Page 52 of The Stolen Bride

Ha! “No, you do not.”

Once we cleared the campsite, we picked up speed. Heading for the traveling stones, where turul-shifters probably awaited us? Nope. We veered right, entering a dense cluster of trees and thickets.

The sound of rushing water hit my ears, and his plan crystallized. I approved. We headed for the ice-filled river, our best chance for survival.

A tide of adrenaline surged through me, and I pumped my arms faster. My feet responded in kind. Viktor’s, too. We picked up speed again.

“Dive,” he commanded, following his own order.

I obeyed, crashing into the frigid liquid, losing my hold on the berserker as the shock of cold seized my muscles. A thousand stings pricked my skin. No need to swim. Thecurrent dragged me along a rocky river. I put up no resistance, holding my breath as long as possible. When I could tolerate the burn in my lungs no longer, I fought my way up, already bracing for the danger that awaited me. My head breached the surface. I sucked in oxygen.

No bug attacks. Had we passed the danger zone?

Took some doing, but I struggled against the dangerous current and twisted, glancing behind me. The line of fog had reached the shore but hadn’t braved the water. My relieved breath came out as near frost. We should exit the river now or die of hyperthermia. But where was Viktor?

“Oomph!” Pain reverberated through my entire body as the force of water slammed me into a boulder. Impact spun me around and around and around. I flailed my arms in a desperate attempt to grab on to something, anything. Icy water shot into my nose, clogging my airways.

I fought to inhale even the slightest tidbit of oxygen and failed. My limbs grew heavy and weak. My world darkened. With the last of my strength, I cut through the current and lugged myself onto a fogless part of the shore.

As darkness took over, I sagged over the dirt.Where are you, Viktor?

I awokefrom a dreamless sleep with a start. Memories overtook my awareness. Approaching bugs. Long distance sprinting. A tangle with the river. Viktor! My gaze darted here, there. Still no sign of him.

Worry instantly gripped me. Where was he? What happened to him?

Using my elbows, I pulled myself up the riverbankedged with a layer of frost. A single animal track crisscrossed through the surrounding snow, but nothing human, err berserker, err birdlike. A light mist free of bugs hung in the air, and judging by the fading sunlight, hours had passed since we’d fled into the dangerous water. Where was he?

At least I could breathe. And the ring, my one connection to Juniper, hadn’t slid from my thumb. Wait! A crunch of brittle leaves and ice sounded. Footsteps. Someone approached. Viktor? A shifter? Another kind of predator?

Unwilling to risk it, I scrambled to stand, intending to hide…where? Too late. A grinning Deco strode from the shadows. Instant fight response. I palmed my pocket dagger and rooted my feet in place. No doubt his acolytes perched all around us.

“Hello, Clover.” Not quite as tall as Viktor but equally muscled, he painted an imposing picture. Like many of the other warriors, he’d opted to go shirtless, letting those solid gold wings arch over his shoulders freely. A hooked horn grew from each joint. Black leathers covered his tree trunk thighs. Metal spikes protruded from his combat boots. The perfect complement for the numerous weapons strapped to his powerful body.

“Where’s my sister?” I demanded, tightening my hold on the hilt of the blade.

“Not here,” he said, speaking in Hungarian as he stopped just out of reach. “Nor is Viktor, I see. Too bad. I so look forward to killing you in front of him. Well, no matter. I’ll relay a message instead.”

“Ah. Is the big, bad birdie still jealous that his second-in-command is stronger, more powerful, and so much hotter?” I infused each word with enough taunt to irritate even the most patient of souls.

His smug expression never altered, but ripples of irritation swept over the feathers in his wings. “Tune your ears. My message is dire–for you. Four of Viktor’s elite decided to join me rather than die at my hand. I’ll be unleashing them in the morning, letting them hunt you.”

Four? So. They’d traded their honor to keep their lives. That was gonna hurt Viktor badly, whether or not he admitted it. Especially if Bodi was among the four. Was he?

Deco continued with his taunts. “If your precious sentinel king wishes to saveyourlife, he must come out of hiding to do it.”

Viktor wasn’t in hiding. No way, no how. He was an attack first and question later kinda guy. Which meant, what? Nothing good, that much I knew.

But no. Absolutely no harm had come to him. He was fine.

My hand curled into a fist. He better be fine.

“You’re lying to me. Trying to break me down.” My dream pointed to a future event. Therefore, Viktor still lived.

“I never lie sometimes,” Deco replied, nonchalant.

Anger uncoiled in each of my cells, and I snapped, “I believe you’re too afraid of hurting me to do the job yourself.”

What are you doing? Begging the villain to attack?

---