Page 18 of Claimed By the Fae Lord

"Something like that," another fae chuckled.

"Terribly sorry to disappoint, but I'm not in the market for new friends." The spear swung out in an arc, a warning they clearly underestimated.

"Nor are we," the first fae responded, his smile widening. "We've come to follow through with your parents' wishes."

I snarled, surging with fury, and the room erupted into chaos.

The fae lunged as one, their movements almost a blur. The spear found its mark, again and again, as I became a whirlwind of frost and fury. The sound of clashing metal rang out, harmonizing with grunts and curses.

Suddenly, a searing pain exploded across my arm—a blade finding flesh—and I staggered. My teeth gritted against the burn as I felt the blood blooming across the sleeve of my shirt.

"Take her down!" the leader bellowed as the air shimmered with magic and distorted the room.

"Like hell!" I spat, launching myself at him.

Our struggle became a maelstrom of swords, ice, and screams, as we dueled through the distortion. Time seemed to stretch and warp around us, and I was vaguely aware of the voices shouting in the background.

Suddenly, the swirling magic around us dissipated, and I found myself staring directly into the eyes of the leader. Murder stared back at me.

The room shuddered as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before my next breath, a blow to the back sent me flying forward. As I fell, a familiar figure appeared in the doorway.

What in the hell was he doing here?!

Three

Liam

We stood just inside the open gate, looking down the long drive at the white and grey monstrosity ahead. Long shadows from the tall trees fell across the carriageway leading up to the main entrance of Snowfall Manor, its pale stone standing out against the dark of the night.

When storms dropped heaps of snow at the foot of the surrounding mountains, the house was nearly impossible to see. Luckily, there were no storms coming through tonight. The clouds had thinned, allowing the moon to cast a luminous glow upon our path.

The last time I'd visited, torches burned at the gate and fae lanterns hung every twenty yards or so all the way to the house. With so much white around, they were needed for guidance.

I remembered Snowfall's many hearths crackling with flames, the reflection of fires visible from outside. Even the stables would have fires lit for the animals.

Tonight, the only light came from the heavens. No torches marked the estate's property line. No lanterns lit the path. No welcoming lights shone from the manor's windows.

Worse, no guards patrolled the grounds. An eerie silence hung over the place like a suffocating blanket.

I shifted, a thread of unease winding through me. Snowfall was never this still, this empty.

Though late, some guard should have halted our approach, or some servant should have been bustling about at the first sign of our arrival. Instead, only the moonlight was there to greet us.

Saxon had reported back that the estate was quiet, but there were still fae living here. Which certainly wasn't out of the ordinary. The Brandenburgs employed a number of servants, guards, stable hands, laborers and the like.

The ones Saxon had seen, in fact, had all been dressed in servant attire. He hadn't picked up on anyone who shouldn't have been here, which was just two days ago. Even if some of them had decided they didn't want to work for the family any longer, the odds were someone would have stayed.

“Something's wrong,” Nox stated, drawing up beside me. His gaze was sharp as it swept the manor.

“Aye.” I nodded at the silence.

Nox's mouth flattened into a grim line. “Fan out, but not far,” he ordered the soldiers behind us.

I followed after Nox, keeping Aeryn between us. On high alert, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Despite the light-colored walls of the mansion, it felt forbidding and wrong.

Unease churned in my gut with every step. Snowfall had never felt so unwelcoming. So ominous.

Usually, though, there had been Raina waiting for me. I swallowed against the sudden tightness in my throat.

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