"How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you," he replied, grabbing me by the arm and hauling me toward a door I hadn't noticed before.

"Let me go!" I shrieked, clawing at his hand. It was all I could do since he was dragging me, and I grinned with satisfaction when large chunks of his skin peeled off under my nails.

"I've had worse," the male said, giving the blood dripping down his knuckles a lazy glance before he punched in a code on a keypad.

The door beeped and opened. A long, narrow tunnel extended before us, and panic surged through me. What was it they had taught us in self defense class? Never let yourself be taken to a second location? I imagined it applied to Fae kidnappers as easily as human ones.

The fact he had gotten the upper hand so easily infuriated me. I might as well have been human for all the fight I put up. If only I'd had more training or had any kind of magic to fight back.

But if only's weren't going to save me. Desperate and unable to come up with anything else, I became dead weight, dropping to my ass with a jarring thud that brought tears to my eyes. My assailant grunted and pitched sideways at the sudden shift in his balance. Before he could right himself, I spun around and swiped my leg behind his.

Forced to release me or risk smashing his face into a cinderblock wall, he pulled his hand away, and I scrambled to my feet. His bulky frame blocked the way out, which left me with no choice but to go down the hall. I didn't like the idea of running deeper into the unknown creepy tunnel, but going down the hall as a captive was the only alternative.

"Shit," I growled as the male pushed off the ground. Without another look at him, I turned on my heel and bolted into the darkness.

"Luna!" His roar echoed off the walls. A grin split my face as the sound of his footsteps faded. The bastard may be stronger, but I was faster.

The tunnel curved multiple times, but there were no turns. Cinderblocks gave way to earth, and the air grew heavy and moist. If I didn't know any better, I might have believed I'd found my way back to Faerie, because this certainly didn't feel like a place that should exist in the human realm.

Mud squished under my boots as I slowed to take a sharper than normal curve. That was the only reason I had enough time to throw my hands over my face as I barreled through a thicket of thorns and roses.

Sharp spines tore through my sweater and skin. My head snapped back as my braid tangled in a branch, but I kept moving forward, ignoring the pain and fighting through the obstacles until, at last, I stumbled into a clearing.

I gaped at the sight before me. Towering pines circled the emerald green grass, so thick and lush it felt like springs beneath my feet. Flowers in every color poked through the long green stems, and right through the center, a bright blue stream ran.

Behind me, my father's office and the city's concrete skyline had vanished. Replaced by more trees and sky that stretched as far as I could see, which was pretty damn far considering. It should have taken miles to get so far away from the city that you couldn't see skyscrapers, but I hadn't been running that long. Had I? Was it some sort of magic? Jones said magic would be harder in the human realm, not impossible. What purpose could such a place serve? Especially for someone as gruff as my would-be kidnapper.

The reminder that someone was after me spurred me into action. Only it was too late. I had no more than turned before fingers curled around my upper arm in a steel like vise.

"How did you get so damn fast, kid?" He huffed as he glared at me through a curtain of greasy hair.

"Quit talking like you know me."

"But I do know you."

"I don't know you."

"Ah."

He shocked me by releasing me and taking a step back. Pointer finger and thumb rubbing his chin, he seemed to be thinking hard about something. At last, he snapped his fingers, and in an instant, his entire appearance changed.

"Uncle Luke?"

I swayed on my feet. Gone was the tall, feral looking male, and in his place was the average, unassuming form of my father's oldest friend, Luke Lawson. He'd been a staple in my life until my father passed three years ago, and then, after the funeral, he had disappeared. Not a card or text or call...Vanished.

"H-how...w-who are you?" I stammered, pointing my finger at him.

Uncle Luke's eyes, always red from allergies, peered back at me with amusement. "Glamour is a powerful tool."

"But you can't glamour humans because of the Vow."

"Well now," not Uncle Luke murmured, rubbing his chin again in a way that was very Uncle Luke-like. "You're not entirely human, are you?"

Ignoring his question, I pressed, "And you shouldn't be here. The Vow keeps Fae in their realm. None of this is possible...unless you've taken me back to Faerie."

Hope surged in my chest. If I was in Faerie, I could get back to Calix, but...no. The tether between us remained weak and fuzzy.

"All that is true," he replied, rocking back on his heels and smirking. "But I'm not bound by the Vow because I was in the human realm when it was made."

"You're trapped here?" I had never considered what might have happened to any Fae that were on this side when the Vow closed the portals between the realms.

"I am, and you're going to get us back home."

I whipped my head around and scanned the clearing. "Us? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?"

My attempt to be funny fell flat because of the slight wobble in my words. There was a strong chance I might win in a fight against Luke, even as untrained and powerless as I was because of my lineage. One on one was where I drew the line unless I suddenly developed the ability to spit fire or draw lightning from the skies like my mate.

