Kissing Danger ✔️

45

Word Count: 1635

~Aven

I don't even have time to blink before Stace has his hand wrapped around my wrist and the world disappears from around us.

And then my feet touch the ground, and I'm in a completely unfamiliar woof cabin.

"What..." I breathe, whirling around in a circle to observe the space. "What did you do."

I'm at the window in a moment, looking out. It's night out wherever we are, and by the look's of it, it's raining heavily, and we are in some kind of forest, making it clear that a single step outside I will likely get lost and won't ever be able to find my way back. And most importantly, wherever we are, it's very far from that women, who claimed she is my mother.

"I got you out of there," he explains, shrugging his jacket off, wandering over to the dead fire. I stare blankly at him, confused, and wondering why he is acting as though he didn't potentially ruin everything.

"Why?" I demand.

"That woman, she's dangerous," he explains, tossing some wood onto the fire from the basket beside it.

"You know her?" I'm almost too stunned to even speak. I stalk toward Stace, watching him light the fire, clearly familiar with this place, whereas I couldn't even say which Territory this is meant to be in. "Is she actually my mother?"

"I believe so. I know of her more than I know her," Stace shrugs, sitting back to admire the beginning flames. "I had no idea she could get access to that prison."

I'm pacing at this point, fingers threaded through my hair as I try to make sense of everything.

"And she's dangerous? I thought she was dead."

"She may as well have been. She was meant to be buried in some dungeon in Territory Thirteen, although it seems I was wrong," he muses, thoughtful. I want to grab his shoulders and shake him, demand he tell me everything all at once and stop hesitating.

"Who put her there?" I demand.

Stace stands swiftly, looking down. "Me..."

I approach him slowly, resting my hands on either of his shoulders, a silent warning that I may be prepared to sear him through his clothes with a palm full of magic if he doesn't cooperate. "Stace, you have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know, and I will. I just had to get you out of there," he explains softly, brushing his knuckles down my cheek in such a sweet gesture, all the anger and frustration washes out of me in an instance.

My arms drop. "Where are we?"

"Territory Ten."

"Are we in a rainforest?" I ask tentatively, glancing back to where the rain continues to pour, the sound of it on the roof sending a chill through me, even with the fire.

"Yes, this is an awfully lush Territory, and equally hard to navigate without magic," he explains, shivering. I don't dare ask what kind of civilisation, if any, exists here, and how they manage in a place in such desperate need of magic to be used. "No one will expect I brought you here."

"And what about Eryk?" I question. Stace left him at Avilia's, which now, seems like the best decision, although I can only imagine how furious he would be knowing what we have gotten up to without him around.

"He will manage himself."

I chew on my fingernail, unsure of what to do with myself. "Is that really my mother?"

"Your birth mother, yes, but she was hardly a mother," Stace says solemnly. My heart sinks. In minutes, I've found out that my birth mother is still alive, but is clearly dangerous enough for Stace to feel the need get me as far away from her as possible. I don't even feel surprised, considering my luck with family.