Page 1 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

PROLOGUE

Ornella

Atask. Critical. Must go. Now. Go now!

The sense of urgency flooded my veins with fear and adrenaline. It must be Amira, she was in danger, and I needed to save her, but I was trapped inside a nightmare. The one I knew best and hated the most.

There was water in my lungs that burned and throbbed like they were on fire. My screams streamed around both sides of my face in a flood of bubbles from my mouth as I heaved up against the large hand on the back of my head. My fingernails chipped and bent backward on stones as I grappled for purchase, my palms and knuckles split open, but I didn’t care. I could easily ignore that pain while the panic of being drowned was blaring through my veins.

A hateful punishment disguised as an attempt to teach me to use my magic.

But the water was becoming hotter, so hot it overcame my desperate need for air, and that was not a usual part of this memory that had become a recurring nightmare.

And then I remembered.

Thetaskhad been to save Amira, an orphaned witch, who then broke the curse on Riordan Vasilikós and would be his mate when he took his place as King of the Vale. But just as I thought I had accomplished this assignment given to me by the Tithriall, the three of us were attacked in the Vale. I had been ready to make one final sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, to ensure the safety of my future king and his mate. My precious friend.

But I had not expected to kill a rider of the Wild Hunt or to be taken as their captive. Rian would have gutted me for murdering his lover if not for their ancient custom in which new riders had to kill their predecessor.

It had been such an unexpectedly perfect opportunity to infiltrate an enemy of the Vale, and I had been ready to capitalize on it. I was ready to do whatever was necessary to keep protecting Amira.

Until Sage. Until Carrick and Asha…

The water around me was not the dreaded fountain in my father’s favoured courtyard but a shield I had erected which now felt like it was beginning to boil.

I screamed again, another primal cry as I stood before the Autumn Prince and his tidal wave of flame and fury that threatened everything good I’d come to care about.

But Rian wasn’t the first to try and destroy me, and he certainly would not be the last.

Chapter one

CANNOT BE REPAID

Amira

Remember what I told you.

I could still hear the urgency in her voice as Ornella implored me.

They will all wonder at your audacity to believe you belong with Riordan.

I could still feel her stubborn hesitation after I grabbed her into a hug before she could walk away. Could still feel how she finally relented and squeezed me back.

Know in your heart that you are where you belong.

I could still see her playful grin right before she turned and walked into the trunk of a tree to lure the invading Unseelie warriors away from me and her king.

Because the fucking Tithriall sent me to you…

I had been playing that last conversation over and over in my head for what felt like an hour while I was prodded through the dense underbrush. My mind was strangely disjointed from my body as it cycled through an endless loop of emotions. I was enraged that Nell had volunteered herself in the first place, and that we were really leaving her behind. But then an anguishedunderstanding would set in because Riordan was the King of the Vale. He was not at his full strength after he was nearly recaptured by a blood witch trying to acquire his power. His life was infinitely more important than either mine or Nell’s when so many people were relying on his return to the Vale. Which reminded me that I was in over my head. I needed my friend, I needed her sharp tongue and her firm resolve, and now she was gone.

Bringing me back to rage again.

I was startled when Riordan put a gentle hand on the back of my head to pull me closer to him and under a low branch in the underbrush. I would have probably walked straight into it in my blind distraction.

I closed my eyes and allowed the griffin shifter to pull me against his chest while he pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead. A sweet display of the sympathy and devotion which he had promised to me if I accepted him as my mate.

When I opened my eyes, I saw his enormous left wing had curled around me. The feathers on the underside were still stained with his blood from the bolts I’d removed. Bolts that had been imbued with a horrible magic that ripped his power from him. Weakening him.

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