He’s enjoyingthis.
I walk toward him, closing the few feet between us, and grab his horns. He inhales sharply, a zap of lust shocking us both, but I ignore it and knee him in the face.
“Fuck!”
He falls back to the ground on his back. Blood drips from his nose and a cut that slices through his upper lip. The wounds are shallow, and he’s already healing.
I put my foot on his chest. I don’t have a weapon to point at him. A sword would have been nice to hold to his neck in a sexy ‘enemies to lovers’ type of way that I’ve read in fantasy books.
Plus, it’s clear Locheran is letting me win this fight.
Because he loves me. Because he knew how much I needed this.
Even though he failed to tell me about Ethan, I can’t fault him for that. I can’t imagine having to confess to your fated mate that you weren’t able to save a loved one.
“What else, Farrah?”
I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here, foot on Locheran’s chest. But I’m crying now. My face and shirt are soaked with tears.
“I hate that I let my father put doubt in my head. That he almost convinced me you killed Ethan, even if it would have been for self-defense… I was angry with you. I…”
I remove my foot and turn away, hiding my shame. Locheran is at my back within seconds. He wraps his large arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
“You’re allowed to feel all of this, Farrah. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now.”
I turn around to bury my face in his chest. “I hoped meeting with my father would have allowed me to explain… to show him that I’m in love with a monster who’s not a monster at all. I thought he’d understand.”
I shake my head.
“Being a hunter is a curse,” Locheran says, failing to react to me saying I love him. I know he heard me say it, but he’s still trying to pull me down from the ledge. “He never would have understood.”
“If that’s true, there has to be a way to break it.”
“Being a hunter is not a curse,” a low voice says from behind Locheran. “It’s a right of passage.”
I gasp and release Locheran from my embrace, tugging him to move him away from my father.
But it's too late.
Locheran humphs and grabs his side.
“A. War. Spear,” he says, his words short and full of pain.
He falls to the ground.
“No!”
Chapter 30 – Locheran
My eyes are heavy as I watch the world fade before me.
Farrah faces her father, screaming at him. He screams back, but I can’t hear their words.
There’s a blinding light.
This must be it.
Death.
