“Do not fret, Cyn. Pixies are quite powerful but the trolls must be captured to be held accountable, and the high fae council is responsible for fulfilling that purpose.” Cassius motioned for her to follow him. “Now speed up, or get left behind.”
It was not until Cyn was standing just inside the veil to the pixie realm that she realized she was actually going into combat. As she watched the battle unfolding before her, her stomach clenched. She wasn’t sure she was ready.
“You are looking lost again, little warrior.” Perizada’s voice came from beside her. “Fortify your defenses and put on your kill face.”
“Kill face?”
“Didn’t I tell you, once upon a time, to alwaysbelievethat you knew what you were doing? You put on your kill face and everyone will believe you. They will either help you or get out of your way. That is the confidence that you must project … kill face.” The fae smiled to herself and turned back toward the battle.
Cyn nodded as she remembered her first day at the academy so long ago. She schooled her features and pushed her uncertainty away.
“Neutralize the threat. Only kill if you must!” Perizada yelled so that all of the warriors could hear her. “Any injured pixies can be brought back with us, and I will seek out the aid of a healer. Ready yourselves,” she yelled with a mighty voice. “Forward!”
The entire company of warriors charged forward as a united front. Their speed and ease of movement was far superior to that of the trolls. The monsters didn’t stand a chance against the highly trained warriors. Cyn pulled blades from her thigh holsters and threw them with unwavering accuracy. She hit knees and ankles, dropping the trolls where they stood, efficiently incapacitating them. Cyn was just rounding a group of trees when she heard a frightened scream pierce the air. She saw the cause a moment later.
Four trolls were advancing on a female pixie as two pixie children were cowering behind her. The mother was obviously ready to die in order to protect her young and, if Cyn did not intervene, she probably would. Cyn felt the anger of such a heartless act boiling up inside of her. It burned brighter and brighter the closer she got to the group. The whimpers of the children and trembling of their mother pushed her over the edge.
Cyn pulled the short sword from her back and jumped high into the air, easily covering the distance between herself and the trolls. She landed in front of the pixie woman, blocking the trolls from their intended prey.
“You dare attack those who are under the protection of the fae?” Cyn challenged.
The trolls snarled at her. “You expect us to fearyou, little fae?” The leader of the group taunted her. “There are four of us, you fool. We will crush you until there is nothing left but dust.”
Cyn revealed no emotion as she stared her foe down. “You can try. But, I promise, all that you will succeed in doing is feeding the hunger of my blade with your flesh and blood.” Without waiting to see how they would respond, she lunged forward, catching them off guard. The countless hours of training, enduring all of Ridion’s harsh drills, seemed to coalesce into this one moment as her sword whipped through the air and sliced troll flesh as though it were nothing more than a soft square of cheese.
Cyn remembered Ridion’s words as she cut down the first troll, watching as he fell to the ground. Passion, he had told her. She needed to fight with passion. She finally understood. Everything in her roared at her to protect those weaker, those in need, those who could not protect themselves. She knew that she must not fail. If she did, she would somehow lose a part of herself. The idea of such a loss caused her movements to increase in speed, and her sword simply became an extension of herself. When the last troll, the leader, fell to the ground he stared up at her, his breath came in shallow rasps.
“You are not indestructible,” he gurgled at her. “One day you will fail.”
Cyn stared down at him, unable to feel the least bit sorry for cutting down his life. “Perhaps. But until that day, I will continue to stand against evil like you. Every supernatural race will hear of your vile acts and of how you were defeated by my people. The only memory that will be left in your stead will be of the disgrace you became to your kind. You did not die a worthy death. At least, on the day my enemy cuts me down, I will have fought and died worthy, as a fae warrior.”
Cyn turned and walked away from the fallen troll and looked back at the pixie and her young. She gave them a short nod as the sobbing woman thanked her for what she’d done. The children looked up at her with awe and wonder, and it made Cyn walk a bit taller as she marched back to her comrades, who held several captured trolls bound and kneeling.
Peri met her gaze as she reached them and bowed her head in a show of respect. “Well done, warrior.”
Those were words that had been etched on her heart and in her soul. She was a warrior and that day she had proven it. It was her job to stand in front of those like the pixie female and her children and protect them from monsters that would do them harm. It was her job to stand up to the darkness of the world and proclaim that light and goodness would not be snuffed out.
Chapter 1
“Cut me. Bruise me. Shatter me. All of these things I can endure. But leave my heart alone. Please do not touch the one thing that cannot heal.” ~ Cyn
The elf’s lips were warm against her own, and his hands roamed over her in a way that made it clear that he was familiar with her curves. Thalion, prince of the elves, had claimed Cyn as his mate, and he did not keep it a secret. He was bold and possessive, so unlike the males of her race—the fae.
Though the fae were the oldest and most powerful of the supernaturals, their couplings were not the result of the matching of souls. The fae were finicky when it came to their lovers, and, whether because of arrogance or simply because of a short attention span, they rarely chose one person for life. Cyn wasn’t too proud to admit that the arrogance of her race prevented them from committing to one person for any length of time. In fact, the only fae that Cyn knew who were mated had been placed with a werewolf by the Great Luna.
“Be mine.” He practically panted as he pulled back from the kiss, keeping her face less than an inch away from his. He’d asked for her heart already so many times, and she’d finally yielded after so many years, but he could tell she still held something back.
“I have already agreed to be yours. You have my heart,” Cyn said, equally breathless. “You have my love.” Since peace had been restored to the fae after Reyaz’ fall, Cyn had had too much time to rethink her decision to give herself to Thalion.
Thalion dropped his arms and stepped back. Cyn felt as though a winter wind had just swept through the room at the loss of his touch.
“I want all of you,” he snapped. “Your idea of being mine, and minealone, is obviously different from mine.”
“And what if the Great Luna has other plans? She has already chosen true mates for three of my kinsmen. Adam, Elle, and Peri … all placed with werewolves. All true soul mates. All with the mate bond. What if she pairs me with a wolf one day? What if I have to leave you because of a true mate? How can I give you all of me if I might belong to another?” Cyn hated to ask such questions. She knew the words and picture she was painting would cause him pain, but they had to face reality.
A vase suddenly crashed against the far wall. The porcelain shattered, leaving shards across the floor. It seemed to her symbolic of Thalion’s broken heart. He didn’t often lose his temper, but when it came to her, all bets were off.
“You don’t have a wolf true mate. You do not belong to another and you never will,” he said, his voice dropping to a low, deadly tone.
