Page 110 of Until the Stars Fall

Lieke’s sapphire eyes shifted in my direction, but I was focused solely on her captors.

Renata swung the knife around toward me, thrusting it high, apparently expecting me to leap at her. Instead, I crouched low, clamping my jaws on her calf. She screamed as she lost her footing, and with one violent shake of my head, I threw her body into the wall across the alley.

The two males dropped Lieke and lunged for me, but I was faster. Leaping onto one of them, I sank my teeth into his neck, ignoring the disgusting taste of his blood as I ripped and tore at his throat. The other male got his arms around me and tried to pull me off his brother, but it only aided me in tearing away a large chunk of flesh. I spit it onto the ground and watched with satisfaction as the fae collapsed against the wall, his hands frantically trying to staunch the blood pouring from his wound.

Lieke’s scream rent the air.

Still fighting to get free of the other fae’s hold on me, I searched for Lieke, assuming Renata must have come to and was attempting to finish her off. Instead, though, I found Lieke—my bride, my mortal, my Sapphire—rushing toward us with Renata’s knife in hand. Then she disappeared from view. I couldn’t see what she did, but it must have been effective, because the fae roared in pain, releasing me before his back arched and he fell to the ground.

CHAPTER 52

Lieke

Blood trickled down the knife and onto my shaking hand. I couldn’t move or think as I watched the fae fall to the ground. I’d buried the blade in his lower back, thrusting it up under his ribs as I’d been taught to. Something moved in my periphery, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the pool of blood now spreading across the stone street. A hand grabbed my arm and wheeled me around until I found myself staring into Connor’s golden-brown eyes.

“Are you okay, Sapphire?” he asked, his breathing as ragged as my own. “Are you hurt?”

Blinking quickly, I nodded. “I’m fine. I’m sorry.”

He cupped my neck in his hands, his thumbs stroking my jaw as he narrowed his eyes. “Why are you apologizing?”

I swallowed hard, ignoring the way my skin warmed under his touch and how my pulse settled in his presence. “I should have been more careful.”

He laughed quietly and brought his lips down to my forehead, kissing me softly before saying, “You’re only human, Sapphire. And three fae surprising you on your way to the privy—”

“Is embarrassing,” I said, my face heating. How many times was this prince going to have to save my pathetically mortal life?

Connor laughed again as he pulled his hands away from me, and I noticed the blood coating his stubbled chin.

I gestured to my own jaw. “You missed some.”

Quickly he swiped a hand across his face, grimacing at the blood that now stained his fingers. He brushed them against his pants to clean them off and then looked down at the three fae that lay unconscious on the street.

“Are they dead?” I asked.

Before he could answer, though, Matthias and several of the guards came running around the corner. At the sight of us, they came to a sudden stop, and Matthias burst into laughter.

“I guess you don’t need my help after all, Your Highness,” he said as he walked slowly toward us, eyeing the bodies briefly as he stepped over a pair of legs.

Connor shrugged casually, as if this was any other day. Perhaps it was actually. Connor was the commander of the king’s military, after all. “Actually, we could use your help,” he said, nudging Matthias’s arm and gesturing to the fallen males. “These two will need a burial.”

At that last word, I gasped. They were fae though. Immortals. Realization dawned on me as I remembered our earlier conversation. The war. Fae had died in battle, so they weren’t truly immortal. Yes, they could heal—how many times had I witnessed Mrs. Bishop’s cuts and burns heal rapidly?—but they could still be killed.

Connor’s voice snagged my attention, and I found him pointing to Renata’s unconscious form. “And that one needs to be taken back to the palace for trial.”

Matthias gave him a sharp nod. “This isn’t going to bode well for your image with the townsfolk, Your Highness.”

Connor rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “No kidding. We’ll need to delay our arrival in Fairden so I can meet with the village lord and do my best to smooth things over.”

As Matthias turned to dole out assignments to the guards, I caught Connor’s attention.

“What will you say?” I asked, cringing internally at the stupidity of my question.

“The truth, I suppose,” he said with less confidence than I’d hoped for. “We should get back to the room and get some sleep.”

“Well then, after you, Your Highness,” I said.

But Connor offered me his arm, dropping his head to the side. “Why don’t we walk together from now on.”

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