Torn (Trylle Trilogy, Book 2) (3 page)

Instead, he straightened up, looking over at me. My anger and resolution were fading. Part of me believed that Finn wouldn’t really leave things this way.

“Once I’m out this window, lock it behind me,” Finn commanded. “Make sure all the doors are locked, and never go anywhere alone. Never go any place at night, and if at all possible, always take Matt
and
Rhys with you.” He looked past me for a moment, thinking of something.

“Although neither of them are really good for much of anything…” His muttering trailed off and his dark eyes rested on mine once again. His expression was imploring, and he raised his hand as if he meant to touch my face, but he lowered it again. “You
must
be careful.”

“Okay,” I promised him.

With Finn standing right in front of me, I could feel the warmth of his body and smell his cologne. His eyes were locked on mine, and I remembered the way it felt when he tangled his fingers in my hair and held me so close to him, I couldn’t breathe.

He was so strong and controlled. In the brief moments he allowed himself to let go of his passion with me, it was the most wonderfully suffocating feeling I’d ever had.

I did not want him to leave, and he did not want to leave. But we had both made choices we were unwilling to change. He nodded once more, breaking eye contact, and then turned and slid out the window.

Duncan waited by the tree, and Finn dropped gracefully to the ground. Duncan still didn’t want to leave, and Finn had to convince him to move away from the house.

When they reached the hedges separating my lawn from the neighbors, Finn looked
around,
checking to make sure no one was there. Without even looking at me, he and Duncan turned and disappeared.

I closed the window, locking it securely the way he’d said to. I felt a terrible ache watching him go. Even though he had done this kind of thing before, I couldn’t wrap my mind around Finn really leaving and convincing Duncan to leave me too. If he was so concerned about the Vittra, why would he leave me so unprotected?

It finally dawned on me. Finn had
never
left me unprotected, no matter what I or anybody else wanted. As soon as he had realized I wasn’t going with him, he hadn’t wanted to waste any more time arguing. He would wait in the wings until I changed my mind or …

I shut the curtains tightly. I hated being spied on, but I also found it strangely comforting that Finn was watching over me. After having my window open for so long, my room felt chilly, so I went over to my closet and pulled on a heavy sweater.

The adrenaline rush from seeing Finn had left me wide awake, but I was looking forward to curling up in bed, even if I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

I settled into my bed, trying futilely to forget about Finn. Within minutes, I heard a loud banging downstairs. Matt let out a yelling sound, but it was cut short, leaving the house in total silence.

I jumped and ran to my bedroom door. With shaking hands, I opened it, hoping that Finn had tried to sneak back in and had a misunderstanding with Matt.

Then I heard Rhys screaming.

Rhys had stopped making a sound. I had barely taken a step out of my room when I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs, and before I could react, she was there.

Kyra, a Vittra tracker I had dealt with before, appeared at the top of the landing. Her dark hair was in a pixie cut, and she wore a long black leather jacket. She hung onto the railing, crouching down. As soon as she saw me, she sneered, showing much more teeth than any human would.

I rushed towards her, hoping for the element of surprise, but I was out of luck.

She dodged before I got close and sent a swift kick flying into my abdomen. I stumbled backwards, gripping my stomach dramatically, and when she came at me again, I punched her.

Kyra didn’t even take a moment to be stunned. She returned the blow much harder, hitting me in the face. When I fell down, she stood over me, smiling, with blood dripping from her nose from where I’d punched her.

I scrambled to my feet, and she grabbed my hair, yanking me up. I kicked at her as she lifted me, and she rewarded my moxie by kicking me so hard in the side, I cried out. Kyra laughed at that and kicked me again.

This time I saw white and everything faded out for a moment. My hearing got wonky, and I barely hung on to consciousness.

“Stop!”
A strong voice was shouting.

When I blinked open my swollen eyes, I saw a man running up the stairs towards Kyra. He was tall, and beneath his black sweater, he was well-muscled. Kyra dropped me to the ground when he reached the top of the stairs.

“It’s not like I can
really
hurt her, Loki,” Kyra said, her voice bordering on whining.

I tried to get to my feet again, even though I felt dizzy, and she kicked me down.

“Knock it off,” he snapped at her. She grimaced and took a step back.

He stood in front of me, towering above me, and then knelt down. I could scramble away from him, but I wouldn’t get far. He cocked his head, looking at me curiously.

“So you’re what all the fuss is about,” he mused.

