Page 58 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
“Wait,” I say hopelessly, staring up at my enemy. “Let me see your face.”
The request must have startled him because he remains still for a moment.
“There’s no use stalling, white rabbit.” He finally heaves a sigh. “The only people who are allowed to see my face are my future mate and my dead enemies.”
“I’ll clearly belong to the latter soon,” I say. My voice is surprisingly calm. “So let me see your face.”
We stare at each other for the longest moment. To my absolute surprise, he takes off his helmet.
Good. Good.
The metallic mask falls down on the mud with a thud. A small breath leaves me as I look at his face. His voice is attractive,but his face is about a thousand times more alluring. Landon is beyond beautiful.
Too bad for him I’ve developed an immunity ever since Svenn stole my heart with his otherworldly charm. I grip the rock in my hand tighter, ready to smash it right over his temple.
His dark eyes lock onto mine as he raises the blade high, the sunlight bouncing off the obsidian metal. “You’ve seen me. Now you must die, little elf.”
The blade descends as quickly as my counter—but neither of us hit our mark. The surprise in Landon’s crystalline blue eyes matches my own as he gazes at the dark figure that appears between us.
Ken is blocking the fae’s blade with his shadow sword. He rams his forehead on the stunned fae’s face.
“I know you,” Landon mutters, taking a step back. “Ysendral?”
He tries to talk to Ken in the fae’s native tongue.
It’s no use.
Ken doesn’t answer. He just wants to kill. The shadow moves like a pulsating rage, attacking the fae relentlessly.
Landon is able to parry him blow by blow, but he is clearly being pushed back. He loosens the tie on the other winged punching blade strapped to his thigh, but Ken doesn’t give him a chance to draw it.
Fear replaces the arrogant look on his face. “Ysendral please!”
Ysendral.
The fae keeps on repeating that word over and over. My grasp on the various dialects of the fae tongue is rather poor, but it resonates a lot with ‘ancestor.’ He tries to attack the opening on Ken’s right side. The shadow deflects the hit easily, twisting Landon’s hand and disarming him.
Ken has the fae’s curved blade in his hand. It’s over now. I let out the breath I’ve been holding. Between one heartbeat and the next, he shoves the curved blade deep into Landon’s chest, right below his clavicle.
A gasp parts my lips as Ken drags the fae using the blade he buried. The fae mumbles and groans, unable to do anything like a fish on a hook. “Where are you taking me?”
Ken gives him an answer quickly this time as he slams the fae and the blade to the nearby tree.
I flinch at the gruesome sight.
Gods above…He pins the fae warrior to the tree trunk like nailing a poster.
Friendly Ken who braided flowers into my hair, who taught coral to play fetch, is also capable of this brutality. My husband is so good at hiding his predatory instinct that I almost forgot how dangerous he is. A collection of demons and beasts, an apex predator.
But he is the monster I chose.
Ken returns to me, running his wispy dark mist on my cheek to check on me.
“I’m not hurt,” I tell him.
He nods, tracing his finger on the air in a straight line. The fabric of the realm unravels at the gesture. He peels it open and offers me his hand.
It’s a portal…
