Page 59 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
And then she squeezed.
Ignoring his hands trying to claw at her face, Drue held her ground as the man thrashed beneath her hold, fighting for breath.
That little voice at the back of her mind came to life once more, told her she should at least question the bastard as to where he’d come from and how many others there were, but as Drue felt the life draining from him, she also felt justice being served. For there was no mistaking that look in his eyes, no mistaking what he’d intended for her, and for that alone, he deserved to die.
And so Drue strangled him in the shallows of the stream with a piece of pond weed.
12
Talemir
Talemir sensed the raiders almost as soon as Drue had left, and within seconds, a group of ten were upon him. For a moment he was almost insulted that they thought they were in with a chance against him, but then he’d seen one of them sneak off to follow Drue and he’d lost his shit.
He didn’t need his wraith form to obliterate them.
But he used it anyway.
Their eyes bulged as they beheld the half-Warsword, half-wraith before them, his heavy wings appearing at his back and blocking out the sun behind him. Unsheathing his talons, he cleaved through the raiders without a second thought, their screams like a choir echoing through the village.
He wrought his shadow magic upon them, forcing them to their knees with leashes of dark power, compelling them to face their worst nightmares.
When they were quivering messes before him, some tried to run. He even let them get a few yards before he slayed them with a single swing of his sword. The swirling mass of obsidian did the rest of his bidding, lashing and restraining each of the raiders until it was their turn to die.
Talemir cut them down, one by one.
When it was over, he sheathed his talons, his wings and shadows vanishing, and then he raced after Drue, Terrence leading the way from above.
He arrived just in time to see her drop a raider’s body into the brook, his bug-eyed face purple, a frond of grass tight around his bleeding neck.
Standing in her undergarments, utterly soaked through, Drue looked up and gave him a wild grin. ‘Add pond weed to the unusual kills list.’
Talemir didn’t think; he simply moved, surging into the water and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
She was rigid with surprise at first, but then she relaxed into his embrace, resting her head against his chest, sagging against him.
‘You’re alright?’ he asked in a whisper, glancing across at the body that now floated downstream.
‘Never better. You?’
‘Fine,’ he murmured into her hair, quietly breathing in the lilac-and-heather scent of her, savouring every inch where their bodies touched.
The moment was over too soon when Drue broke away from him, trudging through the shallows to snatch up her clothes. It was only then that Talemir realised just how exposed she was… The thin white fabric of her undergarments clung to the curves and hollows of that glorious body, her nipples peaked beneath the transparent material. The delicate tattoo on her shoulder blade was bared once more, and Talemir felt himself stirring.
Gods, what he wouldn’t give to peel those final layers away and taste her, to run his fingers across her soft skin.
Talemir averted his gaze. The last thing he wanted was for Drue to think he was a pervert as well as a monster.
He heard the rustling of her clothes and the quiet cursing as she shucked on her pants over wet legs. It took every ounce of willpower not to turn around, not to close the gap between them and take her in his arms again.
‘Who were they?’ he asked instead.
‘Raiders, bandits… Naarvians who would turn against their own people. Scum.’ Drue picked up her pack at the water’s edge and started back towards the town square.
Their horses were waiting for them by an empty fountain and Talemir took up their reins as he followed Drue. ‘You’re familiar with their lot?’
‘Not that man in particular —’ She stopped in her tracks as she reached the heap of bodies outside the apothecary. ‘Furies save us…’ She turned to Talemir. ‘You did this?’
‘Yes.’
