Note:

When you read this, be suspicious of anything too "convenient". Things are not as they seem. If you are clever, perhaps you can separate the the lies from the truth.

Chapter One

Runaway Bride

Amelia pumped her legs, plunging through the trees in a torn wedding dress. The limbs had long ago snatched away her veil. Her heels pounded on wet earth. Her heart hammered.

The Fae Hound closed in, intent on dragging her back to its master, Lord Kirkland. He was her possessive and controlling fiancé who had forced an engagement ring on Amelia's finger. Apparently, "rot in hell" and "go die" were not answers he accepted.

The mist lightened and the sunlight grew stronger. The end of Kirkland's Kingdom was near. Her grip tightened around the oaken wand, pilfered from Kirkland's treasury. Although she could not use magic, Amelia took it just to piss off her husband-to-be.

Almost free!

Then the sound of the hound's paws disappeared and a second later the creature slammed into her back and Amelia flew forward, skidding across the grass and dirt. She tasted blood in her mouth. Before she could claw to standing, the hound pinned her to the ground with one of its massive paws. Claws pierced fabric and flesh.

"Bad, bad dog!" she cried, thrashing and attempting to crawl out from under. "Sit!"

It was worth a shot. Arthur's hounds obeyed his commands, but Amelia did not have the same authority.

Twisting around, she stared up and over her shoulder at the hound's emerald-green eyes, so like the color of Kirkland's. She swung the staff, clubbing at the creature who smelled like carcasses after days left out in the sun. She wanted to gag.

It growled, curling lips back to reveal discolored gums.

"Fetch the stick!" Amelia tried. Although there was no humor to her predicament, she could not help but react this way. There was nothing left to do but laugh at her misery.

The creature bit her forearm and sank its fangs deep. Crying out, Amelia somehow held on to the wand as tears blurred her vision.

"I won't go back," Amelia wheezed.

Green sparks of magic crackled in the air, floating up from the ground. The bastard was opening a portal, one that would send her straight back to the fiancé she had just spent hours escaping. And if she knew Arthur, he would make sure she never got a second chance.

Luminescent lines formed in the shape of a seal beneath them. The air warmed and hummed with building charge. Hairs rose on her skin.

"No," she sobbed, hot tears coursing down her face. "I won't go back. This isn't fair."

A twang, like the snap of a metal string, pierced the air and cut through it with a whir. The hound squealed, blooding splattering across her cheek and nape. Amelia stared wide-eyed as the beast tottered over her with a silver crossbow bolt stuck between its eyes.

Wasting no time, she yanked herself free and backed up a couple feet in shock. Drool and blood leaked from its lower jaw as the glow went out from its eyes and it slumped to the ground, disappearing into a disintegrating mound of black ash until only the crossbow bolt remained.

Amelia pinched her nose, even in death they left behind a bad smell.

She spun around and saw her hero: a tall, broad-shouldered man in a beige scarf and brown coat. His skin was like alabaster and his hair pale-white. Dim figures loomed beyond him, forgotten because she could not tear her gaze away from her savior.

Although human herself, Amelia had lived almost her entire life among the Fae and had never seen human men who looked like this man. Arthur had always claimed human men were ugly and boorish, but this man had a strange handsomeness about him.

Her heart throbbed with a strange sensation and her face warmed.

At first, she did not notice the man reloading his crossbow with another bolt. However, Amelia started to realize from the cold regard in his eyes and the small, childish smile on his pale lips, that saving her was not his intention. That she might have been better off with the hound.

He called something over his shoulder in a language that she could not understand.

Amelia stepped back, wincing when pain shot up her leg. she had twisted her ankle in the fall.

Soldiers came forward, holding up swords and shields. Her heart fell at the sight of the silver grizzly. These men served House Braginski, the enemy of the Fae and Kirkland. They would not help her if they found out who her fiancé was.

"Well, thank you a bunch," Amelia said, flashing a nervous grin. Then she turned and tried to limp away.

The silver band on my ring finger — Arthur's engagement ring — went frigid.

Moments later, she was caught and dragged back before Arthur's worst enemy.

Good job, Amelia. Now you've done it. What a pickle this is!

What if they took me to Ivan Braginski himself?

She would soon find out.