Page 66 of Once the Skies Fade

Asher stepped around me, gently nudging me behind him. I tried to resist, but I was too tired—and he was too strong. He swiveled around, bending his face low so his bronze eyes pierced mine.

“You hired me for a reason, Your Majesty. Let me do what I do best.”

Thinning my lips, I nodded. He wasn’t wrong.

But when Matthias appeared at the edge of the trees, still carrying the injured male on his back, and Asher stepped forward with a deep growl, I wondered if maybe I hadn’t made a mistake hiring the shifter mercenary after all.

Chapter 32

Matthias

Oryn’s quickly fading pulse spurred me on. Reaching one of the guards was his only hope at surviving, so I pushed through the strain in my lungs and the aches in my muscles toward the light up ahead. The sound of voices sparked new hope. Maybe he’d stand a chance.

Or maybe they’ll execute me on sight.

I shoved that thought aside. It was a possibility, sure, but focusing on fear wouldn’t help me save my friend.

Three steps from the clearing, I spotted Calla. Her dark hair was plaited down her back, but loose strands framed her face, some stuck to her forehead and temple with perspiration. An intimidating male ushered her behind him, except this was no fae. He had rounded ears—a human—yet, Calla seemed more than comfortable with him. She trusted him.

Keeping my feet firmly planted in the shade of the trees, I locked eyes with Calla, who watched me from behind the man’s massive arm.

“Hey, Killer,” I said, half-smiling.

I should have known better, of course, but the nickname had grown on me. The man took a step forward, hostility blazingin a pair of eyes that reminded me of Connor’s—in shade and intensity.

“That’s no way to speak to your queen,” he said.

I raised my chin as best I could with Oryn still draped across my neck. “To be fair, she’s not my queen.”

Calla’s gaze swung up to the man, and I could have sworn that was concern written across her face; though whether it was for me or for him, I didn’t know. Not that it mattered.

“Yet,” he clarified. “Did you forget you’re not allowed to leave the forest?”

“I don’t intend to,” I said. Balancing Oryn, I reached a hand up to my collar and pulled the black vial from beneath my shirt. “I know the secrets of the forest. I can live here quite happily…for the next ten hours.”

“Then why are you here?”

“My friend here was gravely injured. He needs a healer, now.”

“Unfortunately for your friend there, I’m to kill any contestant who leaves before sundown,” the man explained.

My eyes narrowed at him, and I dropped the pendant back to my chest so I could readjust Oryn. “So I carried him all this way for you to just…kill him anyway?”

“Appears so.”

Sighing loudly, I knelt down and eased Oryn off my back and onto the ground. Stretching out my back and shoulders, I rolled my neck to ease its aches as I rose to my sore-as-fuck feet. Calla watched me, brows lowered over her dark eyes. I slowly wet my lips, chuckling when the queen’s gaze lowered to my mouth.

“You know, Killer—” The man growled in warning, and I raised my hands in a placating gesture, dipping my head in reverence toward Calla. “Your Majesty. A little mercy shown here could go a long way in fighting the rumors.”

She didn’t move, though her expression shifted ever so slightly.

Jutting my chin toward the male, I shrugged casually. “I’m sure your guard dog here could handle getting him to a healer, no?”

As I’d hoped, the man snarled, his shoulders tensing as if he actually had hackles to raise.

“Nice doggy,” I said, patting the air with my hand.

“Easy, Asher,” Calla said, lifting her fingers to his arm, though she kept her attention firmly on me. “It’s not wise to taunt him.”

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