He reached forward, taking my face in his hands. Not painfully, but he was forcing me to look at him. His caramel eyes fixed on mine. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t.

This strange fog settled over me, and as terrified as I was, I felt my body relaxing, losing its ability to fight. My eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and unable to stop it, I fell asleep.

I was dreaming of water. But anything more specific than that I couldn’t remember. My body felt cold, like it should be shivering but wasn’t. My cheeks were warm though, resting against something soft.

“You’re telling me that she is a
Princess
?” Matt asked, and his chest rumbled above me. My head lay against his leg, and the more I woke up, the more I realized how terrible my body felt.

“It’s not that hard to believe, really,” Rhys said. His voice came from somewhere on the other side of the room. “Once you get all the Trylle stuff, the Princess part is pretty easy to take.”

“I’m not sure what to believe anymore,” Matt admitted.

I opened my eyes with a struggle. My lids felt unnaturally heavy, and my left eye was swollen from where Kyra punched me. The room swayed, and I blinked it into focus.

When my vision finally cleared, I still didn’t really understand what I was seeing. The floor appeared to be dirt, and the walls were brown and grey stones, looking damp and old. It reminded me of an old cellar… or a dungeon.

Rhys paced the other side of the room, and he had fresh bruises on his face. I tried to sit up, but my entire body hurt and my head felt woozy.

“Hey, take it easy,” Matt said, putting his hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t listen.

I pushed myself up until I was sitting. It took a lot more effort than it normally required, and I grimaced when I leaned against the wall next to him.

“You’re awake!” Rhys grinned, and he was probably the only person in the world that could look happy in this situation.

“How are you feeling?” Matt asked. For his part, he didn’t have any visible bruises, but he was a better fighter than Rhys and me.

“Great.” I had to lie through gritted teeth because it hurt to breathe. Based on the intense shooting pain I had in my diaphragm, I guessed I had a cracked rib, but I didn’t want to worry Matt. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

“I was hoping you could shed some light on that,” Matt said.

“I already told him, but he won’t believe me,” Rhys said.

“Where are we then?” I asked Rhys, and Matt scoffed.

“I’m not sure exactly.” Rhys shook his head.
“The Vittra palace.
I think it might be in Colorado.”

“I figured as much,” I sighed. “I recognized the Vittra that attacked the house. Kyra went after me before.”

“What?” Matt’s eyes were wide and disbelieving. “These people went after you before?”

“Yeah, that’s why I had to leave.” I closed my eyes because it was hurting too much keep them open. The world wanted to spin out from under me.

“Told you,” Rhys said to Matt. “I’m not lying about this stuff. After what happened, you think you’d cut me a little slack.”

“Rhys isn’t lying,” I said, wincing. It was getting harder to breathe, and I had to take very shallow breaths, which only made me more lightheaded. “He knows more about all of this than I do. I wasn’t there very long.”

“Why are these Vittra people coming after you?” Matt asked. “Why do they want you?”

I shook my head, unwilling to risk the pain of speaking.

“I don’t know,” Rhys answered when I didn’t. “I’ve never seen them go after anyone this way before. Then again, she’s the first Princess I’ve been around, and they’ve foretold of her for a while.”

I wanted to know what they were foretelling. Everyone gave me vague responses, like I would be powerful someday, but I didn’t feel very powerful, especially right now. It hurt too much to speak, and I was locked up a dungeon.

Not only had I failed to save myself, I’d gotten Rhys and Matt dragged into it along with me.

“Wendy, are you okay?” Matt asked.

“Yeah,” I lied.

“You don’t look okay,” Rhys said.
 

“All your color is gone, and you’re barely even breathing,” Matt said, and I heard him getting to his feet next to me. “You need a doctor or something.”

“What are you doing?” Rhys asked.

I opened my eyes to see what Matt was up to. His plan was simple and obvious – he went to the locked door and pounded on it.

“Help!
Somebody! Wendy needs a doctor!” Matt shouted.

“What makes you think they’d even want to help her?” Rhys asked, and those were my thoughts exactly. Kyra had gone out of her way to hurt me when she captured me.

“They haven’t killed her yet, so they probably don’t want her dead.” Matt stopped pounding long enough to answer Rhys, then went back to hitting the door and yelling for help.

The sound of it echoed through the room, and I couldn’t take it anymore. My head throbbed too much already. I was about to tell Matt to knock it off when the door opened.

This was the perfect time for Matt and Rhys to launch a counter attack, but it didn’t occur to either of them. They both just moved away.

