CHAPTER 621: THREAT TO THE PRINCESS

Hannah sprinted across the open courtyard and ducked behind the stone deck beneath a lion statue, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest.

She crouched low, gasping for air, eyes roving around in fear.

Coming here was a mistake.

She had tried to infiltrate the palace to find Violet, but it was impossible. The place was massive with endless halls, twisting corridors, and strange turns that led her nowhere. The eerie part was that there were barely any guards. Not even one. No palace this grand could ever be this unprotected. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

And she was too exposed.

Hannah pulled out her compact mirror and whispered, "Soror vocat te."

But nothing happened. The surface stayed smooth and still, only her pale reflection staring back.

Her pulse quickened, and she checked the back of the mirror to be sure it was the right one. It was. So why wasn’t it responding?

Come to think of it, she hasn’t felt the hot itch beneath her skin. It was unlike Hannah not to have contacted her for this while. It couldn’t be.....

The blood drained from Hannah’s face, not just because it dawned on her that by crossing the Fae realm, the magic in this place must have canceled out Ziva’s powers, but because the statue of the lion was staring at her.

Cold sweat broke down her spine. She could have sworn it was facing forward when she arrived. Maybe her mind was playing tricks. Maybe....

The lion’s eyes glowed red.

At first, she thought it was a ruby catching the light, but when that glow blinked with awareness, Hannah’s stomach twisted.

"Shit!" she hissed, spinning on her heels.

The statue’s stone skin cracked, shedding its marble shell as the massive beast shook free. Its mane gleamed white and spectral, and with a thunderous growl, the once-still lion came to life and lunged after her.

Hannah ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the ground shaking under the thunderous steps of the beast behind her. The lion was hunting her.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she yelled between ragged breaths, sprinting through the clear path. The creature’s growl rolled through the air like thunder, and was terrifyingly close. She could almost feel its breath on her back.

Had she known this was how things would turn out, she would have never stepped foot in this cursed place.

Desperate, Hannah yanked at the necklace Ziva had given her. Her only chance now was to turn invisible. So she pressed it, and urgently whispered the charm under her breath. And just as she feared, nothing happened.

The lion kept coming.

Then, as if the ground itself had turned against her, a thick vine shot up and wrapped around her ankle, tripping her flat. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and before she could scramble to her feet, the enormous creature was already upon her.

Hannah squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the end.

The lion roared a sound so powerful it rattled her bones and her whole body trembled. Hannah swore her soul almost fled her body from the sheer force of it.

"That’s enough, Taryn." calmly said a voice from behind.

That voice gave Hannah the courage to crack one eye open, terrified of what she might see.

Hannah saw her, the young Fae called Lila.

Well, "young" was relative. Everyone knew Fae lived long lives and wore youth like a disguise. Still, she recognized Violet’s old roommate from the human realm, the same one who’d opened the portal that brought her here to the Fae realm.

Lila stood over her with a wicked glint in her eye. "You didn’t actually think a human, or rather, a hybrid, would pass through our gates unnoticed, did you?" She eyed Hannah from head to toe. "Still, I have to give credit where it’s due. You made it farther than I expected."

Hannah sighed in resignation. She was doomed.

A sudden flash of light made her flinch, and she turned just in time to see the lion vanish, and was replaced by possibly the most striking man she’d ever seen.

What caught her attention first was his long, silky silver hair that spilled past his shoulders all the way down to his waist. How could a man have this much hair?

Well, he wasn’t exactly a man.

Then her gaze moved to his pointed ears, each one adorned with delicate loops of earrings.

It was startling to realize the Fae had their own shifters too, and this one was sinfully handsome, even though his icy blue eyes raked over her with clear distaste.

He was tall, lean, all smooth strength and sculpted muscle. She could feel the dominant, commanding aura radiating from him.

Hannah hadn’t meant to, but her gaze slipped lower and settled on the very obvious length resting between his legs. Her breath hitched, heat crawling up her neck.

He knew. Saints, he knew she peeked at him.

A deep, guttural roar tore from his chest — not the sound of a man, but a beast — and Hannah flinched, snapping her eyes away. It felt as though she’d offended him just by looking.

Yet that didn’t stop the warmth pooling in her stomach, that strange, unwanted spark she couldn’t explain. How twisted was it that she was checking out a naked male while being hunted in enemy territory?

Lila’s voice cut through the tension. "You’ve been following us this whole time? What’s your mission?"

Hannah tried to sit up, but the Fae shifter growled low in warning.

She rolled her eyes. "You expect me to talk from the ground?" She pushed herself up anyway. "I’ll only answer to Violet. She’s the one I came for. Arrange a meeting."

Lila chuckled darkly. "You have the nerve to demand after breaking into the Fae realm? How bold." Her tone dropped cold. "No need to talk. We’ll find our own way to take what we need."

She lifted her chin. "Taryn, take her to the cells. She’s a threat to the princess, and it will be investigated."

"Yes, my lady," Taryn replied curtly.

Before Hannah could protest, the silver-haired Fae grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet.

"Easy!" she hissed.

But his response was to bare his teeth, flashing dangerously sharp canines right in her face. That was a threat. He’d eat her alive if she so much as pushed him.

Yep. Whatever odd attraction Hannah had felt for the buck-naked lion shifter vanished on the spot.

Right now, she was in a perilous situation, and the only person who could save her was Violet.