Asylum (Touched by the Fae Book 1), page 16
The lights flash, the air torn apart by the keening sounds of the siren as he flips it on.
I take off like a shot.
If it were any other street in Acorn Falls, he’d have had me. We’re still on the main street, Oak Tree Road, so the advantage is mine. It’s how it’s set up. This part of the town is like a little village inside of a bigger city. Shops are built on top of shops, the wide glass windows open and inviting. Very few side streets veer off of Oak Tree, just little breaks in the road to allow people to access the back.
People, not cars.
What are my odds? I didn’t get that great of a peek at the cop, but he seemed like a big guy. His hair was thinning and I’m pretty sure I saw some grey; he’s older.
Come on, Riley. Think!
Would he be willing to get out of his car and chase me on foot?
I’m gonna find out.
I dart down the first opening I find, letting out a frustrated grunt when I come face to face with a five-foot-high, chainlink fence complete with a thick, metal padlock. I know why it’s here. It’s supposed to keep cars from trying to squeeze in between the shops to get to the alleyway behind it.
I can’t let it stop me.
Jeez. I haven’t done anything like this since I was fifteen. Sticking my battered, bruised, and bleeding bare foot into one of the holes in the fence, I grimace as the twisted iron bites into my instep before doing the same thing with the other one. I grit my teeth and climb.
Once I get to the top, I toss my body over the side. In my panic, I don’t shimmy down the fence the same way I went up it. Forgetting that I’m high up in the air, I hop the fence and land hard on the asphalt below me.
I don’t hear a snap or a crack when I hit, but my right ankles gives, then both of my knees buckle. I don’t collapse in a heap or anything, but I barely stay standing. A sharp, shooting pain screams up and down my right leg before it immediately turns dull.
I hope like hell I haven’t broken anything. It’ll definitely make my reckless running away a bit more difficult if I have.
Shuddering out a breath, my brain whirs with a hundred different possibilities. What am I supposed to do?
I hear the sirens whine. They’re getting closer. I might’ve been able to outrun him at first—and I was right, he didn’t get out of his cop car—but this is his beat. He knows this town way better than I do. I haven’t been back since I was fifteen and, even then, I only lived here for two years.
It doesn’t matter if he stays on the other side of the fence. The air echoes with the sound of another siren. The alley I’m trapped in is open on this side. For all I know, he’s sent out a call for help and he’s got his buddy from the radio coming for me.
This alley is wider than the narrow path that led to the fence. It’s designed for delivery trucks to reach the back doors of the businesses that line up along Oak Tree Road. If another cop car spots me, it’ll have no problem reaching me.
But not if I’m not here for them to find.
There’s a manhole a couple of feet away from the shadow of the fence. Luckily for me, the lid’s not sitting where it should. Maybe the town was doing work recently on this side street and they forget to reset it. Doesn’t matter. It’s my only hope.
I hobble toward it, sizing up the gap. There’s probably enough space for me to slip inside of it if I really try. And it’s not like the cop chasing me will ever expect me to do that.
No one in their right mind would choose to go into a sewer.
Despite my stay at Black Pine, I’m not crazy. I’m not broken, either.
What I am is desperate.
The Fae Queen wants me dead. Rys wants me for his mate.
Nine wants to repay his stupid debt.
What do I want?
I don’t know, but getting picked up by the Acorn Falls PD isn’t high up there on my list. So down the manhole I go.
It’s a tight fit. Tighter than when I forced my way inside of the Richardsons’ mausoleum. But I want this more, and my leg hurts even worse than my tender feet. I can’t run. My only choice is to hide.
I make it work.
There’s a rusted ladder right inside of the entrance to the manhole. Going backward, I feel blindly with my left foot until I find it. It’s slimy and cold, and I hate the idea of putting my foot on the pitted piece of metal.
I do it anyway.
Unlike the mausoleum, the sewer smells exactly the way I thought it would. Once I’m all the way inside of the dark, dank hole, I hang onto the ladder with one arm so I can pull my hoodie up and over my nose. It doesn’t help. I swallow roughly, fighting back a gag. It’s a good thing I haven’t had a thing to eat since last night’s stew. I feel like I’m about to hurl.
Or maybe that’s because I’m so damn afraid that the cop is going to find me. I don’t even know for sure that he recognized me as Riley Thorne, the missing girl from the news. He might’ve gotten a good look at me and figured rightly that I was in deep shit.
Of course, now he’s got to know that I’m not innocent.
Innocent people don’t run from the cops.
My queasy stomach lurches when I hear the sirens approaching. They grow louder and louder, then suddenly die. The hum of an engine not too far away replaces it. The slam of a car door. Jingling keys, and the heavy steps of an overweight police officer.
A loud huff.
I close my eyes and will my heart to slow down. It’s racing so fast, beating so loud, I almost expect him to follow the thud and the thump to my hiding place. My fingers sting from clutching the ladder rung in front of me so tightly. I’m pressed up against the structure, leaning on my good leg.
This is it. Any second now he’s going to realize that there’s nowhere else I could go...
