Page 6 of Betrothed

Zax lowered her into it. It was just as soft as it looked.

“I hope you like it,” Zax said. “I made it extra big, so we could both fit.”

“Thank you,” Fawn said weakly. “I love it.”

Zax beamed, showing all his horrid fangs.

Fawn braced herself. Surely now he would untie that loincloth and take her with whatever strange appendage he had hidden behind the shabby fabric.

But Zax only straightened and ran off toward a clawfoot bathtub in the corner of the treehouse.

“I found a bath. Because mortals prefer to bathe indoors, for some reason. And a table. And drawers for you to put things in. And books!” He gestured a clawed hand at the stack of moldy books in the corner. His tail was wagging, she noticed with shock. Did he actually expect her to be charmed by this?

“And I tried to find a pet,” Zax continued. “But they keep running away. And when things run, I chase them.”

“And eat them,” Fawn said before she could stop herself. She waited for his sunny expression to change, for him to growl or gnash his teeth, but it never came.

“Yes,” he sighed, his tail drooping sadly. “I am sorry for your husband. Even if he was cruel, you should not have had to watch. It was just instinct.”

Fawn eased her boot off with a wince. Her ankle was already swollen, bruising around what had to be a sprain, at the very least.

“That smells painful,” Zax said.

“It is.” Fawn placed her boot next to the nest. She was injured and high up in a tree, captured by a monster. Her knife was long-gone. She could see nothing like a kitchen in this huge treehouse for her to find another knife. One thing was certain: she wasn’t going anywhere for a while. She would just have to do whatever she could to get out of here after she healed. Or find some way to lead her husband’s family to her.

“So, you can’t control yourself?” she continued. “When someone runs?”

“No, I can. If I try very hard. I do not have the blood frenzy like some of my brothers.”

Fawn clenched her jaw, forcing down her rage. “So, you could have stopped.”

“I could,” he agreed. “But your people trapped me! Your husband poked me with sharp sticks!”

Fawn frowned. She didn’t know about that. But several people in the Circle had crowded around the Skullstalker’s—around Zax’s—makeshift cage after they captured him. None of them had ever seen a Skullstalker before. Especially not one who was bound and helpless. She could picture Renly poking at him curiously, chuckling when Zax growled.

Because Zax did growl before. He had roared and snarled and done everything they expected from a monster. But then again, wouldn’t any creature do that if they were bound? Especially if their bindings burned their skin?

Fawn forced down a small wave of pity. He was a monster, and he killed her husband. She should feel no pity for him.

“I’m sorry,” she lied. “Our leader convinced us we were doing the right thing.”

Zax made another strange trilling noise. Then he sat on his haunches, watching her curiously, and Fawn was sure she had been found out. She fisted her hands in the fur-lined nest, wishing for her own set of claws. What she wouldn’t give to hurt this monster once he leapt on her.

“I do wonder why the Titan gods picked you,” Zax said suddenly. “Are you sure it’s you?”

Fawn didn’t know what to say to that. Should she lie again?

“I don’t know any gods,” she said finally. “But I… I felt drawn there. To you.”

It wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t true in the way he hoped.

Zax lit up, his tail slapping into the wooden floor. Fawn watched it, incredulous. This was the horrifying monster who had killed Renly? She had watched him skulk back into the forest, dripping with her husband’s blood, not to mention several other members of the Circle. And now he was wagging his strange, fuzzy tail while he presented her objects like he might cry if she didn’t approve of them. What was happening?

“I did not know prayer would work,” he admitted. “I had never done it before last week. More people should try it.”

He crawled closer and sat down in front of the nest. Their nest, she supposed. At least, until she escaped.

“I will tend to your foot,” he said eagerly. “And then we can leave to get our bonding spell.”