Taeven chuckled. “The bird was only a bird, it didn't speak, not with words. It gave a cry and landed on my shoulder.”
“It landed on your shoulder?” I gaped at him.
Taeven nodded. “And when it touched me, I felt her touch. I knew that I was meant to go to Stalana. The Goddess wanted me to become the Falcon Lord. This amazing peace filled me. I knew it would be difficult but worth the hardship. If the Goddess herself wanted me to fight, I would fly into battle instead of away from it. I would fight until she bid me stop.”
“And you think you're not brave or honorable,” I whispered in wonder.
He shrugged. “It's easy to be those things with the support of a goddess. The bravery and honor are hers, not mine. I merely obey.”
“Oh, now that's bullshit.” I grimaced at him.
“What?” Tae asked with a chuckle.
“She may have comforted you and conveyed her wishes, but the determination to fight for her is all yours, Tae. Don't give that away. Youchoseto listen.”
“Thank you.” He let go of my hand to stroke my cheek.
My cheeks warmed at his touch, and I looked away. Now that he was someone I could have, every touch felt more important. More real.
Taeven dropped his hand and finished his story, “After the falcon delivered the Goddess's message, he flew away, but a feather fell from his wing. This feather.” He touched the feather at the end of his braid. “It's become a sort of talisman for me.”
“That was a far better story than the one I was expecting,” I declared with a wry grin.
The Falcon Lord burst into laughter again, and I smiled at him foolishly, utterly besotted.
Chapter Fourteen
Taeven sent his knights off with the carriage while we strolled through the city once more. The longer I was with him, the more comfortable I became until it felt as if we'd been friends forever. Gone was that nervousness and fear. Being with Taeven was as easy as being with any of my soldier buddies, easier even. I felt closer to him than I did to them, which was ridiculous since I'd known them for years, but that's the truth of it. He kept revealing more and more of himself to me, and I kept recognizing those parts of him as brothers to parts of myself. By the time we sat down to dinner in an open-air cafe, I was happier than I'd been in years. The kind of happiness that makes you realize that you've never been truly happy before.
That should have scared the shit out of me, but it didn't. I knew I could trust Taeven, and I knew he was right there with me, feeling what I felt. He had intended to prove himself to me, and he had, but he'd gotten a little more than he'd expected. In revealing himself, he'd seen parts of me in return. And it was obvious that he liked what he saw.
This growing bond between us turned dinner into an exciting event. Every glance and brush of his hand became foreplay. I knew it was over; Tae had won. At least, this round. I wasn't ready to become his valorian, but I was ready to be his. It had taken the Falcon Lord a day to seduce me, that was it. I should have been upset by that, but I wasn't. I was impressed in so many ways. He wasn't the arrogant, entitled warlord I'd thought him to be. No, Taeven Rumerra was nothing like the image I had of him in my mind. I wouldn't have succumbed to the wiles of that warlord, but this man—this vulnerable, brilliant, brave man—already had me. Sex would simply be icing on the cake.
I studied the angles of Taeven's face and the way they shifted when he spoke. I listened to the nuances of his voice as if memorizing them and found art in the curve of his hand resting on the table. I sank into the stories he told me about his childhood in Varalorre and told him far more about my life than I'd told anyone else. I was so smitten that I got sloppy. I let Tae hold my hand as we walked away from the restaurant later that evening. Although, I don't think it would have made a difference if I had stood two feet away from him; the men were after us regardless.
Black bags were thrown over our heads seconds before they started punching us. We were shoved into an alley, and I fell on the filthy ground, scrambling to get the fabric off my face. I heard Tae's soft grunts as he was hit, and something broke inside me. I roared in fury and lashed out wildly.
Someone laughed. “We've got a wild one, boys.”
“A rabid dog,” said another. “Best to put him down.”
“Fucking faerie faggots,” another spat. “Abominations!”
A kick landed in my ribs, and I crumpled into a ball, but finally managed to get the hood off. It was the same men from earlier, the ones who'd been beating on Harrison. Except they'd got some friends to bolster their ranks.
“That's why you helped that freak,” one of them said. “Because you're just like him.”
“Not so brave now, are you?” The one who'd pissed himself sneered at me. “Not now that things are even.”
“You mean, now that things are in your favor?” I snarled as I got to my feet. I was about to launch myself at him, but a blur came from my right and barreled into the man first.
Taeven.
I've never seen anything like Taeven Rumerra mad. No, not mad; he'd been mad earlier, now he was furious. Livid.Enraged. No word was large enough to encompass the pure, primal anger that rolled off him. I scrambled backward until I hit a wall, just trying to get out of his way, then watched with wide eyes as the Falcon Lord pummeled the men—all ten of them—into bloody meat. And he didn't even shift to do it. He was like one of those ancient warriors from the North, the ones who used to sail on great dragon ships and invade other lands. They had warriors who would go into a crazed bloodlust during battle—a temporary insanity that would drive them to mindlessly kill. That was what I witnessed in Taeven.
Golden hair wild, amethyst eyes glittering with venom, and muscles clenching into merciless weapons. Taeven spun and punched, kicked and clawed, even bit and spat blood into the faces of the men he savaged. Hands scrabbling at the wall behind me, I got to my feet unsteadily and watched Taeven wrench a man's neck, snapping it effortlessly after tearing strips of flesh from his face. And the shrieks, fuck they were haunting—hollow, predator sounds full of vengeance. The Falcon Lord hadn't shifted and yet he had transformed from a man into a creature. A sort of in-between monster, neither man nor beast. One without mercy or sympathy. A cold killer.
In mere seconds, four lay dead on the alley floor in puddles of blood and gore, and the survivors went into a fearful frenzy, jumping at Taeven all at once. I would have tried to help him if I hadn't thought he'd accidentally hurt me too. And Tae didn't need my help. In fact, it was the opposite. He was going to kill them all if I didn't stop him.
