A Court of Night and Shadows

Chapter 2

When I'd killed the wolf in the woods, I'd expected the predator to snarl and fight me for his life, maybe even kill me. His eyes had bore into my mind, those depthless, knowing eyes that watched me as he died in the snow that day. Now I could admit there was a part of me that knew that beast had been a faerie and yet I did not care. Not back then. Not when the survival of my father and sisters weighed on my shoulders. Not when the shackles of my mother's promise were bound around my ankles to protect them all. Not when fae were nothing more than monsters, a danger to myself and my family.

But then when my ash arrow pierced his hide and that wolf's eyes landed on mine, I didn't see a beast, rather a weary being accepting of his fate gifted to him by the Cauldron. A reluctant martyr.

I could relate to the sacrifice.

The predator that stalked toward me now was nothing like that wolf in the forest. Tamlin's long hair looked like gold melting down his chest in the light of the bonfire. Invisible forces tore through the space around him prickling my skin even from the distance. He looked like the monsters described in the stories from five hundred years ago. Vicious faerie soldiers that destroyed and pillaged, murdering humans in ways my mind had never been strong enough to imagine. In this moment, Tamlin's face had twisted into this wicked Hunter, even with the jewelled mask still cursed onto his face. He looked like an ancient warrior ready to tear the heart out of my chest.

Though maybe it wasn't my heart he was currently imagining within his fist. The chest behind me was as still as mine while I held my breath. Our bond was taut and I felt the tension reverberate through me to the beat of his heart. We were still at the edge of the thinner trees as Tamlin continued his slow approach. His eyes were looking past me, slicing into the male behind me.

The audience of faeries had grown since Lucien had taken me back to the Spring Court. They stood as a mass behind Tamlin in silence, mesmerized.

A deep rumble grew through the sounds of the crackling fire and just as I realized it was coming from Tamlin he was suddenly in front of me. I bit back the bile in my throat. Chills surged down my body as I felt my blood drain into hiding. I tried to step back but there was hard muscle behind me, covering me with his presence. I was encased between the two males. Trapped.

"I claim this woman," Tamlin snarled. "She is mine."

I felt a chuckle against my back but the bond didn't loosen its tension. "Well it seems I got here first, didn't I?"

Tamlin lifted his head and roared an animalistic roar that I would never have believed came from the lips of a man. "How dare you interrupt my ceremony with your petty games. You are not necessary here, whore. I'm sure your services are needed back at home."

They glowered at each other drenching me in their potent magic, the stench filling my nose until my head felt weightless.

"Even I'm allowed to have a little fun," he said, dragging a hand gently down my arm. Tamlin bristled. "I mean, I'm a High Lord too aren't I? Do I not get to participate in my own Rite tonight?"

The colors began fading around me tunneling into the darkness of the stained blood on Tamlin's chest. I couldn't look away. My knees buckled as I fell, but unseen hands held me up. I leaned back against the unnamed High Lord.

My mate.

"Let her go," Tamlin spat.

The hand on my arm tightened. "When I'm done with her."

And then there were shadows and stars in my vision as my body ripped through darkness. When I could see again, Tamlin was gone. The bonfire was gone. The watching fae were all gone. The beating drums clamored in the distance. My savior had let go and was pacing around me, his jaw clenched and fists tight at his sides.