Luke, now returned to his more frightening Fae visage, bent forward and pointed at a small dirt path winding through the trees. "Through there."

"Mm, maybe not."

He huffed, grabbed my shoulders, and pushed me forward. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth together when I dug my heels in.

"We're not going to hurt you."

"The way you grabbed me earlier leads me to disagree."

"Yeah, I guess I should apologize for that." He pushed until I tripped forward. "Your scent surprised me, and it brought out a bit of the old feral Fae in me."

"Ew," I grumbled, reluctantly stepping forward on my own. There really was no better choice at the moment.

"Ew?"

The thick grass swallowed the sound of Luke's footsteps as he followed behind me, but deprived of sound and sight, I would have still known he was there from the way my skin itched between my shoulder blades.

"I don't know how you ended up making the Change, but I guarantee nothing about you really thinks ew when you smell someone you want to fuck."

"Stop right there." A branch scraped across my face, and I batted it out of the way as I turned to look over my shoulder. "I can handle a lot of weird shit, but I can't handle a guy who used to bounce me on his knee telling me he wants to fuck me."

Luke sucked on his teeth and nodded. "Guess I can see how that comes across. Been around the humans long enough. Does it make it better that I didn't feel that way when I bounced you on my knee?"

We resumed our walk. "No."

Laughing, he said, "Good. I mean, it's true. I didn't want you then, but you need to understand it's only my respect for your father that doesn't have me pushing you to your knees and mounting you."

A cold shiver went through me. The way he talked shouldn't surprise me after the things I'd witnessed in Faerie. Calix warned me in the beginning, after all. Fae liked nothing better than fucking, and if every atom of my being didn't belong to Calix, I realized I might very well take him on his offer.

"You'd do that even if I didn't want you?" It had to be asked. His answer would reveal a lot about the kind of male he was.

In a heartbeat, Luke had me pressed against a tree. His fangs grazed his bottom lip as he looked me over. They were longer and sharper than Calix's, and this close, I could see the slight elongation of his pupils. What kind of Fae was he?

"I would never take a woman who didn't want to be taken."

"Good, now that's settled," I said, pushing against him. "Let me go."

"But make no mistake, you would want it."

His fingers danced over my collarbone, brushing against the spot Calix liked to kiss. The spot he would sink his teeth into, timing the bite with a hard thrust of his hips. Every time I would come undone.

Luke never saw me coming. A mist settled over my vision, and I shoved him so hard he flew into the tree across from us. Wood splinters flew through the air, and the ground rumbled when the shattered trunk landed.

Before the Fae could get up, I was on top of him. Straddling him and pinning him to the ground with my thighs as I leaned over and sank my nails into the flesh around his trachea. The threat was obvious. One wrong move, and he would drown in his own blood. I could tell the idea excited him.

"Make no mistake," I hissed, pushing until red bubbled out of his skin. "If you ever think of trying such a thing, you will die. Either by my hand or my mate's."

The light in his eyes vanished. Replaced by horror. I grinned as I stood, relishing the way he scrambled backward to put more distance between us.

"Why the fuck didn't you say you were mated in the first place?"

"Did you ever give me the chance?"

"I should've smelled it on you..." He grumbled. Blood smeared across his throat as he rubbed the wounds I'd created. "I hate this place. It dulls everything. Messes with our magic."

Feeling the slightest bit sorry for him, I let my smile wither and sighed. I needed to figure out who my mother was and get home to Calix, but maybe these Fae could help me. Especially if I could help them in return.

"Well, then let's see what we can do about getting you back to Faerie."

Luke jumped up, and this time he kept a respectful distance between us as we walked. The sun was setting, setting the woods ablaze with an amber glow, and up ahead, I could see a cluster of warmly lit cottages.

"I guess we know who he belongs to now."

He spoke in such a low tone, I couldn't be sure if he was talking to himself or to me. Either way, my curiosity peaked.

"Who?"

His pointed ears twitched, and he swallowed hard. I guess that meant he hadn't intended or me to hear that, but I held his gaze until he looked away with a muttered curse.

"The male we found."

"What male?" My heart hammered in my chest.

"He showed up yesterday. Disoriented. We didn't recognize him, but that isn't entirely unheard of. Over the years, many trapped Fae have come to our little enclave here, but not all of them. None with his power, though."

"What male?" I shrieked.

"A Summer Fae from the smell of him," Luke snarled. "He was raving about getting back to his mate, but he couldn't recall his own fucking name. Or hers. We did what we had to. That level of crazy draws attention we can't afford."

"What did you do?"

My mouth dried out, and my tongue felt too big for it. I would have felt it if something had happened, right? Calix was part of me. But Luke said being here dulled the magic.

Reluctantly, Luke spit out the answer. "What we do with all Fae who go completely feral. We put them down."