Heat coils low in my belly, moving down…down…until it settles between my legs.
I’ve been with a man before. I’m not some naïve maiden. But I’ve never felt this immediate, overwhelming pull toward another person.
For a split second, I regret saving him.
Then an arrow whistles past my ear, so close I feel the rush of air against my skin.
“Who are you?” he growls.
Why would he ask such a thing at a moment like this?
“Now is not the time. We need to move!” I shout, grabbing his arm.
More arrows fly toward us. One grazes Sebastian’s shoulder, leaving a red line across his skin. He doesn’t so much as flinch.
Guards pour into the courtyard below. More are emerging onto the adjacent towers, their bows already drawn.
I’m sure that even now, they are climbing the tower stairs. They will be here soon. I may have rescued him, but we’re still in terrible danger.
“Hold on to me,” I tell him.
“What—?” he starts to say.
I don’t give him time to finish. I throw the loose end of my silk toward the next tower, using my magic to guide it, to make it wrap around the far edge. Then I grab Sebastian around the waist, using the end of my silk to bind us together.
“Wrap your arms around me. Now!” I shout as I leap from the edge.
We swing through the air, suspended by the silk. The ground falls away beneath us. Wind rushes past my face.
Sebastian’s arms close around me, his body pressed against my back. He’s solid and warm, all hard muscle and coiled strength. His breath is hot against my ear, quick and unsteady.
The contact sends a jolt through me.
We reach the next tower. I catch the edge with my free hand, using my momentum to pull us up and over. My feet hit stone. Sebastian’s do the same a heartbeat later.
There are more arrows and more shouts. The fae guards run after us.
We’re going to have to be very quick if we have any hope of getting away. I release my hold on him and throw the silk again, this time toward a lower rooftop. The crimson fabric flies through the air like a living thing, responding to my will as much as my physical movement.
“Do not let go!” I tell him.
His arms wrap around me from behind, his chest presses against my back. One of his hands finds my waist, the other crosses over my shoulders.
I leap, swinging us toward the lower roof. We fly through the night air, suspended between towers. An arrow whistles past so close I feel the air displace.
We land on the sloped roof of one of the castle’s outbuildings. My feet slip on the tiles, but Sebastian steadies me, his arms tightening around my waist.
I gasp.
The guards are climbing the towers now, following our path. More are moving through the courtyard below, trying to anticipate where we’ll land next.
I need to even the odds.
I reach for my magic again, this time pulling at something deeper. Something I’ve kept carefully hidden for years.
My shadows.
They pour from me like smoke, dark and writhing. They spread across the rooftop, then down the walls, creating a thick veil of darkness that swallows everything. Within seconds, we’re completely obscured.