The Vittra from the house walked into the room, the one that had rendered me unconscious, and I dimly remembered Kyra calling him Loki. His shaggy hair was surprisingly light for a Vittra, almost blond.

Walking next to him was a troll, like an actual troll.
All short and
gobliny
.
His features were humanoid, but his skin was slimy and brown. He wore a hat and tufts of grayish hair stuck out around the edge. He barely came up to Loki’s hip, but the fact that he was an actual troll made him more intimidating somehow.

Rhys and Matt both gaped at the hobgoblin, and I probably would’ve too, if I’d been capable of gaping. I could barely keep my head up.

“You say the girl is in need of a doctor?” Loki asked, his eyes resting on me. He regarded me with the same mild curiosity he had before.

“Kyra did that?” the hobgoblin asked, his voice unexpectedly deep for such a small creature. He looked to Loki for confirmation, shaking his head at the damage she’d inflicted on me. “She needs to be put on a leash.”

“I don’t think she can breathe,” Matt said.

Matt’s features hardened to with restraint. I’m sure my condition was the only thing keeping him from attacking Loki. If he hurt them, they wouldn’t be able to help me.

“Well, let me have a look.” Loki walked over to me, his strides long and purposeful.

The hobgoblin stayed by the door, guarding it from Matt and Rhys, but they were too focused on me to consider escape.

Loki crouched down in front of me, looking me over with something that resembled concern. I was in too much pain to feel real fear, but I’m not sure I would have been afraid of him. Physically he was much stronger than me, and he had some kind of ability that could knock me out, maybe even more than that. But somehow, I knew he’d help me.

“What hurts?” Loki asked.

“She can barely breathe, let alone talk!” Matt yelled. “She needs immediate medical attention!” Loki held up his hand to silence him, and Matt sighed heavily.

“Can you talk?” Loki kept staring at me.

When I opened my mouth, instead of speaking, an excruciating cough rose up in me. Closing my eyes, I tried to fight it. I coughed so hard, tears streamed down my cheeks, but I felt something wet. I opened my eyes to see bright red splattered all over my legs and Loki’s feet. I was coughing up blood, and I couldn’t stop.

“Ludlow!” Loki shouted at the hobgoblin.
“Get Sara!
Now!”

Loki stayed crouched in front of me, keeping Matt back. Matt’s inclination would be to hold me, and Loki didn’t want me moved, afraid that it might rupture something. Matt shouted frantically, and Loki kept insisting that everything would be alright.

Within moments, a woman appeared in the room. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she knelt down in front of me, pushing Loki to the side. Her eyes were almost as dark as Finn’s, and I found something comforting in that.

“My name is Sara, and I’m going to help you.” She pressed her hand hard against my abdomen, and I winced.

It hurt so bad, I wanted to scream, but then the pain began to fade. A weird numbing tingle ran through me. It took me a second to figure out where I had felt that sensation before.

“You’re a healer,” I mumbled, slightly dismayed that she was helping me. The pain in my chest and stomach had disappeared, and she put her hand on my face, fixing my black eye.

“Does it hurt anywhere else?” Sara asked, ignoring my statement. She looked worn out, a temporary side effect from healing, but otherwise, she was incredibly beautiful.
 

“I don’t think so.” I felt sore all over, but that was still lessening.

“Kyra went way overboard,” Sara said, more to
herself
than me. “Are you okay now?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Excellent.” Sara stood up and turned to Loki. “You need to control your trackers better.”

“They’re not
mine.
” Loki crossed his arms over his chest. “If you have a problem with how they do their job, take it up with your husband.”

“I’m certain my husband wouldn’t like how this situation was handled.” Sara looked at him severely, but he didn’t back down.

“I was doing you a favor,” Loki replied evenly. “If I hadn’t been there, it would’ve been worse.”

“I’m not having this discussion now.” She glanced in my direction,
then
walked out of the room.

“Is that everything, then?” Loki asked us once she’d gone.

“Not even close.” Matt had been sitting next to me but he got to his feet. “What do you want with us? You can’t just keep us here!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Loki smiled emptily at me and turned to leave the room.

Matt tried to rush him, but Loki was already out the door before he got to him. He slammed the door and Matt flew into it. There was a loud clicking as bolts locked, and Matt slacked against the door.

“What is going on here?” Matt shouted and turned to look at me. “How come you’re not dying anymore?”

“Would you rather I be dying?” I pulled the sleeve of my sweater down and wiped the blood away from my face. “I could get Kyra in here to finish the job.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Matt rubbed his forehead. “I want to know what’s happening. I feel like I’m in a bad dream.”

