We start down the dirt road once more. My feet hurt worse from blisters and my pace is much slower.

The Shadow Knight doesn't complain. The awkwardness between us is charged with emotion and attraction, not to mention apprehension about what happens in two and a half days.

At long last, moonlight reveals the steep walls of his hold, visible up a winding dirt road that runs along the cliff. Only the wall is visible from our angle, but it's enough to show me how large the seat of his kingdom is. The imposing wall stretches from the cliff for over a mile inland.

A large party on horseback emerges from the fortress and barrels down the road, stopping as they reach us. A man with the head of a Jackal dismounts and drops into a low bow before the Shadow Knight.

"M'lord. We were sorry to hear of the death of your second. I am his brother, here to replace him."

Wolfie's dead? I had no idea. A glance at the Shadow Knight's face is enough to tell me this is a big deal. His jaw is clenched, his eyes gray gems. His sadness in the tower makes sense to me now. I have to imagine he and his second were close, since he told the master-at-arms his secret.

"Your steed, and one for the witch." Jackal says, motioning someone to bring two horses forward.

"The witch rides with me," the Shadow Knight says firmly.

I curse him silently but don't say anything, my mind taken over by another question I hadn't thought to ask. On the roof of the Red Knight's, my little squire had been prepared to die for me.

Had he?

I can't stomach the idea.

"Brown Sun Lake is marching upon our lands. The Desert Knight has tricked us, crept behind our armies," Jackie-the-Jackal continues, urgency in his tone. "His armies are at the edge of the forest."

The Shadow Knight mutters foul curses, all business once more, his battle energy back after a rather peaceful day walking. He slings himself onto the horse. Bending down to grab me, he gives me a warning look as I push at his arm.

"I can ride my own horse," I object.

"On the battlefield, I command." He cups his hand behind my neck to bring my face closer to his. Gray overtakes his eyes.

Don't think of the kiss. It's too late. My eyes go to his full lips, and I recall what it was like having him on top of me and his mouth pressed to mine. Any truce I thought I had with my body is instantly gone, boiled alive under his intensity.

"Do you understand?" he whispers.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

He releases my neck before wrapping an arm around my waist and hefting me before him. I shiver as our bodies meet. Each touch is getting harder to ignore.

The horses head away from the castle, following a dirt road leading along the foothills of the mountains.

"The answer to your question from earlier is nay," he says for my ears only.

"What question?" I reply.

"This is your home, Naia. I will do everything in my power to show you that." His hand slides to my lower belly, and he presses me more firmly against his hips. "You belong to Black Moon Draw. You belong to me."

"So we're back to that," I manage somehow to keep my tone even. My pulse races and I'm overly aware of his strength and heat, the width of the hand on my belly, the way he nudges my head aside with his chin. "Did you forget our deal already?"

He says nothing.

The men around us move away, spacing out as we ride along the foothills towards a break in the mountains.

"Naia," the Shadow Knight's voice is almost too quiet for me to hear. "My master-at-arms did not have a brother."

My eyes go to Jackie, who leads the procession, followed by other men whose faces are conveniently hidden by their animal heads. "Then who are they?" I ask, uneasiness trickling through me.

"I imagine Brown Sun Lake warriors. The Desert Knight is a wily enemy."

"Do you have a plan?" I ask.

"Do not leave my side. I fear he speaks the truth about the armies of Brown Sun Lake being at the other end of the pass."

He has no weapons, yet I feel safer in his arms than I ever have in my cave at home. "That's why you're making me ride with you."

"You are mine. You would ride with me either way."

I roll my eyes. I kinda like the possessiveness of the alpha knight. It sends a thrill through me to be wanted. A glance at my hand reveals another note from LF.

Post-Fire Swamp scene.

I dwell on the reference, recalling one of my favorite movies of all time, The Princess Bride.

"They're after me," I murmur. "And you're in great danger."

"I imagine they will try to kill me."

"Yes." I twist to glance up at him. "That doesn't bother you?"

"I said try." He meets my gaze, the flecks of color barely visible in the moonlight. His strong features are like stone, unreadable and shadowed. He cups my cheek in one hand briefly in a sign of reassurance before his attention shifts to the head of the column. "I can fight forty men without a sword."

"I know you like fighting." I face forward. My cheek tingles where his fingers grazed it and I resist the urge to touch the sensitive spot. LF wants me to go with the bad guys. There must be something I need to know or learn. "But did you ever stop to think there are other ways to get what you want aside from brute force?"

"Nay."

At least he's honest. "You could turn me over to them, escape, and bring back the army."

"Nay." This time, it's a growl.

"They want my magic, right? I can use it against them, or if it won't work again, I can string them along."

"If you failed to do as the Desert Knight bid you, he will torture and murder you."

"There's that. But . . ." I seek some rationale that might make him understand.

"But . . ." he prods.

"But . . . I'm not pure," I whisper. "And the warrior queen Naia had her magic after she . . . you know. Bonded with her Shadow Knight. They can't risk hurting me, if they want me to use my magic, and if they do, they're in for a nasty surprise."

