Page 16 of The King of Frost and Shadows

Nightbane yelped, pulling my attention back to him. Tavish stepped closer to the animal, spreading his wings out until I couldn’t see the wolf anymore. Shadows swirled around him, floating across his skin and body. A few edges darkened to the color of night … to the color of the sky outside, as if it might be dark because of him.

I shivered. That was crazy.

My heart skipped a beat like it was trying to answer the question, but I ignored it. Accepting that I’d been taken into an alternate reality, or whatever this was and that these people had wings was hard enough, never mind accepting that this man could control the night. And if he could, I didn’t want to think about what that meant.

The wolfish animal closed its eyes, no longer seeming menacing. In fact, my heart ached, wanting to ease its pain.

“What are you doing to him?” I asked and limped ungracefully up to Tavish.

I hated that standing next to him didn’t bother me the way it should have. Even though I didn’t like him, I knew he wouldn’t let anyone else hurt me … but theanyone elsegave me the largest pause. He’d made it clear that he was the only one allowed to hurt me, and that should have made me nervous, especially after seeing what he was capable of not even an hour ago, but until the time came to escape, my smartest move was to stay close to him for protection until I could bear weight on my right foot.

“Punishing him.” Tavish’s eyes were dark, the same color as when he haunted my dreams, and darkness clung to him, his shirt blending in with the air around him.

I feared what he was doing to the animal, and before I could consider my actions, I kneeled next to Nightbane. Not that the poor wolf could do anything even if he'd wanted to, not in the state he was in.

The reality of my situation crashed down on me harder. Whatever Tavish was, he wasn’t a man, and he didn’t hesitate to hurt anything he deemed a threat, which included me.

“I think he learned his lesson.” I tried to keep my voice level despite my heart pounding against my ribs, yet my voice still rose, revealing my fear and heartbreak for the animal.

Tavish’s head snapped toward me, and he blinked. “Are you defending an animal that wanted to kill you?”

I flinched. He had a point, but if Tavish had tormented Nightbane like this since he was a pup, no wonder he was so angry and afraid. I had my own trauma from nightmares of the man standing before me. On so many nights, I’d climbed into Eiric’s bed to be close to someone, yet Tavish’s eyes had still terrified me.

Eiric.

My chest throbbed.

“Maybe too much time on Earth makes fae stupid,” Finnian suggested, strolling to the other side of Tavish. “She’s Seelie so that already puts her at a disadvantage with intelligence, butthisis a level of foolish I’ve never observed before.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I wereSeelie.”

“What he means is that when fae stay on Earth too long, they forget their life here.” Tavish’s irises lightened to a stormy cloud.

Nightbane stopped whimpering but continued to breathe heavily.

“Maybe it messes with their minds more than we realized. This is the longest a fae has ever gone to Earth and returned.” Finnian grinned. “I’m sort of intrigued about what would’ve happened if she’d stayed longer.”

The guard cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, what would you like us to do? Nightbane still hasn’t gotten enough of her scent.”

I looked at the guard, noting his dark hair with frosted tips peeking out from under his helmet.

“He needs her scent to keep track of her like the other prisoners.” The guard’s face twisted into disgust as he looked at me. “She seems to enjoy causing trouble.”

“That she does,” Tavish muttered. “I fear more so than Finnian.”

Nightbane’s eyes opened. They were a dark emerald close to the color of the tips of his fur. He turned his head toward me and bared his teeth, but nothing more.

I scooted away from him. Though he didn’t appear as menacing, I didn’t want to be an easy target if he decided to attack me again.

“This would go a whole lot quicker if you would allow him to smell you.” Tavish’s wings rippled. “Then we can take you somewhere else. I have things to accomplish today other than babysitting you.”

My stomach knotted. The thought of being away from him and going back into the holding cell where more guards could attack me wasn’t high on my bucket list. Still, if it got this menacing animal away from me and prevented Tavish from torturing the wolflike creature more, I was all for it. Unless … “Is he going to bite me? Is that how he gets my scent?”

Tavish pinched the bridge of his nose.

Finnian patted him on the back and answered, “He doesn’t like being touched, but the best way for him to get your scent is for you to put your hand on his nose. It makes him feel vulnerable, which is why he’s all growly. Something I expected Tavish to warn you about.”

“Why would I?” Tavish straightened his shoulders. “If she wants to be attacked, so be it.”

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