Page 15 of A Kiss of Embers
Ashryn needed to stay away. “Thatgirlhas no romantic attachment to me.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Did I say romantic? I don’t believe I did. A strong bond of friendship will do just as well.”
The woman smeared white powder over her palm and covered his eyes with her hand. He tried to argue against her touching him in any manner, but the protest died on his lips as his world suddenly turned dark.
Seraphina stared down at her fae male captive, unconscious at her feet. Like all of the other Forest Fae, his hair was white, his tied into a knot at the back of his neck, bringing attention to the long, pointed ears on either side of his head. The man had a strong jaw to match his strong build, with an expressive nose and surprisingly attractive lips. His skin was tan, as if he spent a lot of time outdoors, a stark contrast to his hair.
Trading him for her sister was a huge risk, but she’d seen no other option when she hadn’t been able to get past the patrol. Now Pri’s life depended on a fae woman to go to the ends of the earth to rescue the heir.
She’d followed the group for an hour, watching them interact. The woman had obvious feelings for the second fae man. But it was as clear as moonglass that the heir and this woman had a history of a strong friendship…and a romantic past, no matter how much the heir wanted to deny it.
The heir.
Bastien Dalena.
Her lips curled into a snarl as she thought his name. She hated the man almost more than she hated anyone in Attleglade. How many people had she lost over a prideful war? All because the Forest Fae refused to share what was the Ember Fae’s birthright?
But now?
They had gone too far. Would it truly have killed them to allow her sister into the Glades?
She only wished Pri hadn’t tried to go at all…
Flashes of her perilous fall burst through her memory. Of Pri’s limp, broken body. Her tattered wings. The weeks when she lay in bed on the cusp of death.
Flames flared between her fingers as heat boiled her blood. She wanted justice. She wanted revenge. It would be too easy to light the fae man on fire and watch as her flames consumed him.
The flickering light of her magic died, replaced by a chill as a brisk wind pulled at her damp clothes. Gooseflesh crawled up her arms, and she ignited her magic within her core to keep her warm in the cooler temperatures.
Bastien, on the other hand, began shivering in his sleep, his clothing soaked and damp strands of hair falling haphazardly across his forehead and cheek.
She wanted to stab him again. But she also needed him to live.
Grabbing onto his wrist, she dragged him farther through the woods, over lush pine needles, across rocky terrain, and through snaggly branches that caught onto his clothing and ripped small holes in his shirt and trousers. Aside from the howl of a wolf or the scrambling of a small creature in the foliage, she didn’t notice any signs of pursuit.
However, she continued her journey until her body drooped with weariness. Her wings brushed against the forest floor, demanding she stop and go no farther.
And she obliged.
After her heaving breaths subsided, she sprinkled white dust over Bastien’s eyes to wake him. He blinked sluggishly at first before his eyes snapped wide open when he spotted her. She barely managed to hold back a smirk at the discomfort pinched around his mouth.
“What did you do to me?” His words escaped as a nearly incomprehensible slur.
Instead of answering, she gathered firewood and stacked the branches neatly into a pile with kindling on the bottom. A flicker of magic sparked in her hand and caught onto the kindling, the growing light illuminating Bastien’s flaring nostrils and his wide, distrustful eyes.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
“Why don’t you take a guess.”
His jaw clenched next, revealing the fear hiding behind his defiant eyes. “The Ember Queen.”
“Mmhmm.” She tossed sparks toward his face, and he flinched by squeezing his eyes shut. But the sparks flickered out before they managed to burn him. A pity.
“And your sister is the Ember Princess.”
At the mention of Pri, anger burned within her. She crossed the space between them, latched her fingers around his shirt, and pulled his limp body up to sitting so he was eye level with her.
“Don’t ever mention her again.”