The crackle of his police radio cuts through the tension. I just about stop breathing. My pulse pounds. I can’t understand the muttering and hiss that follows the crackle. It’s too indistinct to make out from inside of the manhole.
The officer has no problem. He responds with a low growl that carries. “No. No sign of her on this side.” A sound like ringing bells. I think he just kicked the fence. “She had to have run out on your end.”
Some more static.
“Yeah. No shoes on, like I said. Black sweatshirt. Jeans. Leather gloves, too. Looks just like the picture they sent over last week.”
The other cop says something else. I wish I could hear it.
“Look, I’ll meet you over on Elm. She’s fled Oak Tree on foot so that’s our best chance. We can fan out, hit downtown again.” Another burst of static, then, “Yeah. Copy that. I’m on my way.”
His keys jingle a little faster as he moves away. The cop pounds the pavement back, his steps fading the further he gets from the fence. A minute later, the sudden roar of the engine causes the ladder to tremble. I don’t pry my gloves from my tight hold until the only thing I can hear is the soft tinkling of the water trickling far beneath me.
Gritting my teeth, I start to climb down. I’ve got no choice. If the cops are up here looking for me, then I’m going down until I can get my head on straight and figure out just what I should do next.
The ladder goes all the way to the bottom. There’s a ledge down here, overlooking a groove in the sewer. It looks like it was built to hold a small river or something but, thank God, there’s nothing more than a trickle of a foul-smelling liquid.
Great. Looks like I found the source of the stink.
I don’t get too close, moving as far away from it as I can until my back is against the slimy brick wall. Then, because there’s nowhere else to go—and I’m beginning to ache all over—I sit on the edge of a puddle of something thick and oily. When the sliver of light from up above hits it, I see a rainbow. It’s a spot of something beautiful in this terrible place. I almost have to laugh.
At least I’m safe. For now, I might be alone, but I’m safe.
I don’t plan on staying down here long. Just long enough to catch my breath, maybe, and to give my sore leg some rest. Sooner or later, I’m going to have to think about food—my anxiety makes me lose my appetite, but I’m already feeling weaker than I usually do. And I’m not about to sleep in a sewer.
I have to draw the line somewhere.
I keep my eyes squinted until I get used to the darkness surrounding me. I can’t see much more than what’s in front of me. The sliver of light is enough for me to be sure that I’m alone. No rats. No alligators. No—
The light sparks. It goes from a weak stream to a blinding flash. I shriek and throw my hands up as if that’s going to save my poor retinas.
Out of nowhere, I hear a thunk and a slapping noise from right next to me. The splash of that dirty, oily water as it sprays up and dots my bare leg is chilly and uncomfortable. My eyes sting, but they fly open anyway. I blink rapidly, trying to get my sight back, then swallow my terrified squeal when I see what it was that caused the splash.
There, lying on its side in the puddle as if it’s been tossed at me, is the slipper I lost in the mausoleum.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Asylum!
This series is one that’s close to my heart. I wrote the first draft of what would eventually be one part of Favor (the series prequel available now) and Asylum back in 2013 a shortly after a close family member was inside of a facility fairly similar to Black Pine.
I came up with the idea of Riley, a poor girl who fell in with the fae, and who ended up in a facility because no one believed her. Of course, as you see in this first book, she was right—the fae are real, and they’re coming for her.
Good thing she has Nine to help her navigate through this strange new world she’s forced to face. Well, if she lets him, that is.
This is the first book in Riley’s story. Now that she’s out of the asylum, the adventure is only just beginning. Don’t forget to turn the page and check out the next book’s cover and blurb, as well as a sneak peek at Shadow!
xoxo,
Jessica
Shadow
Sneak peek at the second book
He tsks. “Riley. Do take care of yourself.”
If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think he gave a shit about me.
I glare over at him. It’s hard, since he’s so bright and the sewer is dark, and I can barely make out the self-satisfied smile tugging on his pouty lips, but I refuse to let him think I’m happy to see him.
“How did you do that?” I demand.
“Do what, my love?”
The denial is immediate. “I’m not your love.”
“Mmm. Yet, perhaps.” His golden eyes glow so vividly, I have to squint to keep from being further blinded myself. “What did you mean? Do what?”
I wave my hands, gesturing at the space in front of him before shielding my gaze again. “You weren’t here. You weren’t. And then, all of a sudden, you were right next to me. How the hell did you do that?”
“I could tell you, even teach you the same skill, but…”
“Yeah?”
Rys shrugs. “It would cost you.”
It would. And I can’t afford his price. “No, thanks.”
“A trade, then?” His voice gentles, like it’s an off-handed suggestion. His expression gives him away, though. In that moment, I could ask for anything and he would give it to me. That kind of power is heady, even if I don’t want anything to do with the Light Fae. “I know I’ll have to earn another touch. I understand the game. But what about a barter?”
That’s probably worse. A fae can’t lie, I know that much, however the Faerie races are so tricky, he could be telling me the absolute truth—and still be manipulating me.
