Ransomed to the World

by Stacey Brutger

  Annora wasn’t sure if it was her subconscious guiding them or if the afterworld was sentient. She should be more concerned about it, freaked out like Edgar, but the afterworld was a part of her, something she did like breathing. She wasn’t sure it was even possible for them to be separated.

  She mentally sent the darkness toward her guys, so if they needed to leave in a hurry, she could pull them in after her. Smog rose from the ground to curl around them until they almost seemed to shine in the darkness like a gem.

  Understanding lit Nerilla’s eyes, and she gave a subtle nod. “Your men are safe from me and mine. I can’t say the same for the witches. They seem to think you’d be weakened without them.”

  Annora raised a brow at the woman. “And what do you think?”

  “That if that stupid git had succeeded in killing any of your men, you would’ve rained hell down on earth.” Candid yellow eyes met hers. “The witches are fools.”

  “Then why do what they ask?” Annora wasn’t stupid enough to relax, despite the queen’s claims of peace.

  “War is being whispered on the air. While trolls are powerful, our tribes are some distance apart, leaving us vulnerable. The witches made a lot of promises.” Nerilla glanced around her village contemplatively. “We can fight wolves and vampires with some success, but we aren’t strong enough to combat magic, not if they target us. An alliance seemed prudent.”

  Can the trolls be trusted? she mentally asked Mason.

  He hesitated before answering. Once they give their word, they’ll keep it.

  Annora glanced at Nerilla. “So what’s changed?”

  The queen gave a big, toothy grin, the smile practically splitting her face. “I’m not stupid. While the witches might be powerful, I’d rather be your ally than your enemy. You could’ve decimated my village without even a thought. Expending that much energy didn’t even wind you.”

  Annora didn’t think it was that simple, not the way Nerilla’s eyes gleamed with humor. “Ally?”

  Her brows wiggled up her forehead, and she bit her nail, tore it off and spit it into the flames. “Aye…if you can manage to claim little Mason, then you’ll become part of the tribe.”

  Everything inside her stilled. “And how would I go about claiming him?”

  Her smile turned cruel, her face hardening. “He made a vow to return to us after the university. The only way he leaves here is if you can claim him—by beating him in a fight.”

  Mason stiffened with dread, unable to swallow, his mouth dry as dust.

  They were going to make him fight.

  He’d hoped they would just let him go since none of them could stand the sight of him.

  He should’ve known better.

  Annora was too much of a temptation for them to let him go.

  “If you succeed, I’m yours.” Mason wet his lips, unable to look at Annora in the eyes. “If you fail, neither of us will leave the village. You’ll be bound to the queen.”

  Anger surged through the bond, spilling over from the guys, and he couldn’t blame them. He tried to tell her to leave it alone, not to claim him, but she kept pushing. And as much as he wanted to warn her, he’d been bound before he left.

  Every time he tried to say anything, pain would lance through his skull so hard and swift it stole his breath. The few times he’d tried to warn her, he ended up on the floor, unconscious, blood pouring out of his nose and ears.

  And every time, the punishment for trying to speak out was worse than the last.

  When Annora rose to her feet and turned to face him, it was all he could do to meet her gaze. One thing kept him steady—he refused to forfeit even one second of their remaining time together.

  His heart practically cracked in his chest, the loss of her threatening to destroy him.

  He gave her a crooked smile, unable to swallow past the lump in his throat at the thought of never seeing her again. “Now that I’m no longer bound, I can tell you everything. What the queen failed to mention is that you’re allowed to rescind your claim. You and the guys are free to go.”

  He would be punished for his defiance if the way the queen glared at him was any indication, but he didn’t give a fuck. He thrust his hands behind his back and straightened to his full height. He rubbed his thumb tenderly over the mating mark on his wrist—his loyalties would always lie with Annora.

  Even long after she was gone.

  For him, there was only her.

  Annora strode up to him, not an ounce of fear in her, and he almost cracked. He locked his legs to keep from dropping to his knees in front of her. She was dainty, her brown hair whisking around her face, but what arrested him was her eyes.

  She thought she wasn’t anything special.

  Forgettable.

  She was fucking wrong.

  She was his everything. He just wished he had a chance to show her. The only thing that had stopped him was he refused to hurt her that way. Leaving him behind was going to hurt her enough. If their bond went deeper, it would scar her, and that was the last thing he wanted.

  When she stopped in front of him, he inhaled the tangy smell of lemon and warm jasmine deep into his lungs, wanting to imprint them on his soul one last time.

  “That’s why you said they would demand more than you’re worth,” she murmured softly.

  His heart fractured at her understanding, and he could no longer hold up his head, the loss of her too much. He would give anything to say his goodbye to her in private, beg her to forgive him, do anything to spend a few more moments with her, but he knew forever with her wouldn’t be enough time.

  He’d delayed returning for as long as he could, treasuring each second. He resisted for weeks, doing everything in his power to keep her safe, but the compulsion was too strong.

  He was just thankful she had the other guys to watch over her.

  They had to be enough.

  “So how does this fight work? First blood?”

  Mason’s head snapped up, his eyes widening in alarm, and bile rose in his throat at the idea of laying a hand on her. “Annora—no.”

