Page 81 of A Kingdom of Monsters

Without my meaning to, my eyes darted to his tattooed throat. In my mind's eye, I could see myself sinking my teeth into the point just above his collarbone where his neck met his shoulder. I could practically taste it, that rush of power and magic and desire all at once.

My heart beat once, twice, a third time in my ears and neither of us moved. His dark gaze bore into me, like he was daring me to act on every insane impulse that I hardly even recognized as my own. These ideas that felt both instinctual and like someone else’s thoughts projected into my mind.

Distantly, I became aware that this had nothing to do with my shoulder anymore.

The sound of clopping hooves against the road and the distant jingling of bells pulled me back to myself. I looked up, past Ambrose’s shoulder, and could make out a dark shape in themiddle of the road coming toward us faster than any horse I’d ever seen.

Ambrose looked over his shoulder and swore loudly. “Fuck me.”

“What is it?” I asked, nonplussed.

“I’m hoping it’s just a servant,” he said darkly.

“A servant to whom?”

Instead of answering, he got up and reached down, pulling me to my feet by my uninjured arm. I squinted into the growing darkness, and could finally make out a carriage being pulled toward us by two enormous white reindeer. I blinked in surprise, but there wasn’t time to ask any questions.

The carriage drew steadily nearer to us, then stopped directly in the center of the road in front of us. The driver shouted something to the deer–a command which had to mean “Stop” or “Wait” just by the context, but which I couldn’t actually understand.

Then, a figure in a heavy maroon coat that reached all the way to the ground climbed down out of the carriage. They walked toward us, and pushed back a wide, white fur trimmed hood.

My first thought was that I didn’t recognize this woman at all.

My second thought was that she was far too lovely to be staring at Ambrose like she knew him…well.

She was clearly Fae, and had long chestnut brown hair and enormous honey brown eyes. Her face was slightly round, and her cheeks were bright pink from the cold. She walked up to us, looked at me for half a second, then smiled at Ambrose.

He swore again.

25

AMBROSE

THE SOUTHERN COAST OF NEVERMORE

“Fuck!” I swore loudly.

Cassinda laughed, and the sound made me stiffen. It was like glass shattering or a distant scream and knowing instinctively that something was about to go very wrong very quickly.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” Cassinda asked, in a tone that implied she knew the answer already.

“Not really.” There was no point in lying. We both knew this was not about to be anything close to a happy reunion.

Oddly, Cassinda laughed again. “I would have thought you’d at least be grateful to get a ride back into the city. We’ve been out looking for you for over an hour.”

My face twisted in confusion. “You have? Why?”

“Your brother arrived earlier. He’s very handsome, and so polite too.”

I laughed. Scion was anything but polite, but he'd undoubtedly realized it would be foolish to offend the ruling family of Nevermore so soon. Especially when we were so likely to offend them later, anyway.

“Scion would destroy you,” I snapped at her. “Anyway, he’s mated. Leave him alone.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes, so he told me. It was the strangest story. Apparently, you were all supposed to arrive together but somehow you ended up way out here with your brother’s mate. I’d say I was surprised, but I know you too well.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I ground out.

She smiled, and it didn’t reach her eyes.

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