Page 129 of Fated to the Frost King

No.

I shook my head back and forth, trying to deny the sinking feeling taking root inside me. My fingers inched closer to the dagger when another arrow landed right between my fingers and the hilt.

“I really wouldn’t do that,” the voice said again. “Nyxa only has so much patience, and a fondness for using cold-iron and rowanwood to make her arrows.”

I jerked my hand away, pulling the boy back with me. Both of those things were deadly to fae, Unseelie or otherwise.

A shadow stepped forward from the treeline, several feet away from where the arrow would have come from. It was a male with massive leathery wings that were torn at the edges. A deadly claw punctuated the tips, matching the shorter talons that grew from each of his fingertips. And a blackened steel sword rested loosely in his grip.

Skaldwing.Unseelie.

Every molecule in my body froze, my feet rooted to the spot. Even my lungs refused to draw air.

The Unseelie drew closer, his wings casting ominous shadows on the blood-strewn snow. His mouth split into a wicked grin, like he had already won whatever game he was playing.

Run.

I wasn’t sure if it was my own thought or the echo of my mother’s plea from the day she had pressed a dagger in my hand and told me to flee. A decade ago.

The last time I had seen a Skaldwing.

It didn’t matter, though. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than the rustling reached my ears. Skaldwing shifters were warriors, by birth and by training. They knew when to be silent, so they wanted me to know they were here.

They wanted me to know that I was surrounded.

Chapter 44

Everly

Feeling returned to my limbs in a rush of adrenaline. I edged myself in front of the child, scanning the sky and the trees for possible routes of escape.

“What do you want?” I demanded, keeping my voice low.

Even if someone in the house had been able to hear me, I didn’t want to lure them into the trap, and I didn’t want to draw any monsters who would devour the child along with the Unseelie.

Though it was hard to say which monsters were worse. The frostbeasts, or the Wild Fae.

The male stepped closer, and I fought not to shrink back from the wings that loomed over me. I was taller now than I had been then, but those leathery wings still managed to make me feel small.

The male smirked like he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Isn’t that sweet of you, protecting what’s already ours.” Silver eyes glinted with amusement. “Alaric, get the child.”

The name tugged at something in the back of my mind, but my thoughts were racing too quickly for me to pin it down.

“I already told you I will handle the child, Tavrik.” That voice was lighter, more feminine, but no less cruel.

She pushed from the trees with a huff. The moonlight illuminated her violet hair and lean muscular frame and glinted off a crooked nose. She was smaller than the male, but I wasn’t fooled. She was no less deadly.

She scowled at Tavrik, rushing over to the sniffling child and hurling me into the snow before I could move to protect him. Like I weighed no more than the blanket around his shoulders.

Tavrik sighed like the notion of caring about children freezing to death was exasperating for him. “The boy is fine. Just be glad we didn’t use him as bait for the first attack, since you’ve gotten so attached to him.”

“Next time, tell the Thane’s pet Seer to be more specific, or I will exact her punishment myself.” She grabbed the boy and flew away without waiting for a response.

My mind was reeling, and I didn’t know how to feel about her taking the boy. Grateful he was safer than he would have been with monsters? Just…a slave? Leverage?

No, that’s not what Tavrik had just said.

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