Switched (29 page)

But if he did… well, that’s just an added bonus, isn’t it?

Torn Excerpt

Read an excerpt from the second book in the Trylle Trilogy –
Torn
– available now!

Finn Holmes stepped into my room with one graceful move, as if entering through bedrooms windows was nothing out of the ordinary.

His black hair was slicked back, but he had stubble growing along his jaw, making him look even sexier. His eyes were so dark they were nearly black, and he cast one discerning glare at Rhys before settling them on me, making my heart forget to beat entirely.

 Finn Holmes had snuck into my room.       

H still managed to stun me the same way he always did. I was so happy to see him that I almost forget how angry I was with him.

The last time I had seen Finn, he was slinking out of my bedroom in Förening, per his deal with my mother. Elora told him that he could spend one more night with me before leaving. Forever.

We had only kissed, but Finn had failed to let me in on Elora’s plan. He didn’t even bother to say goodbye. He didn’t fight it or try to get me to run away with him. He just crept out of my room, leaving Elora to explain to me exactly what had happened.

“What are you doing here?” Rhys asked, and Finn pulled his eyes off me to glare at Rhys.

“I came to collect the Princess, of course.” Finn struggled to keep his expressions and his voice emotionless, but irritation saturated his words.

“Well, yeah, but… I thought Elora reassigned you.” Rhys was thrown by Finn’s anger, and he fumbled for a minute. “I mean… that’s what people were saying around Förening, that you weren’t allowed around Wendy anymore.”

 Finn tensed noticeably at Rhys’s words, his jaw flexing, and Rhys looked down at the floor.

“I’m not,” Finn admitted once he had calmed down enough to speak. “I was preparing to leave when I heard that you two had vanished in the middle of the night. Elora was deciding who would be best suited to track Wendy, but I thought it would be in her best interest if I went after her, what with the Vittra
stalking
her.”

Rhys opened his mouth to protest but Finn stopped him.

“We all know you did a wonderful job of protecting her at the ball,” Finn said. “If I hadn’t shown up, you might’ve protected her right into getting murdered.”

“I know the Vittra are a threat!” Rhys shot back, sounding perplexed.       

Hearing his confusion, I got up off the bed, moving to intercede. Rhys agreed with Finn about the Vittra, which is why he couldn’t figure out why exactly he’d let me talk him into coming here.

The truth was, Rhys didn’t agree to come here. He wanted to meet Matt, but he was adamant about my safety and had flat out refused to let me leave the security of the compound.

Unfortunately for Rhys, I had
persuasion
. When I looked at people and thought about what I wanted them to do, they would do it, whether they really wanted to or not.

That’s how I convinced Rhys to take me with him when we ran away, and I needed to say something before Rhys caught on to what I’d done.

“The Vittra lost a lot of trackers in that fight,” I interjected. “They’re not eager to repeat it any time soon. Besides that, I’m sure they’re sick of trying to get me.”

“That’s highly unlikely.” Finn narrowed his eyes, studying Rhys’s bewilderment, and then he looked darkly at me. He’d figured out how I had convinced Rhys to leave. “Wendy, do you care nothing for your own safety?”

“I probably care more than you do.” I crossed my arms firmly over my chest. “You were leaving to go onto another job. If I had waited one more day to leave, you wouldn’t have known I was gone.”

“Is this about getting
my
attention?” Finn snapped. His eyes burned, and I had never seen his anger directed at me this way before. “I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to you! You
are a Princess! I mean nothing! You need to forget about me!”

“What’s going on?” That was Matt, shouting from the stairs.

He’d heard us arguing. If he came up here and caught Finn in my room that would be very, very bad.

“I’ll go… create a diversion.” Rhys glanced at me to make sure that was okay, and I nodded. He darted out the door, saying things to Matt about how awesome the house was, and their voices faced as they went downstairs.

I tucked my curls behind my ears and refused to look at Finn. It was hard to believe that the last time I had been with him, he had been kissing me so passionately, I could barely breathe. I remembered the way his scruff scraped against my cheeks and the way his lips pressed against mine.

I suddenly hated him for that memory, and I hated that all I could think about how was badly I wanted to kiss him again.