“It gets easier,” I said and turned to Rhys. “What the hell was that hobgoblin thing that came in? Was that an actual troll?”

“I don’t know.” Rhys shook his head, looking just as bewildered as I felt. “I’ve never seen one before, but everyone goes out of their way to make sure mänks don’t know anything.”

“I didn’t think there were real trolls.” I furrowed my brow, trying to remember what Finn had told me about trolls before. “I thought they were just myths.”

“Really?”
Matt asked.
“After everything that’s happened?
So you pick and choose what mythology you believe in?”

“I’m not picking and choosing anything.” I got to my feet. I still felt sore all over, but it was light years better than I’d felt when I woke up. “I believe what I can see. I hadn’t seen this before. That’s all.”

“Are you okay?” Matt watched me as I hobbled around the room. “Maybe you should take it easy.”

“No, I’m fine.” I brushed him off. I wanted to get my bearings in the space, maybe see if there was a way that we could get out. “How did we get here anyway?”

“They broke into the house and attacked us.” Matt gestured to the door, referring to Loki and the Vittra. “That guy knocked us out somehow, and we woke up here. We hadn’t been awake very long before you woke up.”

“Lovely.” I touched the door, pushing on it as if I thought it would open. It didn’t, but I had to try.

“Hey, where’s Finn?” Rhys asked, echoing thoughts I was starting to have. “Why didn’t he stop this?”

“What does Finn have to do with this?” Matt asked with an edge to his voice.

“Nothing.
He used to be my tracker. It’s
sorta
like a bodyguard.” I took a step back, staring at the door and willing it to open. “He tried to protect me from all of this.”

“That’s why you ran away with him?” Matt asked. “He was protecting you?”

“Something
like
that,” I sighed.

“Where is he?” Rhys repeated. “I thought he was with you when the Vittra came.”

Matt started yelling about Finn being in my room, but I ignored him. I didn’t have the energy to fight with Matt about propriety or his feelings for Finn.

“Finn left before they broke in,” I said, once Matt had finished his tirade. “I don’t know where he’s at.”

I don’t know what had happened that kept Finn from protecting me. Maybe he had really left. I had thought that had all been a bluff, but I don’t know why he wouldn’t have been there.

Unless something bad happened to him.
The Vittra could have gotten to him before they came after me. He cared too much for duty, even if he didn’t care enough for me. The only way he wouldn’t keep me safe is if he
couldn’t
.

“Wendy?” Rhys asked.

I think he’d been talking before that, but I hadn’t heard anything he’d said. I’d been too busy thinking of Finn and staring at the door.

“We have to get out of here,” I said and turned to Rhys and Matt.

“Obviously,” Matt sighed.

“I have an idea.” I bit my lip. “But it’s not a great one. When they come back, I can use my persuasion. I can convince them to let us go.”

“Do you really think that’s strong enough?” Rhys voiced the concern I’d had myself.

So far, I’d only used persuasion on unsuspecting humans, like Matt and Rhys, and Finn had told me without training, my abilities weren’t as strong as they could be. I hadn’t begun my training yet in Förening, so I had no clue how powerful or weak I might be.

“I really don’t know,” I admitted.

“Persuasion?”
Matt raised an eyebrow and looked at Rhys. “Is that the thing you were telling me about? That mind thing she can supposedly do?” Rhys nodded, and Matt rolled his eyes.

“It’s not
supposed
.” I bristled at his skepticism. “I can do it. I’ve done it to you before.”

“When?”
Matt asked, still dubious.

“How do you think I got you to take me to see Kim?” I asked, referring to when he’d taken me to see his mother, my “host” mother, in the institution.

He hated her and didn’t want me to have anything to do with her. I’d used persuasion on him, even though I’d felt guilty about it, but it was the only way I could talk to her.

“You did that?” His shock and hurt were instantly replaced by anger. He looked like he’d been slapped in the face. I lowered my eyes and turned away. “You tricked me? How could you do that, Wendy? You always say you never lie to me then you go and do something like that!”

“It wasn’t a lie,” I said sheepishly, trying to defend actions I couldn’t even justify.

“No, it’s worse!” Matt shook his head and stepped away from me, as if he couldn’t stand to be near me. “I can’t believe you did that. How often did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “For a long time, I didn’t know I was doing it. But once I figured it out, I tried not to do at all. I don’t like doing it, especially to you. It’s not fair, and I know it.”

