The bewitching soldier raised an eyebrow at me, intrigue lining his face as he looked me over. “They say Cyrus has a new human. One he’s obsessed with. That must be you.”
“What about it?” I snarled at him, but he merely smirked down at me in response. I looked around for an escape but foundnothing useful. The alley I was in became abandoned as the fighting took over the city. I could only see blood staining the ground and bodies laid out up and down the narrow space. The brick of the building behind me was rough against my hand as I dug my nails into it, trying to bank my anger and be smart about this.
But my eyes caught on a shining metal at his belt at that moment. I deliberated quickly and decided subduing my anger was a fool’s task anyway. I reached forward quickly, sliding the dagger out of its sheath and bringing its tip up under his chin before he could stop me. His eyes lit up at the challenge, and my own blazed like fire up at him.
“What do you want?” I demanded, raising my brow at him. It felt good holding this dagger. Even better holding it to a Fae’s neck. Years of pent-up rage bubbled within me.
“Oh, I can see why Cyrus decided to keep you.” He crooned at me, somehow both mocking and sincere at once.
“Because I can stab a foolish Fae who should have stayed in his own kingdom?” I spat at him, then snorted with dry humor.
He barked a rough laugh at that. “I don’t see any stab wounds, do you?”
His head tilted the slightest bit down to look over himself and dug the dagger into his skin in the process.
My eyes widened. He was insane.
“I could kill you. I should kill you.” My voice hardened as anger overtook me once more. “You’re here to kill my people after all. You’re nothing but a monster, and this world would be much better off without you.”
He seemed to sense that my sanity was at its limit before I’d tip over the edge. As an insane person, he must be quite familiar with that.
“I’m a monster?” He whispered in a voice that made too many promises.
I shivered, trying to fight my reaction. Fae were charming, alluring, and seductive. And this Fae had a voice made for sex that had my toes curling, even while he promised violence.
“How do you know, when you don’t recognize the monsters you’re surrounded by? You see lambs where you should see lions. And make lions of those who assist the sheep.”
I scoffed, realizing he’d inched closer somehow. His body now skimming mine. I pressed myself hard against the brick wall, letting its rough bite ground me to Adamah. “All Fae are monsters, but at least humans get tolivehere!“
His head tilted to the side. His eyes swept over me again, but this time it wasn’t seductive, it was appraising. I ground my teeth in frustration. “Do youhonestlycall this a life?”
His words chilled the damn blood in my veins, it hit that deep.No. Thiswasn’ta life. Not really. Living a real life would require freedom, with the ability to make your own choices. A life where you could decide where you lived, what you wore, and whom you spoke to. Nothing here was my choice. I was living suspended in time. Continuing on with every heartbeat, but that heart was encased in ice that grew thicker every day.
“Do you like it here? With Cyrus?” Colors began to swirl in his eyes as they looked me over. His hand came up and took my chin, his fingers feeling like the soothing caress of night against my skin. I tried to ignore the heat he sparked in me in his wake.
“What’s it to you?” I demanded, trying to keep my composure and not expose the reactions this man caused in me. Letting my anger speak was easier. I was used to that. I wasn’t used to this.To him.He hummed again, letting go of my chin.
“Do you enjoy being his property? Being his whore?” His voice was soft as silk, but harsh as a blade.
“Excuse me?! I am no whore!” I jerked back at his words, my head nearly colliding with the brick wall. “Andno! Obviously, I don’t want to be anyone’s property! But thanks to Fae like you—”
I pushed the dagger into his skin, watching a bead of blood trickle from it, while poking a finger into the center of his armor, hitting the Night Kingdom’s sigil. It probably hurt my damn finger more than anything, but I wouldn’t regret it.
“And who the hell are you to come here, invade these lands, kill people, and then accuse me of whoring myself out to the man who owns me.Fuck.You.” I spat my words at him with all the venom I wanted to aim at the Fae who enslaved us.
Even Cyrus.Especially Cyrus. Because this warrior knew exactly what Cyrus wanted with me, but I wasn’t going to let him know how much I dreaded that idea. And I couldn’t let my rage out at Cyrus. Not with a proverbial leash from him to me. But this man—this was someone I could rage at all I wanted, because he was nothing but a Fae enemy—a fact that remained true with all his kind. I was delighted for the chance to unleash myself on him, no matter what my traitorous body seemed to want.
His eyes widened, incredulity filling them. “Fuckme? Do you have any ideawhoyou’re speaking to? You do not want to place that rage I can see in your eyes on me. I am not an enemy you want to have. I can help you, in fact.”
His voice slipped from anger to seduction in the blink of an eye. I rolled my eyes at him, there was no way I was going to believe that. The only thing the Night Kingdom helped humans with was an early death.
“Help me? I wouldn’t want you to help me. The last thing I need ismoreFae. All I’d be doing is trading one cage for another. And you, you are a soldier of the Night Kingdom. Invading the Dusk Kingdom to slaughter humans for your own sick amusement! You are the definition of a monster!” I raged at him, trying to push him away from me, but failing in moving him a damn inch.
“A monster I may be but look at who holds your leash.” Something sparked in his eyes, but I didn’t have time to figureout what it was as his hands locked around my biceps and held me to the wall. He leaned in, his cheek caressing mine as he whispered. “I will never bethatkind of monster. Bloodshed is easy. The war you’re fighting, however, I wish you all the best. When you’re ready, you know where to come.” He winked and spun, his sword slashing into the stomach of a Dusk Kingdom soldier.
I gasped raggedly. I hadn’t seen them approach at all. I had been completely absorbed in this stranger—who used his sword like it was an extension of his arm. He hacked and slashed at the soldiers of this kingdom. My…kingdom. I tested the words in my mind, but it still didn’t feel right to call it that. I thought of the words of the soldier in front of me. My hand went to my mouth as it dropped in awe. Wonder and terror swirled as I watched him. He was poetry in motion with a blade in hand. His blade sang a love song to bloodshed with every swing, and though his movement across the alley was full of blood and death, it was a beautiful dance of violence all the same. He moved with grace, more so than I’d seen in any other warrior.
But as the footsteps of many more Dusk Kingdom soldiers came our way, darkness descended once more. It seeped out of this beautiful monster as I stood in shock. The darkness crawled across the grounds towards the approaching soldiers. He ran his sword through the gut of another Fae. Then he looked back at me. Our eyes locked. And he raised a hand. He brought his fingers down slowly, forming a fist. And as he did, the darkness reached out and grabbed all the soldiers by their necks, cracking them.
