"Shit, shit, shit."
I stopped, and Jaz was immediately on alert. He pulled out a small sparkling dagger and quickly surveyed our surroundings.
"Woah, I—"
"What have you seen?" His whole demeanour had changed.
"Nothing. I left my chocolate back up in the sky, in that castle. I don't suppose you fancy going back for it for me, do you? I would, but I'm still sucking in oxygen like it's going out of style."
He stood stock still for a moment. I couldn't see his eyes, and I was very aware that we might be in a whole lot of trouble right now. I expected him to be annoyed. What I didn't expect was for him to burst out laughing.
The sweet sound was louder than any of nature's creatures of the night that might have been with us.
I waited for long moments before he finally stopped.
"You, Queen Carina, are one of a kind." He pulled me to him, and his lips met mine in a fierce kiss.
I'm fairly sure my heart fluttered, nipples puckered, and my lady bits roared to life after an age in hibernation.
And I was pretty sure I was about to ask to have his babies if he hadn't suddenly pulled back. I stood there breathing hard as he held me at arm's length.
"Did you hear that?" Jaz's voice was a whisper, and his gaze was everywhere but on me.
I screwed up my eyes, attempting to send blood north to my ears. I could hear fuck all, if I was being honest. I looked back at the man in front of me and wondered if he'd realised he'd made a big mistake and was now making an excuse.
I could see his side profile, and he looked like he'd been chiselled by heaven's sculptor. Yeah, he'd definitely had second thoughts.
Then, it hit me. Literally, something hit me. In the arse. And it hurt like a motherfucker.
And then, it was chaos.
Chapter Three
Screams, shouts, howls, and roars. I heard it all. And none of it made sense to my frazzled brain.
I reached down to touch my backside and found an arrow. A bloody arrow. I pulled it out, and something in my mind admired the feathers at the end. And then I realised my bottom was numb, and my legs were fast catching up.
"No!" My legs gave out, and I was falling to the grassy ground. Before I could completely fall, Jaz caught me and pulled me close.
"I've got you. It will wear off soon." He half carried and half dragged me along with him. "We've been ambushed. They knew everything."
It was a simple statement. But it didn't quite encompass what I was now seeing.
There must have been a dozen people at least. And creatures. And fuck knows what else.
I was in a nightmare, and I couldn't escape because I couldn't feel the lower part of my body. "What do I do?"
I felt rather than saw him glance down at me. "You just allow yourself to finally be you."
Easier said than done. A weird looking troll thing ran at us, and Jaz stopped dead and turned, using his dagger to slice across the creature's belly. It yelled out in pain, squirted black blood into the air, and crumpled to the grass.
I stared, not knowing whether to laugh hysterically at the situation I found myself in, or cry because I was paralysed by a goddamn arrow.
We started moving again. "You said 'we' were sworn to protect you. It might be a good idea to find your buddies right about now," I shouted into Jaz's ear.
"That would have been a good option to have," he said, slicing another creature at the throat this time. "Unfortunately, we're on our own for the time being."
I happened to glance down at Jaz's legs. His feet were now bare and sprouting fur.
WTF?
I didn't have any time to contemplate this new development before a huge thing—demon maybe?—barrelled into us from the side, and I felt the wind knocked out of Jaz as we both fell to the ground and rolled.
In moments, we were surrounded by at least three big dudes in some sort of black armour. My legs were tingling now, and I wondered if I would get the feeling back before I got my head cut off by these psychos.
"Carina, descendent of Mika and bloodline of Serpantia, you have been found guilty of treason and are sentenced to life imprisonment. You have no right to appeal."
The words were a blur, and I struggled to sit up as Jaz was held down by two solid men with spiky pink hair.
"Wait. This is all a mistake. I'm not sure what's going on, but I can disappear again just as easily." I wasn't beyond begging. I was well and truly up shit creek.
"You have been a fugitive of our laws for twenty-four years. There is no mistake." A woman stepped forward. She was dressed better than the rest of our attackers, who were either in armour or in some sort of camouflage. She had silver hair, much like my own, but the similarities stopped there. She was tiny, with large ears which made her look like an elf. I wasn't sure what was real anymore, but right now, I wasn't putting anything out of the realm of possibility.
"We would always find you, Carina. My detectives work overtime to get fugitives like you off our streets and into a secure facility."
"I'm not a fugitive. I've never even gotten a parking ticket, for fucks sake." I had almost all the feeling back in my legs, and I scrunched up my toes, just to be sure. "This isn't happening. What this is," I pointed to the mass of weirdos surrounding us, seemingly at this woman's beck and call, "is all bullshit. And you're wrong. I'm innocent. Please let me and my friend go."
"Your bodyguard will be put to death."
"No!" I
