Page 55 of A Shard of Ice

The bloodfae in front of me lifts his hands as if to calm me. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

I don’t believe them for a second.

Just because one of them is a woman doesn’t make them trustworthy. Women can be evil, too. Snow is a perfect example of that.

“I am going to let you go,” she says. “Please don’t scream; you could attract unwanted attention, and it would hurt my ears.”

“You’re quite safe,” the bloodfae before me says.

I still don’t believe him.

I mumble into her hand.

“Here goes nothing.” She lets me go.

I stumble away, quickly turning so that my back isn’t to them. I pull my dagger, holding it in front of me.

“You do know that if you draw a dagger, you should be prepared to use it,” the female says, folding her arms across her chest.

“Oh, I’ll use it, alright.” I slash the blade in front of me. “Stay where you are. Both of you.” I look at each of them in turn.

They are well-armed. The female has two swords strapped across her back, as well as a bow with a quiver full of feather-tipped arrows. I’m sure she has at least one dagger tucked away somewhere as well.

I note that the woman is a human. Her dark hair is tightly braided against her head. She’s also wearing leather armor over a white tunic. Her breeches are a rust color.

“I mean it.” I slash again. “Stay back.”

She smiles. “You should stop doing that. It’s a dead giveaway that you don’t have too much experience at wielding a knife. You should put one foot a little in front of the other.” She shows me. “It would help you to maintain your balance. Wild sweeps of the blade will leave you wide open to attack. You should keep your movements concise. Stabbing is better than slashing.” She demonstrates, even though she isn’t holding a knife. “I’m Thesha, and this is my husband, Xander.” The two exchange a look that leaves no doubt that they are together and in love. I almost want to look away. It’s that intimate, even though it’s just a look.

I frown. “But you’re human,” I tell her. “Isn’t a union between a human and fae illegal?”

Thesha shrugs. “They are not our rules; they’reherrules. We refuse to live under Snow’s rule.”

I like her. I still don’t trust her, but I do like her.

“Please help us, human. If you do, we’ll catch a horse for you and help you on your way,” Xander says.

They wantmyhelp? It makes no sense. How, in Kakara’s name, am I going to help these two? They seem more than capable to me.

“What do you mean?” I fold my arms. “How do you want me to help you?”

“We’re tracking a group of shadowfae. We think that a friend of ours was with them. His name is Damon. He’s an icefae. Did you see anything?” Xander looks around him, his expression grave.

I try not to react at the use of his name.

“It looks like the party was ambushed by bloodsuckers.” Thesha looks around at all the corpses.

The male chokes out a laugh. “Easy there, love.”

“You are bloodsuckers.” She widens her eyes and then winks at him. They exchange another sappy look. “I mean no offense, babe.”

“Careful. When you ask me to bite you later, I might just—”

I clear my throat.

“Oh, um…” Thesha licks her lips. “Forgot you were there for a moment. Did you see them? Was Damon taken? Did he escape?”

“What do you want with Damon?” I narrow my eyes.

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