Page 139 of Flirting with Darkness

A BAD NAME

“You need to keep that hidden.” It was the first thing he’d said to me in the half hour since we’d exited the stone valley.

We’d reached the top of the hill and now strode through heathland, purple and white heather poking through the snow. His pace ate up the ground, leaving me trotting to keep up. The sun came out, warming my back, but Ari’s magic in my cloak kept me a comfortable temperature.

“Keep what hidden, exactly?”

“The knife.”

I’d grabbed it before hurrying after him and now it sat at my hip.

His gaze swept the rolling hills ahead as it seemed to constantly do. A braided leather cuff peeked out from his sleeve, with a silver hoop caught at its centre. He tapped it, paused, looking expectant, then scowled and continued. “Iron marks you as dangerous. Makes you a target.”

“Me? Dangerous?” I laughed, but his brows only drew lower, pooling his eyes in shadow. “You’re… serious?”

“As a fucking heart attack, little flower.”

I’d told him my name was Rose as we’d left the rocky maze. He’d only acknowledged it with a grunt.

“Little flower?” I raised an eyebrow. “A nickname from the gruff giant? Who’d’ve thought!”

He gave me a sidelong look, no hint of a smile. “The knife.”

So much for my joke. I huffed and took the iron knife and its scabbard off my belt before tucking it into my boot. “How’s that?”

“Hmm.” Whatever that meant. But he didn’t tell me to hide it better, so I took it as approval. Or at leastnotdisapproval.

“Say what you like about those beasts,” I muttered, rolling my shoulders, “at least with them I might’ve had a bit of conversation.”

He grunted, mouth flattening into a scowl. “They give us all a bad name.”

“Ha! I’ve heard the stories. I know what fae are like.” They made it quite clear fae creatures were as dangerous as they were beautiful. So far I wasn’t sure about the beautiful part. It wasn’t that Faolán was ugly, more that I couldn’t bring myself to look at him too long in case he’d take it as a challenge. “They couldn’t make your reputation any worse. Were they werewolves?”

“Mm-hmm. Shapechanging fae create such beings when they bite fae, humans, or other creatures.”

Great, so there were fae who could turn themselves into wolves. The two most dangerous things that I’d been warned about all my life combined in one neat package. Really great.

Still, right now, my curiosity was more immediate than any danger. “Or other creatures.” I cocked my head and circled a clump of heather that he stepped over without effort. “So did some of them start off as wolves?”

“Most likely.”

“Huh. A wolf who turns into a human… or human-ishthing. I’d never thought of it that way before.”

He said nothing more, just walked on. Judging by the sun’s position to our right, we seemed to be heading north, so my plan wasn’t completely ruined.

“So, after we marry, are you going to let me look for my friend?”

“I have work to do.”

I opened my mouth to object, but he silenced me with a look.

“You can ask about your friend as we travel.”

I huffed out the breath I’d taken to argue, shoulders sagging. If we didn’t get anywhere from just asking, I could always sneak away in the night. “Fine.”

He glowered at me, sending my course veering away. “Just don’t run off and get yourself killed like an idiot.”

I laughed at the fact he’d echoed my thoughts. His almost-insult didn’t even smart: to use his earlier phrase, I’d been called worse. “Wow, you already know me so well. Bodes well for a future husband.”

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