Astraia rose slowly. She pulled the last arrow from her quiver, raised her Starwood bow, breath filling her lungs, senses harmoniously intensified. And released.
The fleeing bounty hunter flinched in the distance as an arrow embedded itself in his back, then toppled forward, screaming as he went down.
The clearing was still again, save for the crackle of the dying fire, and the trickle of blood into the soil.
Astraia gasped for air, the bond still pulsing, wild beneath her skin.
Her rescuer turned, his eyes—amber fire—locking onto hers.
“You’re welcome,” he said, voice like dusk.
Chapter 5
Equality is folly. There can be no light without dark, no balance without chaos. The delicate equilibrium is precarious, with but one decision standing between total abandon. Dominion, cunning and devious, took full advantage to assert his supremacy, cloaked in shadow.
The Rise of Dominion
ASTRAIA DID NOT RESPOND. STEELING herself, she strode toward the woods, where the last man had fallen. He was still writhing in pain, lying on his side with the arrow protruding from his back.
She knelt beside him, close enough to smell the iron in his blood that coated the dirt.
“Who sent you?” she seethed. Anger boiled under her skin.
He coughed, blood splattering her boots. “Wouldn’t you like to know,Starborne?” he whispered, sputtering blood, a sickening smile spreading across his face.
Astraia did not falter as she grabbed the man’s own dagger from his waist and plunged it into his thigh. A shriek of pure agony escaped his lips.
“Now I can make your last moments on this stars-forsaken world as painful as when your mother brought you into it, oryou can tell me what I want to know, and I’ll send you to meet Dominion with haste. Your choice.” Not a hint of pity in her voice, Astraia removed the dagger from his thigh.
Another yelp shattered the silence of the clearing as his hand grazed his now bleeding thigh.
“So, let’s try this one more time. Who sent you?”
The man gasped for what little breath remained in his lungs. “Delphi. Delphi sent us. She said she would split the bounty on your head when she handed you over to King Maelrik.”
Astraia’s breath hitched. She couldn’t be hearing the man correctly. He was dying and delusional.
“You’re lying!” she bellowed, her hands shaking.
He coughed again, more blood spraying the ground around him, and laughed weakly. “Not everyone is who they claim to be.”
He breathed one last shuddered inhale, then silence.
Astraia sat down next to the dead man. Her hands shaking, holding onto the bloody dagger as it dripped red on the ground next to her.
Why? Why would Delphi do this? How does she know about my bond?
Her bond flickered in her spine, not out of warning, but out of comfort and healing. The gash in her side from the attack was already mending, the muscle and skin melding together, whole once again. She could feel her energy being restored, and fatigue faded.
A shadow covered her.
“Are you going to sit there waiting for more of them?” His voice was low, with a hint of annoyance.
Astraia pushed herself to her feet. “You followed me?”
“I never stopped.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Were you waiting for them to wear me down first, or is that just a perk of your charming personality?”
