Page 5 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

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I don’t know what to make of Jaxon and Darius.

Barely ten minutes after Rian’s reprimand, their laughter rolls through the Forbidden Forest, light and careless, as if darkness doesn’t trail out of their foreboding leader like oil leaking from a lantern.

They respect their prince, no denying that, but it’s more like brotherhood than obedience. It doesn’t fit the stories whispered in taverns, tales that paint the Shadow King and his heir as tyrants whose own allies tremble before them. In those stories, even the king’s friends die screaming.

If the rumors are true, Rian’s own father, once the king’s right hand, was executed for failing to quell a rebellion that almost resulted in humans crossing the Veil and infiltrating Fae territory.

If the humans did make it across, would they have tried to conquer land or rescue the innocents stolen away?

Or would they have been slaughtered before their feet ever touched the magical soil?

A fist rises into the air. Draven.

Jaxon and Darius slow their horses. My mare mirrors them obediently then stops.

At the front of our procession, the rolling darkness thickens and then retracts into Rian’s body. The prince dismounts in one fluid motion. He grabs his stallion’s reins and strides into the forest, vanishing into the dusk like the shadows themselves called him home.

Where is he going?

“We will camp here.” Draven’s deep voice carries finality.

He swings down from his mount with grace that shouldn’t belong to a man his size.

The others do the same.

Jaxon tosses his horse's reins onto his saddle then approaches my mare.

“You’re a sturdy one, aren’t you, girl?” he coos, running his strong palm over the mare’s snout with affection and then sliding his palm over her neck. “You’re not even out of breath.”

The mare huffs, nudging his palm. Jaxon chuckles and obliges her request with more strokes.

“Forgive him,” Darius says, appearing on my other side, dark eyes glinting. “Jax’s always been better with the beasts than females.”

“Shut up,” Jaxon growls, but he doesn’t stop petting the horse.

Darius grins wider and raises his arms, offering his hands. “Allow me?”

Pride demands I refuse, but despite what my recent mistakes might imply, I’m not a fool. My thighs ache, and my spine is stiff. I’ll fall on my face if I try to dismount on my own.

Swallowing down my objection, I lean forward and place my hands on his broad shoulders.

Darius’s palms settle around my waist. His hands are so large that his thumbs nearly touch.

I stand in the stirrup, groaning at the pull in my muscles, and drag my leg over.

He steps back to lower me to the ground. My body brushes against his, and I suck in a breath.

Hello at last, my beautiful mate.

His first words to me echo like a haunting.

A scowl twists my lips.

I’ve spent days trying to forget the declaration that Anton had labeled as a joke.

Whatever Darius meant, I don’t care to know. The last thing I need is another tether that ties me to the Fae. I need to focus on severing the one I already have.