Page 20 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

“How can I smell like sunshine? What does sunshine smell like?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured back. “Like you.”

I snorted, but said nothing else for a few minutes. Though I didn’t want to take my hands off of his muscular form, I forced myself to pull my fingers away from his skin. “The bruises are gone.”

“Pain’s almost gone too.” He was breathing more deeply now, and he had relaxed a bit.

I realized I’d never seen him calm like that before—not in the few months we’d known each other.

“You know the Wild Hunt sent me to spy on you, right?” I asked him quietly.

Now that he’d risked his life for me and we had a tiny mate bond, it didn’t seem honest to keep that from him.

His lips curved upward slightly, his eyes remaining closed. “I know. It didn’t matter to me.”

Good.

Phew.

He opened his eyes, and they narrowed at me. “You were supposed to be with Korrik.”

My face reddened. “I was the bait.”

“You werewhat?”

“The klynna smelled you on my skin and hunted me to North and Priel’s cave. We didn’t realize they would be looking out for your scent, or else I would’ve stayed back at the Stronghold. It caught us when we got there, and waited outside for us. Korrik, North, and Priel decided that I needed to start a bond with Korrik so the klynna wouldn’t chase me, and then give him my clothes, which smelled like you, so he could bait the monster into following him so the rest of us could escape.”

He blinked.

I went on quickly, “I heard him and Priel talking about how Korrik would have a better chance of surviving if he had wings. I was the only one with wings—and they only followed us because of me. I couldn’t let him risk his life for me. So, I left them a note to meet me at the Stronghold, and snuck out after they went to sleep.”

Aev slowly closed his eyes.

And let out a long, deep breath.

I opened my mouth to tell him that it was the only reasonable option, and that the general’s life wasn’t worth any less than mine—but before I could speak, he lifted a finger to my lips.

I closed them.

His voice was low and raspy when he said, “If I hadn’t been here, you would’vedied, Dakota.”

“I didn’t, though,” I whispered back.

His eyes opened, and they were angry.

My entire body went stiff, my stomach churning with fear.

He slid a hand onto my face, cupping my cheek in his gigantic palm.

My fear dissipated, and I stared down at him.

“You never risk your life again, okay?” he finally asked, his voice strained.

I blinked. “I don’t think I can promise that.”

Not when the klynnas were in the sky, and I had somehowconnectedwith that one.

“You were exhausted. I saw it in your body’s position, and the klynna did too. You’re good in the sky, but those of us who have been alive for a long time have more endurance after running and flying for centuries. You put yourself at a huge, unnecessary risk. I know you didn’t want someone else to risk their life for you, but the fact is that you’re more important than Korrik. We have almost exactly twice as many men as we have women right now; our society can handle the loss of a man, but not a woman. We need you.”

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