The Fae Bound - Juliana Haygert Page 0,22

pleasure in being so evil. Then I forced myself to move. I would rather stay locked in my room than anywhere near this vicious prince.

I stood and walked to the door without sparing him a word or a glance. The moment I stepped out of the dining room, four guards flanked me. I didn’t pause, I didn’t acknowledge them. I just kept moving, trying not to break down as hopelessness filled my heart.

With a heavy sigh, I entered my room and stood just behind the door, listening as it was closed and locked, the clicking sound echoing in my ears.

Now all I could do was wait and pray that Wyatt found Daleigh and they came up with a magnificent plan to rescue me.

18

Wyatt

After leaving Farrah’s chambers, I found Ariella and Kayden rushing through the corridors.

“What happened?” I asked, confused with their worried eyes.

“We failed,” Kayden said, her tone flat. “We couldn’t even get close to the prince with this poisoning attempt.”

Ariella glanced behind me. “Where’s Farrah?”

My shoulders sagged and I shook my head. “She can’t come.”

“What?” she almost shrieked.

“I’ll explain when we’re out of here,” I pressed. I looked around. “How we’re going to leave this place?”

Kayden waved her hands and I felt the jolt of magic coursing over my skin. “We’re all guards now. Better make our way to the nearest gate and run.”

We did exactly that, and with all of the soldiers’ attention on the poisoning investigation, it was easy enough to fool them and exit the fortress.

Once we were far enough, Kayden withdrew our glamour. And when we stepped inside the house we were borrowing, Ariella turned to me.

“Now explain,” she said, her tone as cold as her silver eyes.

I let out a long sigh and explained about the bracelet the prince had clasped around Farrah’s wrist and what happened when she tried leaving. Then I told them about the Daleigh and the other frost fae.

“Prince Lark went back on his word,” I continued. “He imprisoned Daleigh and the others in the fae realm. They are back in the fae realm, but they aren’t free.”

Ariella cursed under her breath. “So, what? We’re going to rescue them?”

“That’s what Farrah asked,” I said. “She thinks Daleigh and the frost fae can help us. With their numbers, we can invade the fortress and defeat the shadow prince and his soldiers.”

Kayden started pacing in the middle of the living room. “That wasn’t what I signed up for. The agreement was to come here and deal with the shadow prince right away.”

“I know, but unfortunately, things changed.” I looked at her, hoping she saw how fucking desperate I was. “Please, take us to the fae realm and help us free the frost fae.”

Kayden stopped facing and closed her eyes tight. She groaned, then returned her eyes to me. “All right.”

It wasn’t hard to find the frost fae and their prison camp. By now, the entire fae realm had heard about the camp, since it was used as an example, showing all fae what would happen to them if they didn’t behave as they were expected to.

We hid behind the top of a hill and spied out the clearing ahead, where a large prison held out the frost fae. The cages were probably eight to nine feet high, and hundreds of feet wide, divided into sections I couldn’t make out yet. From here, all I could see was that the frost fae was separated into three groups, all in the west corner of the cages, while shadow fae patrolled the inside and the outside of the prison.

“How many shadow fae?” Ariella asked.

“Too many,” Kayden said.

“Anyone have a good plan?” I asked.

“There won’t be a good plan, but I have a half-assed one,” Kayden said. “Ariella and I will go to the west side of the prison and create a distraction. Most of the guards should go our way. Then you sneak into the prison and free the frost fae.”

I frowned. “How will I sneak into the prison?”

She grabbed a small rock from the ground and wrapped her hand around it. An orange shine peeked from in between her fingers. After, she ripped a corner of her tunic, wrapped the stone in it, and offered it to me. “Press it against a lock, or even a metal bar. It’ll melt and you’ll be able to get in.”

I got the stone from her.

After a quick nod of agreement, Kayden and Ariella ran out, rounding the hill and going to the other side of the camp.

Keeping