Page 21 of Ashes of Betrayal

“Aye,” she whispered. “I’ve been looking for you for nearly a moon’s turn now. I tried Duncrag first … but everyone there thinks you’re dead.”

He continued his path toward her then, stopping when they were around five yards apart. There was no warmth on his face, and his gaze glittered.

Bree swallowed to loosen her suddenly tight throat. Shades, where were her nerves of steel?

“Why?” His voice was harsh now, the blunt question falling heavily. “I sent you back to Sheehallion for a reason.”

Bree wet her dry lips with the tip of her tongue. “You did.” A pause drew out between them, swelling like a rising wave before she forced herself to continue. “But the moment I stepped through the stones, I knew it was a mistake.” She broke off then, raising a hand to rub at her breastbone with her knuckles, where a familiar ache had risen. “I’ve missed you, Cailean.”

He didn’t answer. Her heartfelt admission hadn’t moved him in the slightest. His expression was still hard; only the nerve flickering under one eye hinted at the emotion roiling beneath. His hands, which hung by his sides, flexed as if he wished to grasp her by the neck and throttle her.

Bree’s pulse quickened.You knew he’d be hostile … don’t give up at the first hurdle.

“You shouldn’t have come looking for me,” he said eventually. His voice was like iron being dragged over stone.

“Whether you wish it or not, we are bonded,” Bree replied, stubbornness rising.

“You betrayed me,” he snarled as his hands bunched into fists. “You knew the Shee would attack before dawn. Youknewand didn’t warn me.”

“No,” she countered, relieved he’d brought this up, so she could put him right. “I had no idea that Mor would attack early. I swear it.”

“By what?” he shot back. “The Great Raven? Your God meansnothingto me.”

He took a threatening step toward her, and without meaning to, Bree moved backward, raising her hands to warn him from advancing farther. His dark brows knitted together at her reaction, and she exhaled shakily.

“It’s the iron,” she replied, resisting the urge to reach for the steel blades she carried—a survival instinct that was difficult to fight. “Take the blades off,” she whispered, a plea creeping into her voice. She wasn’t one to beg, but she couldn’t talk to him with iron biting into her flesh, its odor searing the back of her throat.

His blue eyes glinted. “Show me who you are … yourtrueform … and I might.”

Bree stilled. It wasn’t an unreasonable request. After all, she’d deceived and manipulated the man throughout their entire,albeit short, marriage. She didn’t blame him for wanting to see who she really was.

And yet, she hesitated.

It was ridiculous really. Shee women were beauties, and Bree was no exception.

But Cailean hadn’t bonded with Bree Fellshadow. He’d fallen forFia mac Callum, who looked altogether different. Maybe he preferred smaller, softer women with hazel eyes, freckles … and curves.

Maybe he wouldn’t find her attractive.

It was a humbling moment, one of many she’d weathered over the past few moons, but she sat with it.

And then, as the silence between them deepened, Bree finally nodded.

10: NOTHING WAS REAL

CAILEAN STARED AT his wife. Only, she wasn’t the woman he’d wedded. She was an imposter. A liar who’d fooled him one too many times. The urge to draw one of the blades in his knife belt and lunge at her pulsed in his gut.

Clenching his hands into fists at his sides once more, he fought the impulse.

Watching him, her hazel eyes bright, Bree swallowed. He could see the glamor upon her—as most druids could—as if he were looking at her through a sheet of rippling water.

Aye, she still looked like the woman who’d haunted him ever since he’d watched her walk through the stones, yet there was something insubstantial about her.

Moments passed, and then Bree bowed her head, her fingers flicking by her sides.

And before his eyes, she grew taller, leaner. Her pale skin took on a honeyed hue, and when she raised her chin, a stranger looked back at him.

A beautifulSheestranger with long pale-gold hair that hung over one shoulder in a thick braid, and tawny eyes with elongated pupils. Like many of the Shee he’d seen over the years, this one had high, prominent cheekbones, and a haughty look about her.

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