Commotion down below snagged my attention. A male in a shifted state, caught between his human and fae form, entered the village square.
He was almost completely naked, save for a loincloth, leaving his muscular physique on display. He had to be some kind of big-shot warrior by the way everyone stopped what they were doing to ogle and cheer for him.
I crouched low on my branch, ducking behind some leaves so I could get a better look at what was going on without being noticed. I was thankful for the distraction this guy was providing since no one had noticed our arrival yet.
Until I saw what he dragged behind him. A young woman.
Her wrists were tied together with a crude rope, her hair a mess, and her ragged clothes filthy. She was badly scraped up. He’d been pulling her for a while. She fought furiously, thrashing against her bonds even though she looked a little starved.
“He’s got a girl with him,” I croaked, rage stirring low in my belly.
“It’s not a girl, Ruby,” Vincent rumbled behind me. “That’s a female wood elf. She’s a vicious animal.”
“Not as vicious as her captor,” I spat. I watched in disgust as the male made a show of working the crowd up into a frenzy like he was a hot-shot athlete at a sporting event. An enormous crowd gathered in an instant, like sharks in bloody waters.
He gave a vicious yank of the rope, jerking the woman in his direction. She went skidding across the tree's bark but was on her feet in a blink. He was much larger than her, but she was strong and put up a good fight.
She threw a small fist at his face, and he caught it. His sausage fingers clenched around her hand, and she screamed bloody murder. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever heard before. From this distance, she looked human. But the sound she emanated was shrill and monstrous.
He was breaking her bones.
The warrior’s body transformed in front of everyone’s eyes, growing muscles swelling and bones cracking and refusing into something larger. Gray feathers sprouted from his pores, and his wings shot out from his back with a sickening crunching sound, using her pain to get bigger.
Now, with strength outclassing hers, he grabbed her throat and slammed her to the ground. He slashed his talons down her dress, shredding it off her body like tissue paper.
I rose to my feet. “Alright. I’ve had enough.”
Sensing that deadly inferno sparking to life inside me, Vincent placed a hand on my shoulder as if to anchor me.
Ha. Like that was going to hold me back.
“Don’t interfere, Ruby.”
“What the actual fuck?” I shot him a horrified him. “That monster is about to rape that poor girl! And then, probably disembowel her or some demented shit. I don’t care what she is. No woman deserves this.”
He sighed, shadows etching in the lines at the corners of his eyes. That’s when I realized they were green, not black. “It’s not like I’m giving this barbaric shit my stamp of approval, Princess. But these are traditions that stretch back before your world ever existed. Interfere, and you make yourself the enemy.”
I bared my fangs at him. “If saving that girl makes me the enemy, I don’t want to be a fucking ally. Now take your hand off me before I rip it off.”
Chapter nineteen
Another Lie
Allfearandapprehensiondrained away, leaving me with nothing but that familiar cold fury spreading through my limbs like ice.
I felt…monstrous. On the cusp of totally losing my shit. And my first victim was going to be my own mate if he didn’t let me the fuck go so I could save that poor woman.
Only a second passed, but waiting for him to decide between loving me and being a brutal asshole felt like eons. There wasn’t much time to get down there and put a stop to the savagery.
“Let. Go.”
Another eternity passed in a single breath.
“Fine.” Vincent’s thick, rumbling voice had my heart beating so hard I could feel it throbbing in my fingertips. “I should know by now when you get that look in your eye, there’s no stopping you.”
His fingers unfurled from me and dropped to his side. I wasn’t sure what he meant by “that look in my eye,” but there wasn’t time to ask.
I shoved past him, taking a deep breath. Allowing my instincts to take hold, I limberly jumped from branch to branch, swinging down to the center of the life tree and landed in a low crouch behind my target.
