Chapter 1
Ineed your help to kill a man.” Tanis watched as the black unicorn she’d captured stopped struggling against the net that had caught it mid-run.
She had a bit of guilt over that. When she’d set the trap, she hadn’t realized how hard the unicorn would hit it. Nor did she think it’d cause the poor thing to spin and land so hard on its side.
That had to hurt.
I’m so sorry.
She’d fallen into traps herself and knew firsthand how awful it was to be snared unawares, but she was desperate.
And, unlike the ones who’d trapped her, she’d meant no harm to the beautiful, majestic creature. Not really.
With a jetblack coat that shimmered blue in the fading light, the unicorn’s silken mane begged to be stroked and brushed. Its eyes were an unholy shade of green that glowed with fury and told her just how much it wanted to pierce her heart with the deadly, black, spiral horn that jutted from the center of its forehead.
Unicorns were known to be every bit as lethal as dragons.
Even more vindictive and savage. They took no prisoners and never negotiated.
Yes, the unicorn High King had brought peace to the Thirteen Kingdoms. But he’d done so by slaughtering any and everyone who’d challenged him. It was said that the unicorn king was evil incarnate.
Worst of the worst. The very beast who had single-handedly hunted her species, and others, to the brink of extinction.
He reigned by exterminating anyone who questioned him. And not just that one person, either. Their family. Their friends. Their pets.
Anyone they were even remotely fond of.
So why are you trying to negotiate with one?
Because I’m a desperate idiot.
This was the dumbest idea she’d ever conceived in her life, but desperation rode her with spurs. She had no choice. Not if she was to claim the revenge that burned through her soul like lava.
As bad as she hated the unicorn race that had once preyed on hers, she hated one particular human even more. And nothing would stop her from feeling his blood on her claws.
Tasting his heart on her lips.
And this unicorn was the key to her greatest wish. So, if she had to trip him and bruise his ego a bit... small price to pay for what she needed.
If he killed her for it, that, too, was a price she was willing to pay.
Blinking slowly, the unicorn pinned a viciously cold stare on her. “You wantwhat?”
Stunned he would deign speak to her, she crept closer while still keeping a respectable distance. “I need your help to kill a man.”
His laughter filled the air. “You’re a dragon. Is that not what you do for fun?”
Well... some of her brethren did. But there was a big difference between killing for survival and committing wholesale homicide. Being a unicorn, he might not understand that, but she certainly did.
“I refuse to kill an entire village of innocent people because I want one man dead. It seems rather harsh, if you ask me.” Maybe not to the unicorn, given what she knew of them.
But the equity of that just didn’t sit right with her.
“Why?”
Confused by his angry question, she stepped closer to the net that held him. “Why what?”
“Why do you want this one man dead so badly that you’d risk your life to trap me?”
