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My short-sword sliced into the moon fae’s shoulder. He cried out and dropped the serrated knife he’d been about to bury into my back, his dark blue wings flapping and pulling him out of reach.
Instantly, I ducked, sensing another one diving at me on the right. He missed my neck but slashed across my left wing, the pain sharp. Growling, I stabbed straight into his throat, my sharp black steel burying deep. His eyes went round in shock that his life was over so quickly.
“You should’ve let it go,” I advised him before I yanked my short-sword free and gave him a shove.
He fell backward, crimson blood instantly soaking the grassy path. When I turned, the other guard was still groaning on the ground, holding his bleeding arm.
Striding to him, I stepped on his wing to get his attention and pointed the tip of my blade at his throat.
He froze, staring up at me, hatred in his gaze. “You cheated, you fucking bastard.”
He was right. “It doesn’t matter,” I said casually. “The female is mine regardless.”
A sharp twinge twisted in my chest at the truth of the words. I hadn’t meant them in the way her father, and even that ambassador, thought of her as their property. I’d meant she was mine to protect. By a solemn vow I would not break. Not for anyone. Still, the possessiveness of the words rang true, burrowing deeper, etching into my very bones.
“Don’t try to follow us. I won’t be so forgiving the next time,” I promised him, then nicked his chin for good measure. He flinched and whimpered but still didn’t move as the trickle of red trailed down his throat.
Certain that I’d made my point, I looked back toward the village. No one else was coming to fetch the half-breed moon fae who’d been gambled away by her father like a piece of copper. It was sickening. And these two guards had only come to try to win back their honor since they realized I’d tricked them.
Re-sheathing my blade, I turned to find that Murgha wasn’t waiting close by. She wasn’t anywhere. Huffing, I nearly laughed.
Of course, she’d run. I strode down the path toward her scent—a mixture of lemon, lavender, and spice. It lingered in the air, a teasing aroma that yet again made my canines ache.
My desire was unexpected, and yet the burning heat of want curled hotly inside me all the same. A growl rumbled in mychest before I beat my wings and flew after her beneath the high branches, seeking my prey.
Chapter
Four
MURGHA
Ipumped my legs as fast as they would go, my lungs burning from the exhausting run. My skirt didn’t even hinder me as I flew through the darkening woods. I’d left the path and was sure I could find some dense brush deep enough in the forest to hide until night came. Then I could find my way back home.
I remembered there was a particularly thick bramble of berries this way. If I could only make it there, I’d slip inside and remain quiet as a hare until he was gone.
Then I heard it. I’d never actually heard the exact sound before, the beating of very large wings, but I knew what it was all the same.
I whimpered as the sound drew closer. I didn’t dare look over my shoulder, knowing what I’d find.
Suddenly, strong arms were around my waist, lifting me off the ground.
“No!” I screamed, kicking out wildly with my legs and clawing at his forearm, which had me scraping uselessly at his steel vambrace.
He landed with a thud beneath a thick-trunked tree, squeezing me so tight my breath whooshed out of my chest.
“Easy, Murgha,” he whispered close to my ear, the silky caress of his voice raising gooseflesh on my skin. “Calm down.”
My heart thought that was a ridiculous idea. It only beat faster, now that I was trapped in the arms of the shadow fae priest. I feared what he planned to do with me. If it was anything like the ambassador had surely been planning for me, I wasn’t going to allow it without a fight.
I stopped struggling, realizing it was pointless. My breath heaved in and out of my chest, my pulse still racing. I’d have to plan my escape another way.
“There now,” he said in that soothing tone that only made me angrier.
“How do you know my name?” I asked again, slowly inching my skirt up my leg with the tips of my fingers.
“We’re not out of danger yet, and I need to get you safely out of these woods before we have that conversation.”
“Safely?” I scoffed. “You have your arms so tight around me I can’t breathe.”
