“I didn’t—I umm . . .” She looked back to the wall. How the hell was she going to get back over it? This was not the time to worry about that. “I can explain . . .”
No, she couldn’t. What was she going to say?I didn’t come from the palace! I fell out of the sky. It’s a raining-ladies-kind of day!
He gently placed Luna down on her feet, keeping his hand on her back to steady her while she regained her balance.
She straightened the scarf wrapped around her head, tucking in any loose hairs, and brushed off the random twigs and leaves clinging to the fabric of her skirts. If she didn’t already look like a lowly maid, she definitely did now.
“No need for explanations,” he said, an almost imperceptible sigh escaping him. “But honestly, your tree climbing skills need work. Next time, use the numbers I left you . . .”
“Thank you for your assist— Wait, what?” Her jaw dropped. Had she heard him correctly? Surely not.
“You’re hurt,” he said, his gaze focused on her arms and hands, a frown creasing his lips as if her injuries personally displeased him.
She glanced down.
A faint yellow glow dripped from her palms.How had I missed that?!
She opened her hands wider and sure enough, her palms were raw—probably from climbing those trees. On her left hand, just below her middle finger, the skin was ripped open. Small cuts covered her arms as well, probably from when she fell the first time, and she hadn’t realized it.
Eyes wide, she stared dumbfounded at her injuries. The blood wasn’t a dark red crimson like she’d expected. Rather than blood, it looked like light. Literal light. As if the sun was pouring from her veins. “I’m going to die,” she whispered, horror cracking her voice.
His eyebrows furrowed together, concern etched between them. “They look like minor surface wounds.”
Was he seeing what she was seeing? This wasn’t normal; she was not going to be fine. Sunshine was bleeding from her veins—that was a problem in and of itself—but more importantly, it wasn’t clotting. Lightheaded, the world began to spin and her blood intensified, changing from a dull yellow to lightning-white.
He gently grabbed her trembling hand and lifted it up so he could inspect the wound. His eyes widened, worry wrinkling his face. “You should have stopped bleeding by now.”
A weak smile touched her lips and she responded with a humourless laugh, “Welcome to the panic party. Glad you could join.”
His eyes searched hers with an emotion she couldn’t name. “What did they do to you?”
Confusion washed over her face as he dropped her hand. She shook her head; no one had done anything to her. Her illness was the reason why she couldn’t stop bleeding and must be the reason why she bled light. But before she could say anything, he changed. His whole body faded into nothingness, consumed by complete darkness. Shadows crept, like a black mist, along her arms, moving down to her palms. The light from her wounds flickered. Time seemed to stop as she watched the shadows dance along her skin, the light dimming, then disappearing completely, as the cuts closed.
She looked up, but gone was the man with forest green eyes, replaced by blackness that resembled the silhouette of a man—no, not a man—a unicorn.
His entire form, from the tip of his elegant horn to his strong legs, was cloaked in an inky blackness that seemed to absorb the very essence of light. His mane and tail, like strands of the darkest night, flowed in the gentle breeze. Luna’s heart raced, her fear deepening as the realization of who stood in front of her dawned on her. She yelped and stumbled backwards. “Y-y-you’re the intruder. Get away from me.”
Surprisingly, the unicorn listened. He took several steps backwards before he spoke, “And here I thought you were going to thank me.” His voice was light and playful, not at all matching his ominous reputation.
Was he insane? Thank him for what? Toying with her? “What did you do to me?”
“I saved you.”
“Saved me?!” Unicorns didn’tsavehumans; they killed them. She blinked, and he was back to his human form, snatching up his torn clothes and sliding his hands into his pockets as if he kept his shadow magic there.
With all the adrenaline rushing through her body, it took a moment for logic to enter her brain. As she began to process what happened, feelings of guilt sank in.
He did have a point. She looked back at her healed hand. “Why? You’re the enemy?” She meant to say the last part as a statement, but it came out as more of a question.
He scoffed, a sound that seemed too human for such a beast. “What makes you so certain?”
“Besides the fact your kind has terrorized us since the dawn of time . . . You hurt my guard.”
He chuckled. He actually chuckled! The sound was surprisingly pleasant. It wasn’t the mocking laughter she might have expected from someone of his feared reputation; instead, it was a low, quiet rumble that seemed to resonate directly from his chest. For a fleeting moment, Luna wanted nothing more than to keep hearing it. It did something to her—or rather, itundidsomething.
Even as he looked at her with an expression that suggested she had four heads, the warmth of his laughter inexplicably softened the edges of her fear. She shook her hands, as if she could physically dislodge the unfamiliar feelings that were creeping into her mind, feelings that threatened to unravel her understanding of friend and foe.
He cocked his head sideways, his neck cracking from the motion, before he replied with mocking tones, “He’s not dead, is he?” His arms crossed in front of his chest defensively. “If I was this big, bad,evilboogeyman, wouldn’t I have taken his life?”
