Page 34 of A Tempest of Shadows

But even as every rational part of my brain screamed at me to do this, I kept traveling toward the center… or at least hoped I was. I could be heading toward the entrance as I no longer knew where I was in this place.

I rounded another corner and caught a flash of something from the corner of my eye. Spinning, I expected to see another rodent watching me.

Instead, a tongue flickered out as shiny black eyes stared at me from the narrow head of a snake. A hood unfurled from the side of the serpent’s head, and it hissed as it struck.

I ducked to avoid two hooked fangs dripping with saliva and venom. I wasn’t fast enough to avoid it completely as they hooked into the back of my dress.

I grew up in the Revenant Woods. I knew other snakes, rodents, bugs, poltergeists, ghosts, and any number of creatures who lived to hunt, but I’d never seen this toxic creature before as my heart bruised the inside of my rib cage.

It’s stuck in my dress!

The snake’s heavy body beat against my back, and its tail whipped my legs as it attempted to twist itself free. Thankfully, it remained trapped enough that it couldn’t bite me. I didn’t know how long that would last.

When I reached over my back to try pulling it free, the knife slid from my grasp. I cursed its loss, but it wouldn’t have done me any good against this thing, as I probably would have stabbed myself while trying to kill it.

I gripped its thick body; its muscles bunched beneath my grasp, and its tail lifted to encircle my wrist. The snake tried to jerk my hold on it free as it lunged to try sinking its fangs into my shoulder.

Growing angrier, I fought the snake’s hold as I struggled to rip it free. Suddenly, its heavy weight lifted, a loud snap sounded, and the bottom half of the snake flew past me.

A second later, its head fell at my feet. I stared at its hooked fangs, hooded face, and the blood dripping from its severed head.

Then, I lifted my head, and at the same time, my stomach plummeted into my toes. My heart skipped a beat as I met Ryker’s silver eyes. I’d rather deal with the snake again than this man. Ryker was far more deadly.

He stomped on the serpent’s head. “I hate snakes.”

My eyebrows shot up at this revelation. “You’re afraid of snakes?”

He scowled at me. “I didn’t say I was afraid of them; I said I hate them.”

“Oh.”

“And you’re welcome.” When I frowned at him, he continued. “For saving your life.”

Now, it was my turn to scowl. “I was getting it off me.”

“It didn’t look that way.”

“Looks are deceiving.”

His assessing gaze put me on edge, and I mentally kicked myself in the ass for not keeping my mouth shut. He wasn’t King Ivan, a self-important asshole who believed he was too smart to be fooled by anyone.

Ryker was intelligent and used to dealing with those who had ulterior motives. If I wasn’t careful, he would see right through me and start to suspect the truth of who stole his money.

A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the crushed snake head beneath his boot. If I wasn’t careful, that would be me.

“That they are,” he agreed.

Screams from our right caused our heads to turn in that direction. On the other side of the hedges, the shrieks raced past us before abruptly cutting off.

“Ivan has set the tone for his reign,” Ryker murmured.

I agreed with him, but I was far below him and had much more to fear, which was why I was in this endless trap, but… “Why are you here?”

When I became the focal point of his attention again, I gulped as I recalled what it was like when he’d grasped my arm to tie the ribbon around it on the day I defended Mouse. He’d infuriated me that day, but I couldn’t deny the electrical current of attraction and the sizzle of power that raced across my skin when he touched me.

I couldn’t breathe as the memory assaulted me, all while anxiety boiled beneath the surface. This man hated me. He didn’t know it yet, but he did, yet I couldn’t stop my gaze from going to his mouth as my youthful fantasies of kissing him returned.

I bit my lip before shifting my attention to the hedges. Until now, the pathway hadn’t felt claustrophobic, but now the hedges closed in as they sought to suffocate me.