Page 43 of Prince of Never

‘I want to beat Solas,’ I replied.A half-truth.

‘Hmm.Perhaps.But he’s here every year.Is there something new piquing your interest?’

‘I’m as interested in the Hunt as I ever am.’

She frowned, spotting the evasion, but she didn’t comment on it, instead glancing down the line of hunters.‘Briyala is looking lovely tonight.You’re lucky that I’ve picked you such a worthy queen.I was not so lucky with your father.’

‘I’d say the feeling was mutual,’ I muttered as she drew away, back to her tent to await the winners.As hostess, she wouldn’t run.She’d sit and eat flavoured ices while waiting to award points to returning hunters.

I finally spotted Imogen as the handlers began untying the tributes.She looked cold, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso as soon as they were free, and she was scanning the line, that crease between her brows.Solas glanced over at me, and the slow smile that spread across his face tested my stillness.

The handlers stepped back and started shouting, throwing their arms up and chasing the prey towards the tree line.The white-haired halfling grabbed Imogen’s hand and tugged her into a run, and they disappeared into the shadowy forest, along with the rest of the tributes.The tense period of waiting followed as the contestants bounced on the balls of their feet, listening for the horn that would signal the end of the head start, and the beginning of the Hunt in earnest.I breathed slowly, drawing my attention inwards, to the pounding of my heart, the thrum of the earth below my feet, the smell of the wind, the coil of my muscles as I braced myself.

The horn howled through the night.

I bolted towards the trees.

I reached the tree line first, but only just.Others were hot on my heels, and I was soon surrounded by the whoops and shouts of other hunters, all peeling off in different directions, chasing different trails, swallowed up by the thick night still lingering between the trees.There was someone close behind me, but I was no longer concerned with the other hunters.I’d caughtherscent on the wind, was following a trail of broken underbrush, footsteps in the mossy ground.My thoughts fell silent as I followed my senses, sank into the touch of my feet to the earth, the pulse of blood running through me, the wicked thrill of giving into my baser urges as heady as a stiff drink.Trees flew past as I leapt streams and fallen logs, putting more distance between me and the hunter closest behind me while closing the distance to my prey.Sounds of flickering laugher reached out to me, sounds of those being chased.Sounds of those being caught.

Then the trail died.My pace slowed as I tried to pick it up again, touching tree trunks and scouring the undergrowth for footprints.I backtracked, trying to find the place I lost it, constantly aware of the time I was losing, of who else was in this forest with me, possibly closing in even now.

Something collided with me, knocking me from my path.I slammed into a tree, pain jarring my shoulder as I pushed off it just as swiftly, regaining my feet, bracing myself as I turned on my attacker.Solas crouched in the shadows, his eyes gleaming as he watched me.

‘So easily caught off guard.Are you distracted tonight, Tarian?’

‘Stay out of my way,’ I snarled, advancing on him.He slipped around a tree, appeared a few paces away.

‘Who is our delectable grand prize to you?’he cooed.‘The way you clammed up when she was led into the arena was quite the thing to witness.What will you do if someone else catches her first?’

My rage overcame my sense as I lunged for him, slamming into him and sending us both toppling to the ground.I flipped around, had him by the shirt, images of someone else catching Imogen scorched into my mind.I wanted him dead.I wanted him dead for even suggesting it.Magic prickled against my palms, growing with intensity, demanding to destroy this threat and any other unlucky enough to come across me in these woods tonight.

‘Go on, use magic.Break the treaty.Then you’re done.’Solas sneered up at me.‘And just think of the time you’re wasting right now.The longer you tussle with me, the more distance the other hunters are gaining.Won’t matter if you’re disqualified though, will it?’

The sound of a scream pierced my rage.A familiar scream.I went rigid as a board, my attention immediately off the Seelie King as I thrust him away and stumbled to my feet.

‘Sounds like you’re already too late,’ he yelled after me, but I barely heard him.

I didn’t think, I just ran.

Chapter 20

Imogen

IgrippedEthan’shandtightly as he pulled me along, weaving between trees as fast as we could pick our way through the rough terrain.Sticks and rocks kept digging into my feet as they slid through my shoes, which were nothing more than strings attached to some pointless soles.Fear prickled at the back of my neck as I thought of all those fae who’d been watching us disappear into the trees, feet shifting against the dirt and eyes hungry.The fear twisted, thrilling with something a little more like anticipation, which was bloody stupid.They were going to hunt us.Tarianwas going to hunt us.I’d seen him at that starting line, watching us, watchingme, with an unwavering intensity that left no doubt in my mind about who he was going to chase.

I just had to hope he caught me before someone else did.

A horn howled through the silence of the dawn, the sound echoing like a warning, sending a shiver through me.Ethan stilled for a moment, looking about as if he was trying to decide the best way to go.‘We have to hurry,’ he said, dragging me to the left, winding through the trees.

‘Why?’

‘That horn?Means they’re coming.’

‘And we’re supposed to outrun them?’My words had a whining lilt even to my own ears but I was cold and tired.I just wanted to go home already.

‘Trust me when I tell you getting caught is not something you would be up for, Imogen,’ he said.He didn’t usually use my full name, which was enough to make me worried.What were these savages going to do when they caught us?My hand tightened around Ethan’s and he squeezed back, though he didn’t stop.He wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me and my stupid decision to let Ves lure me to this festival in the first place.

What had I gotten us into?

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