Page 111 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
“He is not allergic…And why lucky me?” I quickly say, flustered from his jest. I survived Kheirall’s taunts only to suffer ones from Garrett now.
“It’s her husband. Leave her be.” Darstan grunts.
Heavens above. Not him too.
“Hey, I like the guy. Aelfric is the one with an issue,” Garrett says with a hint of a smile.
I turn to look at my oldest friend immediately.
“You freed the Nightwalker from his prison,” Aelfric says, crossing his muscled arms. “Yet I can’t sense an ounce of gratitude from him.”
I’d rather stay there.
I wish I could tell my knights the truth. Svenn doesn’t wish to be freed. It was never a fair bargain. He’s stuck with me now.
“Careful little kitten,” Garrett says to me, his brows furrowing. “He seems like a different beast from the first time we met him.”
Leave it to him to realize something has changed between Svenn and me. My knights are staring at the vampire with distrust. We are all reminded of his brute strength and might yet again after the attack.
Svenn killed a rampaging orc with such lethal precision. He didn’t even blink as he crushed the creature’s skull with his bare hands. It was effortless and easy.
A monster among monsters.
I should fear the cold-blooded killer as much as they do. But I can’t forget the pain that went through me when I saw the arrows jutting out from his back.
“I should check up on him,” I say, leaving the safety of my knights to go to Svenn.
It does worry me knowing that I carry the Rhunhraefn. I remember the way he tried to destroy the boulder bearing the mark of it. I have the horrible luck of being that stone now. But the vampire can’t hate me that much if he saved my life. My heart pounds harder with every approaching step.
Something sharp stabs my guts the moment I glimpse him from up close. His back is riddled with thin lashes of scars. They’re barely visible because the injuries seem to have healed over and over. Each shred reminds me of the suffering he endured from Lilith and the other curse bearers. They don’t take away his perfection. Not even a little.
“Svenn?” I call to him, wrestling against the fear in my chest.
The gauntlet falls from his hand at the sound of my voice.
Perhaps it isn’t wise to sneak up behind a vampire. I quickly pick up the fallen piece from the ground.
“Here you go,” I say, handing it back to him.
I don’t miss the way he flinches from my sudden movement. The witches have left brutal scars more than the ones on his body. Some can never be mended, not even with time.
He lowers his gaze to me, his near-celestial beauty splintering my heart. I immediately look away before some stupid instinct to bite him or lick him rises once again.
I can’t bear the thought of Svenn wandering through the cold forest alone tonight.
“I came to tell you that you’re welcome in my—in our tent.” I invite, my cheeks instantly warming. I kick the dirt on the ground to make it sound casual.
Something in the pile of metal suddenly catches my eye. I pause at the two red gleams underneath the hauberk. Curled around the rusting armor is a long snake. Its shadowy head turns to me as it hisses to strike. Fear spawns in my heart, paralyzing every muscle and bone in my body. I am so thoroughly terrified I can’t move.
Svenn is instantly at my side, his strong arm slipping around my waist. “What’s wrong?”
My heart is thumping so brutally against my chest it’s starting to hurt. I take several stuttering breaths and point at the serpent. His gaze follows the direction immediately.
But there is no trace of the animal. It’s as if it was never there.
I thought Svenn would dismiss what I saw but his hand coasts on my lower back, pulling me to him. “Stay close to me.”
He easily lifts me into his arms. I loop my hands around his neck as he kicks each piece to search for the cause of my panic.