  When she ignored him, he took a step to chase after her and found his way blocked by three trolls. He snarled and charged, sending them flying through the air as his beast took over. Muscles stretched and burned, his more primitive side rising as he stalked his prey.

  He grabbed Annora by the arms and lifted her up until he could shout in her face. “You will not do this.”

  Instead of quivering in fear, she grinned up at him. “And you’re a fool if you didn’t think I would fight for you.” She planted her feet against his chest, then shoved off.

  He tried to hold her, but she used her magic to slip from his grip, leaving him grasping nothing but air. She flipped, landing easily on her feet with a sparkle of defiance in her beautiful eyes. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. You’re mine. I said I would fight for you. If I have to fight you to do it, then you better be prepared to get your ass handed to you.”

  He could do nothing but sputter and gawk as she sauntered away.

  Gods be damned! His chest tightened in full-out panic, and he struggled for air. If they survived this, he was going to put her over his knee and spank the daylights out of her.

  Chapter Eight

  Annora watched them drag a struggling Mason away, his curses blistering her ears. His rage tingled through their bond, his desperation eating away at his soul. He’d been ready to say goodbye to her.

  He didn’t think she would fight.

  Idiot.

  She turned, then stopped short when she saw her other four guys waiting for her with their arms crossed. Disapproval radiated from them, and she raised her chin, refusing to be cowed.

  Before they could reprimand her, Queen Nerilla lumbered over to them, her breasts swaying like pendulums. Fuck if she wasn’t just shy of eight feet tall. Annora expected the earth to quake, but it was like the trolls knew where to walk to avoid the creaks.

  “There is only one r
ule to the fight…survive.” She gave a toothy smile, her square teeth tinged gray and yellow, tiny cracks at the edges where they no doubt had crushed the bones of the fallen. “Mason will be given a potion that will trigger his rage, and it will be aimed directly at you. You will have two choices—survive two minutes of combat or retrieve a heart stone located in the bowels of the cavern that will nullify his frenzy.”

  Cave?

  Nausea swirled in her guts at the idea of heading underground. Her heart rattled so hard it threatened to crack her ribs. Her eyes flickered toward where Mason was being held.

  He knew.

  Pure sorrow gazed back at her.

  She gritted her teeth against the fear that battered at her and locked her knees.

  She could do this.

  She would do this.

  While she didn’t doubt she could keep him occupied for two minutes and stay out of the way of his fists, it was a risk. She’d end up revealing way too many of her secrets if they fought. Not to mention that Mason would never forgive himself if he harmed her.

  No, the safest route would be to find the heart stone.

  “Have you changed your mind?” Queen Nerilla lifted her brow, leaving her face twisted almost comically, like a caricature sketch.

  “No!” Annora licked her dried lips, clamping down on her fear. “I’ll be going for the heart stone.”

  Nerilla pursed her lips in disappointment that she wouldn’t see Annora smashed to bits, the liver spots making them look like uncooked little sausages. “Very well. I’ll need a piece of you to complete the potion.”

  Annora’s mind went blank.

  Say what?!

  Xander pulled a knife. She stilled, and he carefully lifted a strand of her hair and sliced it off clean before handing it over. “Will this do?”

  “Yeah. Perfect,” Nerilla muttered under her breath as she turned away, clearly unhappy she wouldn’t be walking off with Annora’s severed fingers.

  Annora remained frozen on the spot, her attention locked onto the dark mouth of the cave. Despite the sweat soaking her clothes, a chill swept through her at the thought of being underground again.

  She’d barely managed to conquer the basement. Fuck Mason chasing her—it was being underground that would kill her when she lost control.

  Edgar stepped in front of her, blocking her view, cupping her face. “Annora—”

  “Don’t say it.” She shook her head to banish the nightmares clinging to the edge of her sanity and gazed up at him. “You’re not going to talk me out of my decision.”

  Edgar hesitated, like he wanted to protest, then his face hardened and he dropped his arms. “Then we need to use our last minutes together to prepare you.”

  Camden rubbed his hand over the stubble on his jaw as he surveyed those around them. “I’m going to talk to some of the guards and see what I can learn about this stone and how to find it.”

  Which she took to mean he was going to try and use his gift to see if he could loosen any lips.

  “Can’t stay out of trouble, even for a second, huh?” A ghost of a smirk lingered on Logan’s lips, and he gave her a two-finger salute, then sauntered off, calling over his shoulder, “I’m going to see what I can learn from Mason and try to calm him down. When he learns what you’re going to do, he’s going to lose his shit again.”

  Which left her facing Xander and Edgar. With the both of them standing shoulder to shoulder, glaring down at her, they were intimidating as hell.

  Not to mention that it was sexy as fuck to be the center of their attention.

  Xander gave her a knowing smile, and she knew he did it to take her mind off of what was to come. “You know Mason, know how he fights, but when his rage takes over, he’s not the same man. If you see him, you’re too close. You must not fight him in a confined space. You need to find that stone fast. Understand?”