“Wendy, you are not safe here,” Finn insisted quietly.

“I’m not going with you.”

“You cannot stay here. I won’t allow it.”

“You won’t allow it?” I scoffed. “I am the Princess, remember? Who are you to
allow
me to do anything? You’re not even my tracker anymore. You’re some guy being a creepy stalker.”

That sounded much harsher than I meant it. Not that anything I said ever really seemed to hurt Finn. He just stared at me, his gaze level and unfazed.

“I knew I would find you faster than anyone. If you don’t come home with me, that’s fine,” Finn said. “Another tracker will be here shortly, and you can go with him. I’ll just wait with you until he arrives to ensure your safety.”

“It’s not about you, Finn!” I snapped at him. He played a larger part than I would ever admit to him, but it really wasn’t just him. I hated my mother, my title, my house, everything. I wasn’t meant to be a Princess. “I’m not going with anyone!”

Finn looked at me for a long moment, trying to understand where this was coming from. I had to fight the urge to squirm as he scrutinized me. His eyes flashed darkly for a second, and his expression hardened.

“Is this about the mänsklig?” Finn asked, referring to Rhys. “I thought I told you to stay away from him.”

 Mänsklig were the human children taken in exchanged for Trylle babies. They were the lowest on the hierarchy of Trylle, and if a Princess was caught seeing one, they’d both be banished forever. Not that even I cared, but I didn’t have any feelings for Rhys that weren’t purely platonic.

“It has nothing to do with Rhys. I just thought he’d like to see his family.” I shrugged. “It has to be better than living in that stupid house with Elora.”

“Good. He can stay here then.” Finn nodded. “Matt and Rhys are taken care of. Now you can come home.”

“That is not my home.
This
is my home!” I gestured widely to my room. “I’m not going, Finn.”

“You are not safe.” He took a step closer to me, knowing the effect his presence had on me. He lowered his voice and stared into my eyes. “You saw what the Vittra did in Förening. They sent an army out to get you, Wendy.” He put his hands on my arms, strong and warm on my skin. “They will not stop until they have you.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t they stop?” I asked. “There’s got to be Trylle out there that are easier to get than me. And so what if I’m a Princess? If I don’t come back, Elora can replace me. I’m meaningless.”

“You are far more powerful than you know.”

“What does that even mean?” I demanded.

Before he could answer, there was a noise on the roof outside my window. Finn grabbed my arm and threw open my closet door, shoving me inside. As a rule, I don’t enjoy being tossed into closets and having the door shut on my face, but I knew he was protecting me.

I opened the door a crack, so I could watch what happened and intervene if necessary. Even as mad as I was at Finn, I would never let him get hurt over me. Not again.

Finn stood a few feet from window. His eyes blazed and his shoulders tensed, but when the figure climbed in through the window, Finn only scoffed.

The kid coming in tripped on the windowsill. He wore skinny jeans and purple shoes with the laces untied. Finn towered over him, looking down at him wearily.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” He flipped his bangs out of his eyes and pulled down his jacket. It was zipped all the way up, and the bottom met the top of his jeans. When he bent over or moved, it rode up.

“Getting the Princess. They sent you after her?” Finn arched an eyebrow. “Elora really thought you’d be able to bring her back?”

“Hey, I’m a good tracker! I’ve brought in way more people than you have!”

“That’s because you’re seven years older than me,” Finn replied. That made the clumsy kid twenty-seven. He looked much younger than that.

“Whatever. Elora picked me. Deal with it.” The kid shook his head. “What? Are you jealous or something?”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“So where is the Princess anyway?” He looked around my room. “She ran away for
this
?”

“This is my room!” I walked out of the closet, and the new tracker jumped. “You don’t need to be condescending.”

“Um, sorry,” he stumbled, blushing. “My apologies, Princess.” He offered me an unsure smile and did a low bow. “I’m Duncan Janssen, and I’m at your service.”

“I’m not the Princess anymore, and I’m not going with you,” I said. “I just finished explaining that to Finn.”

“What?” Duncan looked at uncertainly at Finn as he readjusted his jacket again. Finn sat down on the edge of my bed and said nothing. “Princess, you have to come. It’s not safe for you here.”