Like now. Even though I like to think I know better, I can’t stop myself from saying, “I don’t have anything you want. And a touch is off the table. No way am I letting you get any closer to me.”
“Fair enough. As for your end, why don’t you let me decide whether you have something that suits me. So, is it a deal? Do you we have an accord?”
He’s gotta be kidding, right? “No.”
Rys laughs.
The sound sends shivers coursing through me.
“Do you know?” he says cheerfully. “You’re the first soul in more than a century who has said no to me—and now you’ve done it repeatedly. It’s so… so refreshing. Ah, Riley. And you wonder why I love you so and desire you as my ffrindau.”
Forget shivers. My blood runs cold. No way I’ve forgotten what that fancy foreign word means. Soul mate. Madelaine’s killer is still insisting that I’m supposed to be his bride or something like that.
That’s why he keeps running after me. Chasing behind me. Not because the Fae Queen is making him, but because he’s convinced that me—a human orphan on the run from the asylum—and him—an ageless mythical creature with powers I can’t understand—are somehow meant to be.
Yeah, no.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
I pull myself up off the nasty sewer floor, backing into the dark shadows so that I’m almost hidden. Rys sees me. The way his unearthly beautiful face follows my every move, it’s impossible to really hide, but I feel better being cloaked in the darkness.
And, okay, maybe knowing the ladder is right by my hand makes me feel a little better. I’ve got no shot at beating him up the ladder. I learned long ago that the golden fae is as fast as he is vicious and cruel.
I have to remember that.
My hand closes on the rung nearest to me. “How did you know where to find me?”
“It was obvious. You’re the Shadow.”
I’m so sick and tired of the two fae telling me that. I don’t want to be this Shadow person, and I’m still not too sure exactly what they expect of me except that I’m “destined” to off the Fae Queen.
Somehow, I don’t think that that’s what Rys is talking about right now.
“What do you mean?”
“The mausoleum. This”—he wrinkles his perfect, perfect nose—“sewer. The pockets call to you. You instinctively search them out. It was only a matter of following them to you. And here I am.”
I still don’t get it. “What’s a pocket?”
He waves his hand toward me, toward the darker side of the sewer. I mean, the whole thing’s pretty dark. It’s a pit down here. But as he gestures a little further to my right, I suddenly see… something.
It’s a patch that seems impossibly black, like a spot of starless night that no light can reach.
That’s just at a quick glance, though. The longer I stare at the patch, the more it seems to change. It sparkles. Shimmers. Gleams.
Invites.
I edge closer to it. I don’t even realize that I’ve moved until my glove slips off of the rung when I get too far away from the ladder.
“That’s right. I’m sure you won’t mind if I stay over here. The pockets belong to the Cursed Ones.” Rys turns sharply, spitting behind him. “They make shadow travel between the worlds possible for the Dark Fae and only belong to the night. For one of my kind, they’re almost as bad as iron.”
That… actually makes sense to me.
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Shadow (Touched by the Fae #2)
The fae are after me all because I’m the Shadow. But what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Black Pine Facility for Wayward Juveniles. The asylum. I always thought it was a place for broken kids like me and it is, I guess. But that's not all it is.
It's also a place where the fae put troublesome humans to forget about them.
After I was blamed for my sister's death, I was trapped inside for more than six years. My doctors—my captors—told me that I'd be free on my next birthday. In a couple of weeks, I would walk out of Black Pine forever. I believed them, too.
The fae can't lie, but that doesn't mean they tell the truth. On my twenty-first birthday, I would be leaving the asylum... only because the Fae Queen has decided it's time I was finally brought to Faerie to face her.
Yeah. That’s, uh, that’s gonna be a hard pass.
You see, I spent the last six years pretending that the fae don't exist. That all changes when a Dark Fae helps me break out of the asylum. Nine. The Shadow Man who was my loyal guardian and only friend when I was a little girl. Now that he’s back in my life for the first time in years, he swears he only wants to help me.
Right.
Just like the Light Fae Rys swears he only wants to love me, even after the Fae Queen sent him to hunt me down in the name of stupid prophecy.
Now that I'm out of the asylum, my only goal is to escape the fae chasing me. Even Nine. Especially Nine. And that’s way harder than I thought it would be. He’s… he’s different than the Shadow Man I remember from my childhood. The cold, emotionless fae is showing me a whole new side to him—and this sexy, devoted fae is helping me discover exactly who I am inside, and who I’m meant to be.
Abandonment issues, right? I have them in spades. So while I’m trying to escape the fae, I’m also trying to outrun my growing feelings for Nine.
The prophecy says that the Shadow is destined to form a bond with a Dark Fae in order to take down the Fae Queen. If I'm supposed to be the Shadow, is Nine the Dark Fae?
One thing for sure: I'm not about to stick around and find out.
**Shadow is the second book in a planned trilogy featuring a wary & independent half-fae heroine, the Dark Fae who has shadowed her her entire life, and her quest to learn about who she really is and why the powerful Fae Queen wants her dead.
Coming December 13, 2019
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