Asylum

The fae are real. I just pretend they’re not.

— Riley Thorne

Asylum is the first part of Riley and Nine’s story (the complete series is also available as a box set). For six years, Riley has been held captive by the fae at Black Pine Facility for Wayward Juveniles — but when a brooding Dark Fae helps her escape, she’ll be drawn into a quest to discover the truth about her mysterious abilities and magical identity…

Get your copy of Asylum at the following retailers. As a KU title, it is exclusive to Amazon:

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Amazon CA
• Amazon AU

Excerpt:

“What are you staring at?”

Because he is staring. And, okay, there are probably a hundred other things I could have said to acknowledge him—something like, “Who the hell are you, stranger in my bedroom,” since I’m not about to admit I remember him—but his stare is bothering me.

“It’s been a long time,” he says in answer. Long time? No shit. “You look different.”

I do? Well, so does he.

“What are you doing here?” I demand.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me.”

Nine’s voice is soft, lyrical, alluring. Just like the golden fae. But it’s harsh too, like it used to be. It always made me think he was mad at me. Whenever it softened, I felt like I won a prize.

The harsh edge grates against the last of my nerves. “How can I forget you?” I demand. “There’s no you to forget. Anyway, I made you up when I was a kid. You shouldn’t be here!”

I can’t believe what I’m seeing. For years I believed in him—trusted him, loved him—and then he was gone. For years, I’ve been lectured, coached, medicated, and convinced that he never existed. And, yet, here he is. My imaginary friend, almost exactly as he was back then, standing a few feet away from me.

I wonder, if I yell loud enough, will the sound carry through the wall? Probably not. I could bang on the door, hope that one of the overnight nurses is passing by. Would they help me? Or only sedate me again?

I don’t scream. Just in case. I don’t scream.

But I whisper. “No. No. You… know what? You’re not real. You’re not. You’re a hallucination, that’s all. You shouldn’t be here. I took my pills.”

“I assure you, I’m as real as you are.” He hesitates before extending his arm. His skin is so pale, it seems to glow in the moonlight. “Touch me and prove it to yourself.”

A hysterical laugh bubbles up and out of my throat. “Ha! If you really were Nine, you’d tell me not to touch you at all.”

He smiles. The simple quirk of his lush lips has my stomach tied up in knots. Nine’s grin is even worse than Dr. Gillespie’s—but for totally different reasons.

“Ah,” he says softly, “so you do remember.”

Suddenly, I’m twelve again, smiling adoringly up at Nine, preening because his voice has gentled. No, no. No. I’m older now and, if not wiser, then definitely wary. I’ve only got two weeks until I’m twenty-one and I can put this all behind me.

I push away, scoot back, slamming my head, my neck, my back against the wall behind me. I slip my hands out from under my ass, clutching the hem of my blanket, yanking it so that it covers me to my belly button. I’m wearing my Black Pine tee to sleep like I always do and the bared skin on my arms has me wishing I had the will to get up and get my hoodie.

I can’t, though. I’m still stunned, frozen in my bed.

Nine is waiting for me to say something.

So I do.

“What are you doing here?”

The smile fades. His expression goes stony, his silver eyes dimming noticeably. “You were supposed to be safe. No one should have been able to track you here, but… it’s time, Shadow. They found you. She knows where you are.”

They.

The fae.

I’ve spent almost twenty years waiting for them to find me. Last night, the golden fae male followed me into my dream.

At least, I thought it was a dream.

Wasn’t it?

Shadow… god, I haven’t heard that name in so long. I missed it. I didn’t even realize how much I did until Nine threw it out there like that, another way to remind me that—whether or not I’ve made him up—we have a history together. Shadow. Because he only came at night, because he stayed to the shadows himself, it made me feel so precious that he cared enough to give me a name that reminded me of him.

Even though I’ve been Riley Thorne since my first foster family, I used to love being Nine’s Shadow.

Right now, though? I would gladly never hear that name again if it meant that he hadn’t just said that the fae have found me. My whole life, the fae have always been my very own personal bogeymen. For reasons I’ve never been told—because Nine always insisted I was too young to learn them—the fae have been hunting me for years. At least, that’s what I let myself believe.

Because, you know, this isn’t real.

I cling to that certainty. What else can I do?

Nine has an answer for that. “Come on. Get up. We have to go. You have to leave with me.”

Leave? Doesn’t he see the bars on my window? “What? No. I can’t.”

“But you can.” His silver eyes flash hypnotically. “I’ll show you. Now give me your hand.”

I almost do, too. There’s something about the way he said that, so simple, so insistent… I have my right glove halfway off before I realize what I am about to do.

I shake my head, clearing it. Angrily, I yank my glove back on. “Don’t do that!”

“Do what?” he asks.

“You know what! You’re trying to trick me.”

“I’m trying to save you. It’s all I’ve ever done. It’s all I can do.”

He’s not real, he’s not real…

The chanting inside my head doesn’t help. Nine’s still standing there.