Page 37 of Chased By the Fairy

The sprite gasped, his eyes snapping open wide when Cypress sunk his dagger all the way into his gut with a wet crunch. “I guess I should make sure there aren’t any witnesses, then.”

Jeffers slapped at him, desperately trying to get him to stop as he squirmed. Cypress’ forearm was too tight against Jeffers’ neck to get free, and he couldn’t feel the sprite’s hits underneath the burn of his emotions.

Hot rage had settled into his core. It sizzled his bone marrow and hardened his muscles into stone.

He couldn’t believe everything this stupid, selfish beetle sprite had done to his Sorrel. If he had just left Sorrel to Sunny, he may have been returned to him by now. Jeffers had taken him, then locked him up inside a cage to be stared at, leered at.

Cypress could only imagine how mortified he’d been, how upset.

A fight started behind him. The royal guards ensured there were no witnesses to the merciless act he was doing, as he repeatedly stabbed the beetle sprite before him.

Even if Sorrel wasn’t here, he would mete out retribution in his stead. As well as for all those Jeffers had imprisoned here for goodness knew how long.

Cypress would consider it a service to the world to remove such a horrible, sickening darkness from it.

He drew back the dagger slowly before slipping it back inside his torso, hearing more wet crunching of it going through his hard exterior to greet internal wetness and insides.

Jeffers’ face twisted with pain. It eased him seeing it. He liked it, wanted him to be in pain. He wanted to see the fear in his large eyes that showed Cypress’ face reflected in them.

He dropped Jeffers’ corpse when it stopped twitching. It thumped loudly as it hit the ground.

He stared down at it, his chest heaving. His breaths sawed in and out of his lungs. Justice had been meted out, but it had done nothing to help Sorrel. He stared down, wishing he could revive Jeffers just so he could stab him over and over again.

I want them to discover I killed him.He wanted everyone to know he’d do anything to protect Sorrel. That he would harm anyone who had him or hurt him in any way.

He clutched the dagger tighter.

Cypress wanted the world to know he would be violent for Sorrel’s sake.

By the time Jeffers was limp and lifeless, the guards had taken out those who worked for him. He bent over to wipe his dagger clean on the dead sprite’s plum vest before turning to them.

Zahrya then raised her sword towards the others, her feet shuffling as she gave Cypress her back. “You will swear that youwill never speak of what you’ve seen today, or you will join their fates,” she commanded, causing their eyes to widen.

They warily looked between each other, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Killing sprites was one thing, but if they were to harm either the only prince or Zahrya, the head guard, they would be imprisoned or worse.

“We will never speak of it,” the guards said, but Cypress didn’t care if they did.

Although he was thankful Sorrel was free, he couldn’t stop the fear that no one may be helping him.

He just wants to go home. I was supposed to take him there.

He silently headed towards the exit, seeing it was pointless to remain here. Although he’d acted with violence, he didn’t truly wish to start a war.

They needed to leave before anyone discovered what they’d done.

A cold, bitter white expanse greeted them beyond the platform.

“Fuck,” Cypress blurted out.

“We’ll find him,” Zahrya offered, coming up beside him.

“It’s winter,” he explained, waving to the world around them. “If he’s out there by himself...” Where was he now if not buried beneath the snow?

He might be dead.His gut twisted as his heart constricted.Fuck! He can’t be dead!

Cypress refused to accept that. He would keep looking. He would keep looking with hope and only allow himself to stop until he found him, no matter if he was alive or not. He needed to know the truth.

“He’s an adult,” Zahrya stated. “He must have faced plenty of winters.”

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