“I don’t care.” I shrugged. “I’d rather take my chances out here.”

“It can’t be that bad at the palace.” Duncan was the first person I had ever heard genuinely call Elora’s house a palace, even though it sort of was one. “You are the Princess. You have everything.”

“I’m not going. You can tell Elora that you tried your best, and I refused.”

Duncan once again looked to Finn for help. He shrugged at Duncan, and Finn’s shift to indifference startled me. I had put my foot down on the subject, but I hadn’t really expected him to listen. He seemed to truly believe that I was in danger, even though I didn’t.

“She can’t possibly stay here!” Duncan moved on to reasoning with Finn.

“You think I don’t agree with you?” Finn raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t think you’re helping,” Duncan qualified. He fidgeted with his jacket and continued to try to stare down Finn, a task I knew was impossible.

“What do you expect me to say to her that I haven’t already said?” Finn asked, sounding surprisingly helpless.

“So you’re saying we leave her here?” Duncan asked dubiously.

“I am right here. I don’t really appreciate the way you keep referring to me like I’m not,” I said.

“If she wants to stay here, then she’ll stay here,” Finn ignored me. Duncan shifted and glanced over at me. “We’re not going to kidnap her. That leaves little in the way of options.”              

“Can’t you like…” Duncan lowered his voice and fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. “… you know,
convince
her somehow?”

Word of Finn’s affection for me must have spread through the compound. Aggravated, I refused to let my feelings for him be used against me.

“Nothing is going to convince me,” I snapped sourly.

“Do you see?” Finn motioned towards me. Sighing, he got to his feet. “We should be on our way then.”

“Really?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice

“Yeah. Really?” Duncan echoed.

“You said there was nothing I can do to convince you? Has that changed?” Finn turned to me. His voice was hopeful, but his eyes were almost taunting. I shook my head firmly. “Then there is nothing left to say.”

“Finn-” Duncan started to protest, but Finn held his hand up to him.

“It is as the Princess wishes.”

Duncan looked skeptically at Finn, probably thinking that this was some sort of trick, much as I was. There had to be something I wasn’t getting because Finn wouldn’t just leave me here. Sure, that’s exactly what he had done a few days ago, but that’s because leaving then was what he thought was best for me.

“But Finn-” Duncan tried again, but Finn waved him off.

“We must go. Her ‘brother’ will notice us soon,” Finn said.

I glanced at my closed bedroom door, as if Matt would be lurking right there. The last time Matt and Finn had a run in it had not gone well, and I was not eager to repeat the experience.

“Fine, but…” Duncan trailed off, realizing too late that he had nothing to threaten either of us with. He gave me another quick bow. “Princess. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

“We’ll see,” I shrugged.

Duncan climbed out my bedroom window, practically falling onto the roof. Finn went behind him, helping Duncan through the window so he wouldn’t accidentally kill himself.

  After Duncan was out, he half-jumped half-fell off the roof. Finn watched him apprehensively for a moment, holding my curtain open, but he didn’t follow after immediately.

Instead, he straightened up, looking over at me. My anger and resolution were fading. Part of me believed that Finn wouldn’t really leave things this way.

“Once I’m out this window, lock it behind me,” Finn commanded. “Make sure all the doors are locked, and never go anywhere alone. Never go any place at night, and if at all possible, always take Matt
and
Rhys with you.” He looked past me for a moment, thinking of something.

“Although neither of them are really good for much of anything…” His muttering trailed off and his dark eyes rested on mine once again. His expression was imploring, and he raised his hand as if he meant to touch my face, but he lowered it again. “You
must
be careful.”

“Okay,” I promised him.

With Finn standing right in front of me, I could feel the warmth of his body and smell his cologne. His eyes were locked on mine, and I remembered the way it felt when he tangled his fingers in my hair and held me so close to him, I couldn’t breathe.

He was so strong and controlled. In the brief moments he allowed himself to let go of his passion with me, it was the most wonderfully suffocating feeling I’d ever had.

I did not want him to leave, and he did not want to leave. But we had both made choices we were unwilling to change. He nodded once more, breaking eye contact, and then turned and slid out the window.