Page 90 of Monster's Pretty Bride

I don’t answer.

Her shoulders sag, eyes dark with something I can’t name. “Eryss, please. This is a trap. You’re being watched.”

I stiffen.

She shakes her head, jaw tightening.

The elders. Even if she doesn’t say it, I know.

A sound, a rustle of movement, too precise to be the wind has both of us snapping to attention. Catalina steps closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “We need to go back.Now.”

I don’t get the chance to argue.

Because the shadows move.

They don’t waste time with words.

Blades flash, cutting through the air. A dozen of them. Maybe more. They move like ghosts, their enchanted robes shifting like liquid shadows.

Catalina shouts a warning, magic flaring around her as she throws up a shield. The first strike bounces off, but the impact sends her staggering backward.

The fight erupts.

They’re too fast. Too coordinated. I barely manage to weave through the onslaught, dodging a strike aimed at my ribs. My magic flares, instinctively responding, a burst of energy knocking one assassin off balance.

I go for another, only to see Catalina fall.

A blade buries itself in her shoulder.

Her cry of pain is sharp, raw, but she grits her teeth, twisting to blast the assassin away with a pulse of dark violet energy.

Rage flares through me.

I let my magic surge.

A column of force slams into one of the assassins, sending them crashing into a tree. But the moment of triumph is short-lived.

A dagger presses against my throat.

A cold, whispered voice in my ear: “Make a choice.”

I still, breathing hard.

The assassin behind me tightens their grip. “Kill him.” The words are a command, sharp and absolute. “And return as a hero.”

The blade bites into my skin.

My stomach twists.

Or die as a traitor.

I chuckle, and fearlessly say, “Lie. Whether I kill him or not, I’m dead already.”

The air shifts.

A storm of magic crashes through the trees, a violent surge of power that sends the assassins flying back. The one holding me staggers, their blade slipping.

I hear him.

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