“Weapons,” I said shortly.
She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. “Why do you need so many?”
“I’m a hunter.” Not a lie. I just conveniently left out the bit about how I hunted people.
She shook her head as she slowly backed away from me, visibly trembling with terror. “No… No, please.”
Alarmed, I stared at her. “Please what?”
“Please don’t hurt me. Blood and ice, I swear, we don’t want any trouble here.” Her voice quivered.
In spite of how much she annoyed me, I couldn’t stand her sniveling like this. Shivering bones, even her eyes were glistening with tears. Was she reallythatafraid of a few knives?
“Look, I’m not going to hurt you,” I said.
“I don’t believe you.” She continued to back away from me. “Why would you be so heavily armed if you don’t mean to hurt someone?”
“It’s not you I’m after. I swear it. I won’t do you any harm.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “You won’t?”
“I won’t,” I repeated. My quarrel wasn’t with the humans anyway—the Snow Princess was half fae, and this woman had rounded ears. “I promise.”
The woman suddenly flashed a wide grin, her tears drying almost instantly. “Excellent. That’s a binding bargain right there.”
I went rigid in my seat. “What are you talking about?”
“You can’t hurt me.” She winked at me.
A chill skittered along my bones. Something wasn’t right. “But you’re human.”
The woman snorted. “Many people make that mistake. Iam part human. But I am still bound by fae laws. Just like you.” Her eyes took on that mischievous gleam again.
My chest seemed to be caving inward as the pieces slowly clicked into place. Fae bargains… Part human…
I was sitting next to the Snow Princess. And she had just tricked me into swearing not to harm her.
I was a bloody fool.
All I could do was stare, horrified, at the princess’s smug expression as my brain struggled to make sense of it all.
The Snow Princess looked human. Why hadn’t the queen warned me?
Shivering bones…
I remembered the keen look in Calista’s eyes when she gave me my assignment. She omitted key information on purpose. She knew she couldn’t afford to lose me.
This had all been a trap to ensure I would fail. She had no intention of letting me go.
“My, my, I’ve really broken you, haven’t I?” The princess chuckled and waved a hand in front of my face. “Hello? Sir Hunter?”
I blinked and fixed a lethal stare on her, my nostrils flaring and my hands quivering with rage. Instinctively, I reached for one of my daggers, but a searing pain in my head had me hunching over the bar, groaning in agony.
Princess Eira barked out a laugh. “Blood and ice, that didn’t take you long, did it? I must really get under your skin for you to want to murder me that quickly.”
I dropped my hand, and the feeling dulled to an aching throb in my temples. Dazed, I blinked the fog from my eyes, once again cursing myself for my stupidity. It had been so long since I’d tried to break a bargain that I’d forgotten how excruciating the fae bond could be.
The last time I’d attempted such a thing was when Calista had given me my first assignment. When I’d seen the man I’d been tasked with killing—a fae lord of the Winter Court Calista no longer wanted on her council—he had been a charming fellow with a wife and four children. I had hesitated, not wanting to take his life. But when I’d tried turning away and leaving, the fae bond had taken hold of me. I had learned the hard way that I either needed to fulfill my bargain with the queen and kill him… or the magic of our agreement would kill me.
