AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The fae flinched as if he’d slapped her. She whipped her head around, fixed him to the spot with a glare that could have shredded his guts. She cursed violently in her language, shot to her feet, and then cursed some more.
Inappropriate as it was, hearing her swear in that husky voice of hers, her face alight with passionate anger, made his body react with a wholly different form of passion. Quit it. Not the right time to be having lurid, explicit fae fantasies.
“Uh, you’re not suicidal, are you?” he asked. “I didn’t thwart any plans of yours for death by cougar, did I?”
She rounded on him, her slate-gray eyes throwing sparks. “No.” Grudgingly, as if it cost her, she added, “Your assistance is appreciated.”
“O…kay.” Then why was she so angry?
She closed her eyes, tightened her mouth, and bowed a little. “I owe you a life debt.”
Aha. “And…you’d rather you didn’t.”
“I don’t have time for this.” She bent to pick up something—a bow, and a quiver full of arrows.
Huh. She was an archer, too.
Well, it made sense, considering that otherworld creatures, including witches, couldn’t use firearms. The magic running through their veins somehow interfered with the technology of modern guns, so they had to resort to weapons of simple mechanics, like a bow and arrow or swords.
The fae strapped the quiver to her back, her movements jerky and impatient.
“Do you have somewhere else to be?” He rose to his feet as well.
She sighed. “Yes. I have to find someone, and I don’t have the time to be following you around.”
“So don’t.” He sure wouldn’t mind her company and getting to know her better, plus she could act as his interpreter, but if she had to run an urgent errand, he wouldn’t keep her.
She shot him a look that was halfway between incredulous and annoyed, and full-on adorable. “You’re funny.”
“What?”
She frowned. “I’m bound to you now. I have to save your life in return, or else I’ll be struck down by magic.” She shook her head. “Why do I even have to explain this to you? You’re fae, aren’t you?”
“Umm…yes. Yes, I am. But it’s…complicated.”
She narrowed her gorgeous eyes, tilted her head as she regarded his head. “Your ears… Where did you say you come from?”
“I didn’t.” He hesitated, considered it for a few seconds, decided that if she was bound to protect him, she might come in handy on his quest to find Rose. He could use an ally, an insider with knowledge of Faerie—and how to use fae powers. “I’m from the human world. Portland, to be precise. I’m fae, but I was raised by witches. I’m here to find the baby who was taken into Faerie when I was exchanged. My name is Basil Murray.”
Even in the dark of the forest, he clearly saw all color leave her face. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stumbled back. Her bow thudded on the ground. Her knees gave out. He rushed forward just in time to catch her as she lost consciousness, sagged in his arms.
Chapter 6
Whispers in the darkness…voices drifting in and out…
…curse you, Isa of Stone, for death to find you through slow-crawling pain…
…could not break your curse…stall it, for some years, at most…
…if the one who cast it does not rescind the curse, it can only be broken by killing the curser…or the last of her line…
Isa came to with a start and a gasp. Sights and sounds of the nightmare still lingered.
No, wait. Not a nightmare. Memories.
She opened her eyes, focusing on the shape of the young male hovering over her, his golden blond hair a spark in the dark of the night. Changeling…
Reality rushed back, slapped Isa in the face with all the harshness of an icy winter draft. She’d found the changeling, all right. Roana’s child, the last of her line, the key to breaking her curse. The person she needed to kill—and the one person to whom she was now bound with a life debt.
