Page 3 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

But we were in the human lands, a long way from the Endless Wilds that the fae supposedly called home.

So, what was he doing in our jail cell?

And why did he look so angry?

A massive white bear stepped into the room behind him, and my eyes widened at the sight of it.

Its shoulders were a few inches taller than the fae’s head—and its eyes glowed bright pink.

All magical creatures in Evare had glowing eyes, so the bear must’ve had magic. Or it was magical, in some way.

“I’ve been looking for you for hours,” the fae growled.

I had no idea who he was talking to.

Gora and Jern clung to each other. Their magic wasn’t the defensive or offensive kind. Not instinctively, at least. Gora could move wickedly-fast, and Jern could lift small objects with his mind sometimes.

“Get up.” The man grabbed me by my bare, wimpy bicep—then he wrenched backward as a sharp electric current sliced through my arm where he’d touched me.

I gaped at my bicep as a silver handprint slowly appeared on my skin… and then started to glow too.

The fae snarled the words, "Sillah ovim rett warum."

Though I didn’t recognize the words, it felt like some buried, ancient part of me did.

They rolled through me, and I took in a long, deep breath as I felt something vital inside me begin to change.

Where my magic’s fire burned in my middle, something else slowly pooled. Something cold, something like… ice.

All fae had ice magic, if the legends were true, but how was it possible for the man’s magic to join mine in my veins?

We should’ve been opposites. We should’ve—

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway outside our prison.

The fae man wasted no more time.

He plucked me off the ground by my waist, tossed me onto the bear’s back, and then jogged out of the cell. I gripped the bear’s fur for dear life as it started to run behind the fae.

Veil, they were fast.

I managed to lift my head and see over the bear just in time to watch us collide with a wave of humans.

The fae was already cutting through them, spinning and slashing with claws of ice on his hands, elbows, and shoulders. Every inch of him swelled with thicker, sharper shards of it.

The humans were too slow to defend themselves.

They should’ve run while they had the chance.

A few of them did as the fae reached the end of the hallway, and he let them go.

Then he flashed a scowl over his shoulder.

I knew he wasn’t scowling at the bear, but at me.

Gora and Jern caught up to us, wheezing and gasping. They’d stepped over the bodies of the humans without batting an eye, and I didn’t blame them.

Being held captive for a decade really reduced the amount of empathy you felt for the people who could have freed you.

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