A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 1

"Stop it," I said, but the words came out in a strangled gasp as they began herding me toward the line of the trees, toward the darkness. I pushed and thrashed against them; they only hissed. One of them shoved me and I staggered, falling out of their grasp. The ground welled up beneath me, and I reached for my knives, but sturdy hands grasped me under the shoulders before I could draw them or hit the grass.

They were strong hands - warm and broad. Not at all like the prodding, bony fingers of the three faeries who went utterly still as whoever caught me gently set me upright.

"There you are. I've been looking for you," said a deep, sensual male voice I'd never heard. But I kept my eyes on the three faeries, bracing myself for flight as the male behind me stepped to my side and slipped a casual arm around my shoulders.

A sudden cord awakened in my bones stretching through me like I'd never felt before.

The three lesser faeries paled, their dark eyes wide.

"Thank you for finding her for me," my savior said to them, smooth and polished. His voice slowly burned at that cord pulling all the pieces of me together and coiled in my chest. "Enjoy the Rite." There was enough of a bite beneath his last words that the faeries stiffened. Without further comment, they scuttled back to the bonfires.

I stepped out of the shelter of my savior's arm and turned to thank him.

Standing before me was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen and that coil snapped into place, a new creature born within me pulling me to him.

Everything about the stranger radiated sensual grace and ease. High Fae, no doubt. His short black hair gleamed like a raven's feathers, offsetting his pale skin and blue eyes so deep they were violet, even in the firelight. They twinkled with amusement as he beheld me.

For a moment, we said nothing. That cord was burning in my chest and thank you didn't seem to cover what he'd done for me, but something about the way he stood with absolute stillness, the night seeming to press in closer around him, made me hesitate to speak - made me want to run in the other direction.

And yet that cord whispered to press in closer to him.

He, too, wasn't wearing a mask. From another court, then.

A half smile played on his lips. "What's a mortal woman doing here on Fire Night?" His voice was a lover's purr that sent shivers through me, caressing every muscle and bone and nerve. Caressing the cord.

And just like that it dawned on me.

I'd always dismissed the legends as frivolous in comparison to the stories of bloodshed and carnage of the war and the deadliness of the Fae. Romance wasn't exactly something that had piked my interest at the time and yet I'd never forgotten. Elain loved the idea of it. Of the mating bond. My sister retold our mother's stories countless times, hope glowing in her eyes for a love that could even begin to compare to the all consuming, burning bond of Fae mates. Every story had described it the same way: there was a pull and then, like invincible twine, a bond would snap within each person binding them with an unparalleled connection. An infinite, immortal connection.

I was not Fae. I was not immortal. How could this be?

But already I felt the comfort of the pull in my chest reaching across the darkness to this terrifyingly beautiful male.

The drumming was increasing in tempo, building to a climax I didn't understand. It had been so long since I'd seen a bare face that looked even vaguely human. His clothes - all black, all finely made - were cut close enough to his body that I could see how magnificent he was. As if he'd been molded from the night itself.