Page 53 of King of Storms and Feathers

“Not now you aren’t. And according to Esen, you weren’t doing a very good job of it before anyway.”

My blood boiled in my veins.

“Did she also happen to call me the king’s harlot?”

His lips compressed, and he stared at me grimly.

“No? Of course she didn’t. I wonder what else Esen says behind your back.”

A wry half-smile lifted his lips. “She reads poems in my honor, no doubt.”

Arranging my face in a mask of innocence, I took a step toward him, my palms raised in supplication. “I was curious, that’s all. I spend most days alone, and I’m bored. I only wanted a glimpse of the city. I’ll head straight back to the bay now and return to work.”

Staring past his bulky shoulders, I marched forward.

“Stop,” he said. “Did that bag of gold help you better admire the streets?”

I looked down at the gold in my arms. “Damn. Sorry.” I held the bag out. “I know how this looks. I meant to drop it, but somehow… I forgot.”

He ripped it from my hands, and with a straight face, dropped it on the ground between us, like it was an insignificant bag of potatoes.

I made a quick bow and tried to step around him.

“Not so fast, Leaf.” His fingers seized my wrist. “The only place you’re going is where I say.”

“But I have work to do. Ari said…”

Silver eyes blazed down at me, and his brow twisted in a hard frown. “Ari answers to me. And I’m telling you that you’re coming with me. Did you really think you could escape so easily?”

“No! I told you. I was just curious. I’m sorry, King Arrowyn,” I said, keeping my chin dipped but my eyes foolishly fixed on his.

Whatever he saw in my gaze—probably anger as hot as the desert sun—made him laugh. Then he grabbed my arm and tugged me in the direction of the palace.

“You’re a liar, little human,” he growled, glaring at the workers who stared slack-jawed at us as we weaved our way through the crowd.

Struggling to keep up with his long strides, frustration loosened my tongue. “You’re hurting me. Why do you have to be such a dust-damned giant with tree trunks for legs?”

“Really? You’re going with that now?” He stopped dead, jolting me backward by my arm. “It’s not my fault you’re so tiny, is it?” Then he tossed me over his shoulder, his fingers digging into my flesh in an uncompromising grip. “Despite what you say, you’re definitely not sorry now, Leaf. But I promise that you soon will be.”

Shit. I was pretty sure my luck had run out and I was about to see a side of Arrow that he kept reasonably well-leashed. The dark side.

The question I asked myself, as I bounced against his back, my head spinning with fear and something even worse, was so far from sensible I wondered about my sanity.

I should have asked myself… would I die tonight? And if so, how badly would it hurt?

But no.

I didn’t.

Whatever Arrow had planned, my foolish, blood-pooled brain was wondering if I might like it.

Chapter 14

Arrow

Fury burned inside me as I strode through the sitting room. The human dug her fingernails into the backs of my thighs but, wisely, made no sound of protest, not even a squeak.

How dare she leave her assigned work and then pretend she wasn’t sneaking around looking for escape routes? No matter how innocent her gap-toothed smile made her look, the girl was a liar and would flee the city the first chance she got. But she was mine, and I would never allow her to leave me.

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