“Damn right it’s not fair!” Matt snapped. “It’s cruel and manipulative!”

“I’m really sorry.” I met his eyes, and the hurt in them stung painfully. “I promise I won’t ever do it again, not to you.”

“I hate to break up this moment, but we need to figure a way out of here,” Rhys interrupted. “So what is the plan?”

“We call someone,” I said, happy for the reprieve from thinking about how much Matt must hate me.

“What do you mean call someone? Do you have your cell phone?” Rhys asked excitedly.

“No, I mean, summon someone. The way Matt did before.” I pointed to the door behind me. “Knock on the
door,
say we’re hungry or cold or dead or whatever. When they come, I can use my persuasion on them to get them to let us out.”

“You think that will really work?” Matt asked, but the disbelief had dropped from his voice. He was only asking our opinion now.

“Maybe.”
I looked at Rhys. “But I have a favor to ask. Can I practice on you?”

“Sure,” Rhys shrugged, trusting me immediately.
 

“What do you mean ‘practice?’” Matt asked with a concerned edge.

He moved a bit closer to Rhys, and I realized with some surprise that he finally believed Rhys was his brother. He wanted to protect Rhys from me. I felt some relief and happiness knowing that he’d started accepting him, but it hurt a little – okay,
a lot
– to know that Matt thought of me as a threat.

“I haven’t done it very much.” I didn’t like the way Matt scrutinized me, so I paced the room, as if it could alleviate his gaze somehow. “And it’s been awhile since I’ve done it all.”

That last part wasn’t entirely true since I’d just used it on Rhys the day before, but I didn’t want him reacting the way Matt did. This whole process would go a lot easier the less people hated me.

“So what do you want to do?” Matt asked.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, unsure of what exactly I planned to do. “But I just need to practice. It’s the only way I can get stronger.”

Despite Matt’s obvious reservations, Rhys went along with it. It felt very odd to have someone witnessing persuasion, especially someone clearly against it, but I had no choice. I couldn’t send Matt into the next room or something.

Matt watched me intently, and I could see him out of the corner of my eye. It was distracting, but that was probably better practice for me. I doubt I could get one of the Vittra to step aside to a quiet place so I could try to use a bit of mind control on the guard.

I decided to start simple. Rhys and I were standing, facing each other, so I started repeating in my head,
Sit down. I want you to sit down.

His blue eyes met mine evenly at first,
then
something foggy passed over them. His face seemed to slack, and his expression went completely blank. Without any acknowledgment, he sat down on the floor.

“Is he okay?” Matt asked, growing nervous.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Rhys sounded like he’d just woken up. He looked up at me, his eyes dazed. “So, are you
gonna
do it or what?”

“I already did it.” I had never talked to anybody after using persuasion on them, and it felt strange to be open about it.

“What are you talking about?” Rhys’s brow furrowed, and he looked between Matt and me, trying to understand.

“You sat on the floor,” Matt attempted to explain.

“Why did you sit down?” I asked.

“I…” His face scrunched up in concentration. “I don’t know. I just… I sat down.” He shook his head and looked up at me. “You did that?”

“Yeah.
You didn’t feel anything or sense anything?” I asked.

I had never known if what I did hurt people. They never complained of pain or anything, but maybe they couldn’t. Not if they didn’t understand what was happening.

“No. I didn’t even…” He shook his head again, unable to articulate what he meant. “I expected there to be a blackout or something.
But…
I knew that I was sitting. It was more like a reflex. Like, I breathe all the time, but I don’t think about it. This was the same.”

“Hmm.”
I looked at him thoughtfully. “Stand up.”

“What?” Rhys asked.

“Stand up,” I repeated. He stared up at me for a second,
then
looked around. His eyes hardened and his eyebrows pinched up.

“What’s going on?” Matt asked, moving closer to us.

“I… I can’t stand up.”

“Do you need me to help you up?” Matt offered.

“No. It’s not like that.” Rhys shook his head. “I mean, you could pull me up. You’re stronger than me, and I’m not physically pinned to the floor. I just… forgot how?”

“Weird.” I watched him with fascination.

Once before, I made Matt get out of my room, and it’d been awhile before he’d been able to go in there. But he had been able to this morning, so it meant my persuasion did eventually wear off.

“Weird?” Matt scoffed. “Wendy, fix him!”

“He’s not broken,” I said defensively, but Matt glared at me in a way that made me want to crawl under a rock. I crouched down in front of Rhys. “Rhys, look at me.”