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Magic and iron clashed together at the border up ahead.
We were nearing the Gloaming District, where humans fancied a walk on the wild side. No amount of treaties would ever make humans one hundred percent comfortable being in the presence of monsters.
The thick scent of the protective wards coated the insides of my mouth. I wanted to spit out the offensive metallic taste, but I did not want to lose even this little bit of her. Her intoxicating sweetness lingered on the tip of my tongue.
I caught wind of her just as I finished my last meeting on campus. It wasn’t the first time I’d smelled her either.
For months, wisps of her would cross my path. A taunting breeze—there one moment, gone the next. Every time it would happen, I swore I was losing my mind.
I was the uncontested hunting champion of my clutch. A future orc prince. Scenting a prey was one of the first lessons taught to younglings.
And yet there was one out there who had managed to evade me.
Not tonight.
Whoever she was, I would find her. And then I would know if she were truly as sweet and decadent as her scent proclaimed once I laved every inch of her with my tongue. I needed her unraveling as I tasted her, clenching around me as she devolved into mindless pleasure. She would score her nails into my flesh, and I would carry her marks with pride.
My body ached with unspent need. I needed to find her and claim her tonight.
Rothgar growled deep in his chest. “I do not like that she is out here in such an area, possibly unarmed.” Disapproval quaked over his entire being. He raked his gaze over the neatly lined cottages of the gentrified businesses. The Gloaming District was one of many neighborhoods meant to look like the hamlets that the elves preferred. But without the rolling hills and ever-roaming sithen, it had an empty and soulless quality to it.
It was like walking through a cheap amusement park, as temporary and hollow as the humans that patronized them.
“You just do not want to be in this area, you mean,” I countered.
Rothgar crossed his huge arms over his chest. “No, I meant what I said. Her safety means more to me. Though I can agree that I do not want to be in this area.”
On that I too agreed.
As chosen blood brothers, Rothgar and Jalen were closer than kin. They, too, felt as I did. There was no doubt that if this elusive enchantress crossed our paths tonight, we would win her and claim her together.
There was a moment where I thought I lost her trail amid the dank scents wafting up from the sewer grates, but pushed on toward a familiar street where her sweetness sang to me once more. It led to a place that I knew all too well. Bespelled Brews, one of the few hidden gems in the Gloaming District.
I let myself hope. It was a popular getaway for faculty and students alike. Maybe she was catching a drink with some friends. Unwinding after a long day on campus.
That would make sense that she might be part of the university since her scent was strongest on campus.
“I think we just lucked out,” I said nodding toward the pub that took up an entire corner of the block up ahead. I had not had a chance to visit this place in a while. As an orc noble, what little time I had to myself was spent hunting game to keep the store houses full in Orc Mountain. But, if this was where she was for the night, I was grateful. There were wards in place that made it impossible for the wandering mortal to cause too much upset with their pearl-clutching, prudish ways.
This had to be a sign.
Rothgar rumbled deep in his chest. It was the sound he made when he was weighing out possible outcomes in his mind. “If we find her—”
“When,” Jalen interjected.
“When we find her,” Rothgar amended, “if she is willing, we should take advantage of a room.”
I looked up at the mainly dark windows in the upper levels of the building. They were finely-appointed suites, suitable for any number of special nights among lovers. The fact that many were vacant seemed another mark in our favor. It would be easy enough to take stock of the surroundings and secure the perimeter.
“How can we know she is here?” Jalen asked. Of the three of us, his build was leaner, his features more finely wrought. Even his ears ended in a graceful point, hearkening to a time when elves and orcs had closer relations. But he proved that he was one hundred percent orc every time he left a bloody killing circle with not a scratch on him.
“She is here,” I answered.
“We have had close encounters before.”
Jalen was right to doubt. After all, finding this elusive quarry had been an obsession that grew from chance for the last two years. The last month had been even more intense.
But tonight was something different. I felt it in my bones, the same way I knew when a magical wave would hit or when a herd of deer were nearby. It was a sense honed from years of hunting.
