Page 103 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

A lazy smile curls his lips. “Yes, I think I prefer this. A little higher and more to the left.”

“Release me, pig,” I demand through gritted teeth, giving up.

He chuckles, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Or what?”

I slide my dagger from its sheath and hold it up in a silent threat.

Tyree spears me with a warning glare. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I? We’re in this mess because of you.” I sigh dramatically. “But I won’t because I don’t want to listen to you whine again.”

He rolls his eyes. “Here, let me see if I can cut through this netting. I’ve never seen such a metal. I do not know what it is made from.” He holds out his hand.

I glare at it. “I am not granting you my dagger. Use your sword.”

“How am I supposed to draw that given our current predicament? Besides, it’s dull.” He waits, his gaze boring into mine. “I’m giving you a choice to be amiable, Annika. You don’t think I could strip you of it if I wanted to?”

“Not if I know you are going to try—”

With a lightning-quick move, Tyree clamps his fist around my wrist.

“No!” I try to wrestle it away, the move bringing him farther on top of me.

“Would you let go so I can—”

I do as asked and the blade falls.

The mortals waiting below jump back with shouts, several uttering words in that foreign tongue as my dagger lands in the grass with a thud. A man rushes forward to collect it.

I assume it’s as good as gone forever.

“Now look what you’ve done,” I complain, acutely aware of Tyree’s weight on me and where my thigh presses between his legs.

“What I’ve done. If you had just—” His jaw clenches. “You are the most obstinate person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing in all my—oof!” His words cut off with a groan of agony as I swiftly lift my knee.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” I smile up at him.

He breathes through the pain. “I was trying to see if I could free us. Traps like these are not set for welcomed visitors, and those caught in them aren’t treated well.”

When he says it like that … I study where the net is affixed to the tree above us. “Can you not break that branch with your affinity?” Based on what he displayed earlier, his connection to Aminadav is powerful. Far more so than mine.

He peers over his shoulder to where I’m focused. “Not a bad idea. In this position, you would bear the brunt of the fall.”

“You say that and yet earlier, you dove to protect me from that beam. Do not think I didn’t notice.” I raise my eyebrow in challenge.

“I also conspired to kill your entire family. Did you not notice that?”

That reminder stays my tongue.

Tyree sighs. “On second thought, there is nothing to say breaking that branch will untangle us from this netting before those people attack.”

I angle my head to get a better look below. “That’s a lot of pitchforks,” I agree.

“Even simple farmers can do serious damage under threat. And do you smell that stench in the air?”

“Besides you?” I throw back without thinking, earning his scowl. In truth, Tyree doesn’t smell unpleasant at all—like orange blossoms mixed with clean sweat and seawater. I may not crave his blood anymore, but it still appeals to me. “Yes. What is it?” Besides something foul.

“Burning flesh.”

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