The hairs on my neck prickled. I turned, scanning the darkness. Nothing moved. No sounds but my own ragged breathing and the wind whispering through leaves.
Mist curled around my ankles, then higher. It stroked my collarbone—warm, almost alive. It felt…good. Was this the starfire, or something else? The touch brushed lower, teasing along my neckline, and a shudder wracked through me.
I forced another step, but the tendrils held me in place. White thickened around me, swallowing the trees,everything except me. Mist twisted over my skin like grasping fingers.
A shadow slithered inside the fog. Then a figure emerged—tall, broad-shouldered, but not the savage I expected. Kairos looked…broken.
My stomach plummeted. “No.”
His amber eyes found mine through the haze. He walked toward me slowly.
“Let me go, damn you!”
“I can’t do that.” His voice was hoarse.
He halted in front of me, his brow furrowing. His eyes held nothing but pain. His hand lifted. It trembled as he wiped the tears clinging to my cheek, and I pinched my lips tight.
His throat bobbed. “Aelie.”
I jerked back. “Don’t touch me.”
His gaze traveled everywhere but my face, stopping on my shoulder. He froze. Then he grabbed the leather strap, easing the satchel off me.
“You want to run?” He pulled a dagger from his belt. “Fine. Land one hit on me first. Then I’ll let you stumble into the darkness.”
Kairos offered it to me, hilt first.
I licked my lips. “What?”
“Strike me, and I’ll release you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Afraid you’ll lose?”
Mist wriggled from my wrists and ankles as he released me. I snatched the dagger. The blade was extremely sharp.
He stepped back. “If you’re serious about leaving, you’ll have to show me you can handle yourself.”
“I don’t want to fight you.”
His mouth curved. “I know.”
“Not because Icareabout you. It’s not a fair battle.”
“Life isn’t fair, my princess.”
I blinked. “Princess? I’m not some pampered royal.”
“I give you more luxury than you’ve ever known in your life, and it still isn’t enough.”
My grip tightened on the hilt.
He circled me slowly. “You’d rather wander through a forest that wants tokill youthan stay in a castle where I treat you like a queen.”
Heat flared in my chest and I lunged, slashing at him.
He sidestepped out of reach.
