Torn by Amanda Hocking Read Free Book Online

met Sara,” I said, attempting some kind of a protest.
    I looked apprehensively at the door, but Loki took another step back. I sighed, deciding that talking to higher ups would probably be the only way I could barter Matt and Rhys’s release. Even if I couldn’t ensure my own.  
    “How did you know?” I asked as I fell into step with him.
    He walked next to me down the hall as we passed several more doors like the one on my cell. I didn’t hear much of anything or see any other hobgoblins standing guard, but I wondered how many other prisoners were here.
    “Know what?”
    “That I was… you know, trying to persuade you,” I said. “If it wasn’t working, how did you know?”
    “Because you’re powerful,” Loki reiterated and gestured to his head. “It’s like a static. I could feel you trying to push your way inside my head.” He shrugged. “You’ll feel it, too, if anyone tries it on you. I’m not sure if it’d work, though.”
    “So it doesn’t work on Trylle or Vittra?” I asked, doubting he would give me a straight answer. I wondered why he was telling me anything.
    “No, it does. And if you were doing it well, I wouldn’t have felt anything at all,” Loki explained. “But we’re harder to control than mänks. If you do a sloppy job of digging around in our heads, we’ll feel it.”
    We reached concrete steps, and Loki bounded up them, barely waiting for me. He showed no concern for me escaping, and he divulged more information than he had to. As far as I could tell, Loki was a really terrible guard. Ludlow should’ve had more authority over him.
    He pushed through the massive doors at the top of the stairs, and we stepped out into a grand hall. Not a hallway kind of hall, but hall as in a large room with vaulted ceilings. The walls were a dark wood with red accents, and an ornate red rug lay on the center of the floor.
    It had the same kind of opulence that the palace in Förening had, but the tones were all deeper and richer. It felt more like a luxurious castle.
    “This is really nice,” I said, not hiding the surprise and awe in my voice.
    “Yes, of course it is. It’s the King’s home.” Loki looked at me, bemused by how stupefied I appeared. “What else would you expect?”
    “I don’t know. After the downstairs, I assumed something creepier and dirtier.” I shrugged. “You didn’t have electricity down there.”
    “It’s for dramatic effect.” Loki gestured widely. “It’s a dungeon.” He walked on down a corridor leading away, decorated the same as the hall, and I followed him.
    “What would happen if I tried to escape?” I asked.
    I didn’t see anyone else. If I outran Loki, I could probably get away. Not that I knew where to go, and I still wouldn’t be able to free Matt and Rhys.
    “I would stop you,” he replied simply.
    “The same way Kyra did at my house?” A pain flared up in my rib, as if reminding me of the damage she caused.
    “No.” Something dark flickered across his face for a second. He quickly erased it and smiled at me. “I would simply take you in my arms and hold you there until you swooned.”
    “It sounds romantic when you say it that way.” I wrinkled my nose, remembering how he’d made me pass out by staring into my eyes. It hadn’t been painful, but it hadn’t exactly been pleasant either.
    “It is when I envision it.”
    “That’s a little twisted,” I said, but he shrugged in response. “Why did you kidnap me and take me here?”
    “I fear you have too many questions for me, Princess,” Loki said, almost tiredly. “You’d do better saving them all for Sara. She’s the one with the answers.”
    We walked the rest of the way there without saying anything. He led me down the hall, up a flight of stairs carpeted in something red and velvet, and down another hall before stopping at ornate wooden double doors. Vines, fairies, and trolls were carved into the doors, depicting a fantasy scene in the same vein as Hans