Page 102 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

We would talk later.

…probably.

I could hope, at least.

Coarse and I stayed at the back of the group as Ravv led the other fae up to the gates of the city, where his parents stood, wearing icy armor that was splattered with blood.

“We’re here to negotiate for peace,” Ravv said evenly.

“She’s dead?” his mother asked. Her voice wasn’t quiet, but her expression was grave.

He gestured toward one of his men, who carried the body up to them.

Ravv’s father carefully pulled the fabric back, and he and his mate stared at their daughter’s face for a long moment before he gently covered her again.

His mother wiped at her watering eyes with a shaky hand. “It’s over.”

“Nearly. In the coming weeks, I’ll find the cult’s hideout to make sure they’ve all been eliminated. My most trusted men and women are working through the ranks of my warriors right now, making sure we’ve identified any who fear mate bonds and may retaliate.”

“We can come home, then,” his father said.

“Yes.”

There was a moment of silence.

It was… more tense than I expected.

“We’ll prepare our people for the move. When you come to let us know you’re ready, we’ll head back up with you,” his father added.

“Agreed.” Ravv started to turn away.

“Can we keep her body?” his mother asked quietly. “I’d like to bury her myself, and leave her with wishes for a kinder future.”

“Of course.” He didn’t bother turning around, giving the order to the man holding her body before climbing onto Gleam’s back.

Ravv’s eyes moved slowly over me, making sure I was alright as Gleam strode past the rest of the warriors and their bonded beasts. She began to run toward a path off to the left of the slanted wall we’d come down.

Coarse remained where he was, planning to stay at the tail-end of the group so we didn’t have our backs to anyone.

My eyes caught on one of the women in Ravv’s group.

While the others were funneling out, she and her companion lingered a bit too close to his parents, who were both wiping at watery eyes, too engaged in quiet conversation to notice her.

“Do you see her?” I asked Coarse.

“Yes. If she moves toward the king’s parents, she dies.”

When a small ice blade appeared in her hand and she took a step, he wasted no time.

Coarse crossed the distance in a heartbeat, catching her off guard and removing her head from her body with his claws.

The woman’s bonded idorr roared her fury, lunging toward Coarse. Her claws caught me in the arm as he dodged her, and I bit my tongue to hold back a cry.

He snarled back, slamming into her with his shoulder. She cried out again as she skidded backward, and then as his claws tore into her side.

When she retaliated, he moved enough to protect me from her claws.

I made myself as small as I could on his back while they traded blows, her injuries far worse than his. Ravv wasn’t snarling into my mind, so he must not have known what was happening.

---