Page 19 of Shadowkissed

I stare at her. She doesn’t flinch.

Goddamn, she’s stubborn.

Beautiful, yes. But that’s not the part that gets under my skin. It’s the way she guards herself. Like she’s been burned so badly she welded her own armor shut. The way she pretends she’s not scared when I canfeelthe fear radiating off her skin in waves.

I lean against the wall, arms crossed. “You’re fae.”

The second the word leaves my mouth, her face changes.

Not just alarm—terror.

She surges up. Too fast. Too sharp. Her hand flares with shadow again.

“No,” she breathes. “No—how do you?—?”

“You gave it away.”

“Iglamoured?—”

“I’m not like most people,” I cut in, voice calm. “I see through shit I’m not supposed to. That’s how I make my living.”

She shakes her head, stepping away, panic creeping in behind her eyes. “You can’t tell anyone. Youcan’t.”

“I’m not turning you in,” I add before she panics again.

She flinches anyway. “You should.”

“Not unless you give me a reason.”

Something in her expression cracks. Just for a second. It’s not fear—not exactly. It’s shame.

“You don’t understand what you’re getting into,” she mutters.

“Then explain it.”

“No.”

“Why are you hiding?”

She looks at me like I stabbed her.

I step closer. Not threatening. Just enough to keep her from bolting again. “Whatever’s out there hunting you, I need to know. What attacked you in that alley?”

She goes still.

“Was it fae?”

“No.”

“Demon?”

“Worse.”

Her voice is so low I almost miss it.

My mouth goes dry. “What does that mean?”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. I can handle it.”

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