying to track her down, but she just disappeared like Samuel.”
Reese looked over at him. “I don’t care who she is; I want her dead,” he said, his voice hard with emotion.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing her dead myself,” Colin said. “Now, how are we going to do this?”
“We have the element of surprise,” Raine said. “Let’s use that.”
“I’m ready,” Darby said, her body glowing slightly in the darkness.
***Sarah***
Sarah still hadn’t found a way to escape, and Portentia had just given Miranda a big knife and told her to keep an eye on her. The knife looked odd in her hand, and Sarah could tell that she was nervous holding it, but she sat staring at Sarah as her mother had instructed. Laying as she was on her side, she could only see a little part of the forest around her, but she kept scanning the trees trying to think of a way to escape.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” Portentia crowed from somewhere behind her. “You will have a new home, and I will have not only a nice little reward but the respect of the overlords again.”
Sarah cringed; she couldn’t help herself; her time was quickly evaporating. But then she saw a glimmer in the woods. It seemed to be moving erratically, but then she realized that the faint light was moving from tree to tree, getting closer to them. Portentia, walked around her and bent over to stare at her, partially blocking her view, but she was sure she saw shapes moving in the trees.
Rescued By The Fae Prince (Fae 0f Ballantine Book 3) Page 12