"I wish 'twas so. The warrior queen held many secrets known only to my bloodline," he says in the same hushed tone. "No one knew she retained her magic but the Desert Knight and the Shadow Knight. They were brothers who inherited parts of their father's kingdom. Both had a claim to the battle-witch, but she loved Black Moon Draw over Brown Sun Lake. The Desert Knight of long ago slaughtered his brother and the warrior queen then placed one of his two sons as the Knight of Black Moon Draw. Thus the first Shadow Knight of this era became my ancestor."

"Brothers," I repeat. "Both in love with the battle-witch."

"Aye. 'Tis why the original blood feud ran so deep. I do not know how much the current Desert Knight of Brown Sun Lake knows of the warrior queen and her secrets, but I must assume the knowledge was passed to him as it was me."

"Which makes him a lot more dangerous to me than any other Knight."

"Aye. You will not face him alone."

"We may not have a choice. Did you think of that?"

"'Tis not an option," he replies sharply.

"Look, you can defeat these people without me, and I can't die. I don't exactly want to be tortured, but if it gives you a "

"Nay." There's a lethal note in his tone this time, one I'm pretty sure I shouldn't protest. "I will do naught to see you killed."

I can't die. I start to point that out once more when it hits me. "You aren't the only one who knows how to kill me, are you?"

"I am not."

"It's how the Desert Knight a thousand years ago killed the warrior queen."

"A secret passed through both families, I am fairly certain."

Now that freaks me out. It's one thing to be stuck in a book and invincible and quite another to know I can die here.

I've been swiping my fingers over his forearm as we talked, and I notice the bumps breaking up his smooth skin. There's a long, angry looking cut along his arm, as if the troll got one good swipe in before he beheaded it. The wound is crusted over, the skin around it red with agitation. It's not infected that I can see, though there's a dab of blood near his elbow, a sign he did something to disturb the delicate layer of skin holding the edges of the wound together.

Tracing my fingers over the injury, I frown. His blood is real. The pain this wound caused truly exists as well.

At what point did I start to believe that this world and its inhabitants weren't just characters in a book? When did I start to care what happened to them?

Why does the long cut along his arm disturb me so much? This man can die and suffer and hurt the same way I can. The same hands capable of hurling an axe to halve a tree have also touched me with complete tenderness.

"Where's my squire?" I ask, afraid to know the answer.

"Red Knight's dungeon."

"Thank god. He's a good kid. He means well, even if he can't lift that sword of his."

"He will learn."

"You really want me to stay?" I venture. "Because you want to exploit my battle-witchiness?"

"'Tis needed to break the curse."

"Yeah," I agree, somewhat disappointed about the response. "It is." Not that I don't understand where he's coming from. I really do. Sometimes when he looks at me, though, I can't help hoping there's something else between us, as far-fetched as it seems. Someone interested in me.

Is it wrong to want my own fairy tale happily-ever-after ending? I mean, this is a book.

I think. I'm not even certain if that's true anymore. If this world exists, then is every book world real? Are the characters alive and living out their experiences, even after I put the book down?

I'm too tired to return to this line of thought. I rest my head on his shoulder.

There can't be anything between us anyway. He's got a woman and a kingdom. While he may want me to stay, I can't see myself becoming a peasant or servant or worse his mistress. He's okay with that, but I'm not.

Soon after we enter the pass between mountains, our abductors lose their black cloaks and animal heads, revealing the faces of the Brown Sun Lake warriors and their cloaks. We enter a narrow pass cutting through the mountains.

I huddle against the Shadow Knight for warmth. No one speaks to us. A glance at my hand in the dim moonlight reveals the same message, and I play that scene from the movie over and over in my head.

Apparently, I have to take another dive for the Shadow Knight. Though maybe if we spend some time apart, we'll both realize there's nothing between us, not even basic physical attraction.

"I fear you have crossed into madness," he murmurs.

"It can't happen. I belong to a different world. You have a woman."

"Aye, 'tis complicated."

I wait for more. Typical man. Thinks with his dick. I've had my fill of jerks.

"Have you tested your magic?" His tension is back.

The medallion is cool and smooth beneath my fingertips. "I don't know how to turn it on. Aside from throwing you off a building or something."

"Or kissing you."

"Pretty sure it was the danger," I say curtly. "We aren't doing that again anyway."

The horses in front of us draw to a halt, and I see the forms of another group of riders joining us. Two of them speak too quietly for us to hear, and I grip the medallion, willing the spark of electricity to emerge.

The two start down the column, towards us.

The Shadow Knight tightens his grip around me, his body going tense. The two are soon within speaking range but not close enough for the uber-athletic Shadow Knight to launch off the horse and collar them.

"We can do this one of two ways, Shadow," one says. He motions to someone behind us, and horse hooves approach from my right side.

I lean over and spot the archer on horseback.

Shit. My pulse quickens and I shift in the Shadow Knight's grip. A glance at my hand reveals the same message scrolling across it. Voluntarily going with the enemy, one who knows how to kill me? The Shadow Knight can protect me at least. If I leave him, aren't we both at risk?

Or am I at risk, and he'll have a shot to escape to his army and save the world?

My hands grow clammy and fear rips through me.

This world is real, and so is the chance I die for real this time. But I have to do something before they shoot him full of arrows. The original chapters I read on Wattpad are in my thoughts, reminding me that the Shadow Knight is supposed to be mortally wounded before the end of this book.

"You can release the witch to us, or we can shoot you full of arrows and take her when you're dead."

"Arrows," the Shadow Knight says without hesitation.