  She nodded, but became distracted when she saw a group of five trolls approach Mason. Before Mason could launch to his feet, they tackled him until he was under a pile of bodies nearly as tall as Annora. While they held him down, Nerilla approached with a mug that spit and sputtered, leaving a billow of gray smoke trailing behind her.

  A man next to Nerilla knelt and held Mason’s head tight, then pinched his nose shut when he refused to open his mouth. Her heart ached at the way he fought so fiercely, every fiber of his being determined to keep her safe, even if it cost him his freedom.

  But it was not to be.

  The second he gasped for air, they poured the potion down his gullet. The majority of it spilled over his face, just a fraction of it getting into his mouth. He tried to spit it out, but what he’d ingested was enough—she could already see the effects taking hold.

  His movements slowed, and he stopped fighting, her chest hurt seeing him so defeated. The connection between them became blurred, dulled by whatever they gave him.

  I love you.

  Please forgive me.

  His last thoughts drifted to her seconds before everything between them became fuzzy, like static.

  Everyone rose to their feet…except Mason.

  One of the trolls lifted a knife. Before Annora could launch herself forward, he slashed downward. Dread pooled in her gut until she saw only a small gash on Mason’s forearm. Blood dripped down from the injury, and Nerilla captured it in a shallow cup.

  Annora only relaxed when they moved away from Mason.

  Blood continued to drip and pool on the ground, and she was unable to resist the compulsion to go to him. She took a step, only to have Edgar grab her arm.

  “If I’m right, you only have a few moments.” He turned her away to face him. “You already know the dangers of trying to skip or portal underground—you don’t have enough practice to do either in the dark. Promise me you won’t try.”

  He was hamstringing her.

  But he had a point.

  Whenever she tried to jump, she almost always had a picture of where she wanted to be. She did short jumps through walls and doors, but never in a blind maze underground. “What would happen?”

  In the back of her mind, a clock was ticking down. She could almost feel Mason breathing down her neck already.

  A muscle ticked in Edgar’s jaw. “You have enough strength that you shouldn’t get stuck in the middle of thousands of pounds of rocks that would crush you in seconds. If you try to go too far, you could rebound and end up right where you started. If you don’t have a specific image in mind when you jump, you could end up in a billion particles, scattered in the darkness.”

  Annora’s breathing stopped.

  She hadn’t even realized that was an option.

  She cast her mind back at how many times she jumped blindly and wondered how many other rules she’d broken.

  Had she been just lucky?

  No, she’d trusted her instincts.

  She could do no less now. She gazed up at Edgar’s fathomless blue eyes and refused to lie. “I’ll do my best to stay alive. That’s all I can promise.”

  “You’ll take the sword as well.” He pulled the strap over his head, quickly dropping it over hers, and adjusted the strap across her chest until he was satisfied, doing his best to avoid looking at her the whole time.

  “No.” She tried to hand it back, but he grabbed her wrists.

  “You either take it with you or you don’t go.” The afterworld filled his eyes until they went completely black.

  He wasn’t going to change his mind.

  Everything inside her rebelled at the thought of using the sword against Mason.

  She just couldn’t do it.

  Xander grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, and everything inside her stilled. “Take. The. Sword.”

  “Fine.” She gritted her teeth and dropped her hands, the sword on her back making the spot between her shoulder blades itch. She flexed her neck as their expectations settled over her.

  Camden and Logan hurried toward her, both looking so serious her gut clenched. Logan reac
hed her first.

  “Whatever they gave him, Mason is completely gone. I could actually feel the predator in him rise.” He pulled her against his chest and clutched her close, whispering into her hair. “Be wary of him. As much as you might want to see him as being the same Mason, he’s not there right now. Trust me, you won’t be fighting Mason.”

  Logan pulled away, and she could see Nerilla coming for her. Annora quickly turned toward Camden. “What did you learn?”

  “Two things…Logan is correct. The troll will be in charge, so any sign of the Mason you know will be completely gone.” He grabbed her close, as if to shake the fact into her. “I also learned you’ll basically be dropped into a maze. The only way out is the way you entered.”

  A cheer went up, and she saw the trolls begin to line up at the entrance of the cave.

  Time was short.

  “While I’m gone, I want you to get the wolves.” She directed the order to Logan, knowing if anyone could sneak out, it would be him. “Get them ready to move. I have a feeling we’ll need to leave in a hurry.”

  Before anyone could say more, Nerilla strode across the clearing. “We have only a few minutes. Follow me.”

  The queen didn’t even pause while she strode right into the giant maw of the cave. Annora scrambled after her, a glance behind her showing Mason was rising slowly to his feet…and he was completely in his troll form, his clothing busted at the seams.

  It was the image of him that allowed her to enter the cave when it felt like her skin was trying to crawl off her body. To her surprise, the underground area was fairly well lit. The main pathway led off to the left, opening up to a large cavern where what appeared to be a marketplace was set up. There were over a hundred trolls, if not more, strolling around, and she suspected that this was just a peek into their world.

  Instead of entering, Nerilla took them past the opening. Annora hadn’t even been aware the passageway continued. As they kept walking through the tunnel, she was surprised to see at least a dozen offshoots.

  The troll ignored every one of them.