"I must say, you've given us quite the chase." He remained just out of reach, savoring her fear like fine wine. "I was worried the hunt would be boring, but you've been delightfully entertaining."
The cave suddenly felt smaller, the walls pressing in. Briar's fingers scraped against stone, searching for anything—a rock, a stick, anything to defend herself with. Nothing.
"You have no idea how thrilled some of us were when Eliam finally cast you aside." His eyes gleamed in the darkness. "All that time watching him parade you around like a prize none of us could touch. And now..."
He took a step closer. Then another.
"Please." The word escaped before she could stop it.
"Say it again. Hearing you beg excites me."
He moved faster than her eyes could follow. One moment he stood watching her, the next his fingers were tangled in her disheveled hair, yanking her forward. Her legs wentout from under her, stone scraping her palms as she tried to catch herself. The impact drove air from her lungs in a sharp cry.
"I've been wondering what made our Forest Lord so... protective." His grip tightened, forcing her to look up at him. "What was so special about one little human thief?"
Briar's hands clawed at his wrist, but she might as well have been fighting a statue. "You don't have to do this."
"Don't I?" His free hand lowered, fingers tracing the edge of her ruined neckline, a mockery of gentleness. "If not me, then someone else. Would you prefer Lady Sarelle? She was discussing something about fingers. Very creative, our Sarelle. She always did have a flair for the dramatic."
The warmth in Briar's chest burned suddenly, recoiling from Cairn's touch like it recognized something fundamentally wrong, causing her to flinch. The reaction seemed to amuse him.
"How fascinating. You still carry his mark, even cast out as you are." His fingers found the thorned patterns visible above her neckline. "I wonder if it still—"
A blade erupted through his chest from behind.
Cairn's expression began as surprise before quickly shifting into one of confusion. Blood bloomed across his shirt, and his grip in her hair loosened. He looked down at the weapon protruding from his ribs, its blade devouring what little light there was while leaving strange shadows in its wake.
"You always did talk too much." Thaine's voice carried that familiar dark amusement as he yanked his blade free, letting Cairn collapse.
Briar sat there too stunned to move, her heart thrumming violently in her chest. Thaine had saved her, but to what end? Had she simply gone from one predator to another? The huntsman stood over Cairn's twitching form, taking a moment to wipe his blade clean before finally addressing her.
"Hello, little mouse." His smile was all teeth. “I see you’re faring well.”
Before Briar could respond, more footsteps echoed from the cave mouth. multiple sets, moving fast.
"Thaine." Lady Sarelle's voice drawled as she emerged from the shadows, two other fae flanking her on either side. "How unfortunate. We invoke hunter's right. We tracked her here first."
"Did you?" Thaine didn't turn, keeping his eyes on Briar even as he addressed the newcomers. "Strange. I only see Cairn's corpse and my lord's property."
"Formerproperty," Sarelle corrected, strands of silver forming between her fingers. "You heard his lordship. She has been cast out. Fair game. The Hunt's laws are clear, she belongs to whoever takes her."
"Then take her from me." Thaine finally turned, positioning himself between Briar and the others. Not protecting but claiming. "If you can."
"Three against one?" The fae on Sarelle's left laughed. "Even you aren't that good, huntsman."
"Four," another voice called from behind them. Lord Ashford stepped forward, dragging his blade across the stone, the sound setting Briar's teeth on edge. "You’re not allowed to have all the fun, Sarelle."
Thaine's blade hummed, darkness spreading along its edge. "My lord gave specific instructions about the hunt. Three days. Fair chase. You're turning this into a common brawl."
"Your lord isn't here," Sarelle observed, those silver threads beginning to glow. "And accidents happen during hunts. Oh it will be such a tragedy when we tell of how the huntsman fell trying to defend prey that wasn't even his to take."
Sarelle's silver threads lashed out like whips while Ashford attacked from the side, blade singing through the air in a flash of silver. Thaine moved, not the fluid grace she'd seen before but something far more vicious. His blade carved through silver threads, deflected the sword, and opened a line across the third fae's throat in a motion too fast to follow.
But four against one? Even for Thaine the odds seemed stacked against him.
Briar retreated deeper into the cave, hands scraping along rough stone in the darkness, desperate for any way out. The sounds of battle echoed behind her—steel against something that sounded like breaking glass followed by furious snarl.
"You dare use binding magic on me?" Thaine’s voice echoed around her.
