Page 152 of Bride of the Fae Prince

She chokes, her eyes rolling back.

I grab hold of a couch leg and pull, trying to drag myself away. My arms aren’t strong enough. I fall to the floor again.

“Get her out of here!” Ash yells, and at first, I think he means Listhra, but when Edvear’s panting breaths hit my face, his clumsy hands grabbing my arms, I realize Ash meant me.

“You killed them!” Listhra shrieks.

“You need to leave.” He has her pinned against the wall, her wings flattened. “I never wanted your death or anyone else’s, but you well know that I am more than willing to shed blood.” Heavy breathing punctuates his words, suggesting that she is vastlystronger than she looks, and keeping her from throwing herself at me is taking much of his strength.

Edvear tries to help me to my feet. My knees buckle immediately, and Ash shouts, “Just drag her! Get her out of here!”

So Edvear takes hold of my wrists and does exactly that—drags my limp body to the hallway.

It gives me a full view of the small orange glow Listhra is summoning in the palm of her pinned hand—a glow that Ash hasn’t noticed.

Listhra’s furious, hate-filled golden eyes meet mine, and her palm twists toward me.

Aiming.

“Ash!” I scream.

My cry is enough.

A loud snapping fills the room.

Listhra’s body sags. The glow vanishes.

I barely have the presence of mind to realize that I just watched my husband snap Listhra’s neck with his bare hands before Edvear drags me around the corner and out of sight.

Chapter 57

The Princess

I’ve never seen somany servants around. I didn’t even know Ash kept so many employed. But apparently there is a lot of clean up to do. When the missing footman finally returns from watching the celebration, I recognize him as Milton Andrews, the man who promised service to Ash in exchange for the rescue of his daughter from Listhra. He works harder than the rest, righting overturned furniture and scrubbing blood off the floor.

I’m propped up against the hallway doorframe amid the flurry of movement while Dottie draws a fresh bath for me. Ash left with Listhra’s body. I don’t know where he’s taking it, only that when the door opens and his broad shoulder and bowed head come into view, I’m greatly relieved.

He comes straight to me. Kneels before me, carefully cups my face.

“Are you alright?” we ask at the same time.

“Your shoulder?” I ask. Two dots of blood mar his beautiful tunic.

“It’s fine; it’ll heal quickly. You’re less gray,” he says. “That’s a good sign. Is your strength returning at all?”

By way of answer, I grab my skirts and tug them up enough to reveal one bare foot. I splay my toes for him. “I can do this.”

His serious expression cracks on the edges, his mouth twitching in a faint mimicry of a smile. “Impressive.”

“I’d show you my other foot, but the shoe is still on it. This one must have fallen off at some—”

He catches my face and claims my mouth in a bruising kiss. Servants bustle quietly behind his back, but it feels like I am in a cocoon of his desperate affection, shielded from all who wish me harm.

It takes every last ounce of my strength, but I lift my arm, thread my fingers through his hair at his temple. Telling him without words that I love him, that I am so grateful for how he protects me.

The water shuts off in the washroom. I open my eyes at the same time Ash does. The look he gives me—it takes me back to another world, another night, when he lifted my veil after our wedding and our gazes met for the first time. I smile.

“I love you,” Ash breathes, his voice giving out halfway through the sentence.

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