Adeline's POV
The bucket slipped from my hands and crashed to the stable floor.
Water splashed everywhere, soaking my jeans and boots. I didn't care. My heart was pounding too hard to care about wet clothes.
Because I'd just heard Marcus's voice outside.
"She's here somewhere. I can smell her."
No. No, no, no.
I pressed myself against the wooden wall of the horse stall, trying to breathe quietly. Trying not to panic.
But panic was winning.
I'd been so careful. Two whole years of being careful. Two years of hiding in this tiny town where nobody asked questions. Two years of looking over my shoulder every single day.
And he'd found me anyway.
"Check the stables," another voice said. Deeper. Rougher. "Boss says she likes working with horses."
My hands started shaking. I shoved them into my pockets to make them stop.
The stable where I worked was old and dusty. Just five stalls for the rich family's horses that nobody rode anymore. I'd been alone all evening, cleaning up while everyone else celebrated Christmas Eve in town.
I hated Christmas. Hated the lights and the carols and the fake cheerfulness. Christmas was when Marcus got the worst. When he drank too much, his fists got meaner.
That's why I always volunteered to work on Christmas Eve. Easier to avoid the holiday if I stay busy. Stayed alone.
Except now I wasn't alone anymore.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel outside. Getting closer.
I looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. But where? The stalls were open. The tack room had a window. There was nowhere to go that they wouldn't find me.
Think, Addie. Think!
The back door. There was a back door that led to the woods.
I started moving toward it, staying low and quiet. My boots made soft sounds on the hay-covered floor. Too loud. Everything was too loud.
"Adeline!" Marcus's voice called out. He wasn't even trying to hide anymore. "I know you're in there, baby. Come on out. Let's talk."
Baby. He always called me that. It was sweet. Like it meant love.
It didn't mean love. It meant ownership.
I reached the back door and grabbed the handle. Please don't be locked. Please, please, please
It turned.
I yanked the door open, and cold December air hit my face. Snow was falling, soft and quiet. The woods behind the stable looked dark and uninviting.
But dark and uninviting was better than Marcus.
I stepped outside and
"There she is!"
I ran.
My boots pounded against the snow-covered ground. My breath came out in white puffs. The cold burned my lungs, but I didn't slow down.
Behind me, I heard shouts. Multiple voices. How many people had he brought?
"Don't let her reach the trees!" Marcus yelled.
I pushed myself harder. Faster. My legs screamed at me to stop, but I couldn't. Wouldn't.
The tree line was right there. Just a few more feet.
Something grabbed my jacket from behind.
I screamed and twisted away, leaving my jacket in someone's hands. The cold bit through my thin sweater, but I didn't care.
Keep running. Just keep running.
I crashed into the woods, branches scratching my face and arms. It was darker here. Harder to see. I stumbled over roots and rocks but somehow stayed on my feet.
"She went into the forest! After her!"
My chest was on fire. My legs felt like rubber. I couldn't keep this up much longer.
That's when I saw the light.
Up ahead, through the trees, there was a clearing. And in the clearing stood the most beautiful horse I'd ever seen.
It was huge. Midnight black with a coat that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. Someone had tied it to a tree near the edge of the woods.
What was a horse doing out here on Christmas Eve?
I didn't have time to wonder. Footsteps were crashing through the woods behind me. Getting closer.
The horse was my only chance.
I burst out of the trees and ran straight for it. The animal's ears pricked forward. Its dark eyes watched me approach.
"Easy," I gasped, even though I was the one who needed calming down. "Easy, boy. I'm sorry about this."
My fingers fumbled with the knot tying the horse to the tree. Whoever owned this animal had tied it well. The rope wouldn't budge.
"I see her!" Marcus's voice was way too close now. "She's by the horse!"
No time. No time for the knot.
I grabbed the horse's mane, thick and strong, and jumped. My horse-training experience kicked in automatically. I swung myself up onto the animal's bare back in one smooth motion.
The horse snorted with surprise, but didn't buck me off.
"Good boy," I whispered, gathering the rope that still dangled from its halter. "Good, good boy. Now we really need to run."
I squeezed my legs against the horse's sides.
The animal didn't need any more encouragement. It launched forward like it had been shot from a cannon.
I'd ridden plenty of horses in my life. Fast horses. Strong horses. Expensive show horses that cost more than cars.
But I'd never ridden anything like this.
This horse moved like liquid lightning. Its hooves barely seemed to touch the ground. Wind whipped my hair back, and tears streamed from my eyes.
We flew past trees so fast they became a blur. The cold air screamed in my ears.
Behind us, I heard Marcus shouting. Cursing. But his voice was getting fainter. Farther away.
We were escaping.
Relief flooded through me so strongly I almost cried.
But then I noticed something strange.
The woods around us were changing. The normal pine trees were being replaced by massive oaks with twisted branches. Mist rose from the ground, glowing silver in the moonlight.
And the horse wasn't slowing down. If anything, it was running faster.
"Whoa," I said, pulling gently on the rope. "Easy now. We're safe. You can slow down."
The horse ignored me.
"Hey!" I pulled harder. "I said slow down!"
Nothing. The horse just kept running deeper into the woods.
Fear started replacing my relief. These weren't the woods behind the stable anymore. I didn't recognize anything around us.
Where were we?
The mist got thicker. Strange lights flickered between the trees, blue and green and purple. The air felt wrong. Electric somehow.
"Please," I begged the horse. "Please stop. I don't know where we are."
The horse's ears swiveled back as it heard me. But it didn't stop.
Then I saw the trees up ahead start to glow.
Not the lights between them. The actual trees. Their bark lit up with silver symbols that pulsed like heartbeats.
What was happening?
The symbols got brighter as we passed. The air crackled with energy that made my skin tingle and my hair stand on end.
Something was very, very wrong.
"Stop!" I shouted, genuinely scared now. "You have to stop!"
The horse finally slowed. But not because I'd asked.
Because we'd arrived somewhere.
Through the mist and the glowing trees, I saw massive walls. Stone and steel rising up into the night sky. Towers with lights that shone like stars. Gates that looked like they belonged in a fantasy movie.
A fortress. An actual fortress. In the middle of the woods.
Guards appeared on the walls. Lots of them. They shouted things I couldn't understand and pointed weapons at me.
The horse stopped in front of the gates. I sat frozen on its back, too shocked to move.
What had I just ridden into?
The massive gates started to open with a sound like thunder.
And through those gates walked a man.
He was tall. Really tall. With broad shoulders and dark hair that had silver streaks running through it. His eyes, even from this distance, I could see them burned with cold fury.
He walked toward us with slow, deliberate steps. Like a predator who knew his prey couldn't escape.
The guards followed behind him, weapons still raised.
I wanted to run. Wanted to kick the horse and race back into the woods.
But my body wouldn't move. I just sat there, frozen, as the man got closer and closer.
When he finally stood right beside the horse, he looked up at me.
His eyes were gray. Storm-cloud gray. And they were filled with the kind of anger that made Marcus's rage look like a child's tantrum.
"Who," he said in a voice that made the ground vibrate, "dares to steal my horse?"
His horse. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
I opened my mouth to explain. To apologize. To beg for mercy.
But before I could say anything, he reached up and grabbed my wrist to pull me down.
The second his skin touched mine, the world exploded.
Light burst behind my eyes. Pain and pleasure and something else, something huge and overwhelming, slammed through my body.
I heard him gasp. Saw his eyes go wide with shock.
The guards started shouting. The horse reared up.
And I fell.
The last thing I saw before I hit the ground was the man's face above me, transformed from anger into something that looked like horror.
Then everything went black.