“I shall not stay here with you,” she said firmly.
His black eyes were hard as he stared into hers. “Ah, but, Princess, you shall, and when we are done, you will never want another.”
He shoved her onto the bed. “I know you will try and escape this dimension, this room, this palace. It will be a useless effort. I have enacted a very special ward to keep you within, something I watched my father do when he did not know I was near. I learned a great many things from him …” He frowned, turned, and walked leisurely back towards the bedroom doors. He looked back over his shoulder and said softly, “Try and rest … or eat. You will find a plate of fruit and cheeses on the table there.”
She put up her chin and watched him leave. She wasn’t eating anything in this dimension. Who knew what magic it was laced with?
Right then, think, Royce, she told herself. He learned the warding spell to keep her a prisoner from his father, the Dark King. His father was actually a Seelie Fae and a Royal, the last of the ancient fifth house.
She could break the ward if only she could find its rudimentary source. All spells had roots, and as a Royal she had been taught the ten basic roots from which all the greatest spells had been created.
She got up and began pacing. Think—she had to think. She had always been taught that white magic was stronger than black, which used smoke and mirrors to lure and deceive. She had to get past the smoke and mirrors!
* * *
They stood cloaked in their invisibility in the parking lot of the nightclub and watched the garda rope off the area.
“She stood here for awhile … her scent is strong, but, Trevor, there is another scent here that doesn’t belong.”
“Yes, I know.” Trevor’s voice was full with concern, and Chance gazed at him before he collected his thoughts.
“He is following her.” Chance’s voice was grim.
“Yes, I believe so,” Trevor answered quietly.
“Then so shall we … Track with me, lad,” Chance said and splayed his hand until a small pocket of gold dust floated in the air.
“What by Danu is that?” Trevor asked, eyes wide.
“Danu dust. We maintain a store of it, lad.” Any other time Chance would have teased him further, but he was in no mood for it. The dust pointed the way and made the tracking easier.
A moment later they were watching the young boy playing with his father in the yard. Her scent was everywhere. She had been right where they stood, and so, Chance was certain, had been Pestale.
“Why stop here … at this house?” Chance asked.
Trevor shrugged. “I am not certain …”
There was no evidence of struggle.
They picked up her scent and followed, for she had shifted out once more … and he had followed. His Dark Magic was no longer disguising his movements. It was almost as though he wanted Chance and Trevor to know that he was with Royce.
They arrived at the pub in Temple Bar where she and Pestale had occupied a table together, and Chance breathed a low hiss before he growled, “She sat … here with him!” He looked at Trevor. “What the bloody hell was she thinking?”
“She was stalling him, hoping we would arrive,” said Trevor. “That would be her style—no thought for herself.”
“I doona want her to stall him. I doona want her to talk to him or sit with him. Tell me, Trevor, why has she done this?” Chance’s temper was building on itself.
“I don’t know, but I know Red—she must have had a good reason. The point being … she has gone with him. We’ll have to keep tracking.” Trevor sighed and sniffed. “When they left here, Chance, they definitely left together—but there is no directional … It is as if they slipped into another dimension.”
“Aye, I know … she went with him willingly. I feel it in the atmosphere. She left a whiff of herself as though sending me a message. She knew I would come here to find her, and she knows we will track her, but how—how can we do that, if that dimension is cloaked in black magic?”
“Time to go for help.” Trevor’s face was solemn.
“Aye, and I have just the person who can do just that!”
* * *
The Wizard Rysdale’s blue eyes twinkled as he looked up from his charts and diagrams and found Chance and Prince Trevor standing behind his beloved Charm.