His golden hair dazzles like the sun. Short and choppy, just long enough to curl around pale pointed ears and the base of proud antlers. His skin is as pale as snow. His features sharp. His clothes are exquisite robes of pure white and captured sunlight. He looks like a sun god.
Dimly, I’m aware of his retinue of guards trailing behind him, but they seem insignificant next to their prince. He has captured all of my attention. I am mesmerised.
Sophie whispers a command to the K9 and the dog streaks away from us. It runs up to the hell beast and barks and nips. That dog is a million times braver than I am.
The demon-horse rears up, sharp hooves pawing at the pale blue sky. The prince keeps his seat with immaculate ease. He runs a gloved hand over the beast’s neck and it returns its hooves to the ground, narrowly missing the dog’s skull.
I run forward, grab a hold of the dog’s harness and pull him away to safety.
“You!” snaps the prince in a voice of ice. “You dare to insult me?”
Sophie is by my side. She places a leash on the K9 and the pair scurry away to safety. Lucky bastards.
I swallow and look up at the fey prince. “I…I didn’t mean to.” It is not hard at all to sound terrified.
Golden cat-slitted eyes narrow. “You attacked me.”
Bloody hell. He is either damn good at acting or he is genuinely pissed off.
“I…um…the dog…” I stammer.
“Was under your control?” Snide condescension drips from the prince’s every word.
My lungs stutter as I try to remember how to breathe. Okay. Remember my role. A brave man protecting a woman by taking the blame.
“Yes,” I say clearly as I lift up my chin. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
The prince’s lips narrow into a thin line. “Your animal attacked me. You tried to unseat me. I demand recompense.”
Another deep breath. “It was an accident with no harm done.”
Silently, the prince’s guards urge their mounts forward until I’m circled. Trapped. Surrounded.
“Pledge your firstborn to me and I will forgive you,” says the prince as if he invented haughty.
“Hell no!” my reaction is visceral. As if this isn’t all an act, as if he truly is asking for my future child. The thought of giving a helpless baby to these monsters is abhorrent.
Strange golden eyes flicker. Almost as if he is offended by my horror.
“What is your name?”
My mind balks for a dizzying moment. I have been told I have to give my real name, but it feels so wrong. So strange. It has been a long, long time since I have even thought about the name I was born with.
“Ethan McAllen,” I say and the wobble in my voice is not at all fake.
The prince peers down at me. “Very well, Ethan McAllen, you may pay for your crimes with your body.”
I stare up at him helplessly. My feet feel rooted to the spot. I have a distinct feeling that despite all my combat training, if I wantedto back out right now and leave, I couldn’t. It is making me feel sick. Every mission has a moment of no return. I always notice it, acknowledge it, and then choose to pass it. Missing it completely is disorientating as well as terrifying as hell.
“I, Prince Llywelyn Y Mabinogi, claim Ethan McAllen as my pet.”
The words jolt through me, each one landing like a punch. Oh fuck. There really is no backing out now. I suck in a breath and try to find my calm.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter two
Buckingham Palace has changed. Even the parts that still look the same do not feel it. Something is definitely off. Everything isother.It is mind-numbingly terrifying. The old Buckingham Palace no longer exists. The Fey Court has taken its place.
