Page 38 of A Dance With Fire
She jerked away. “No. I want you to tell me where Davina is! What have you done with her?!” Her shout echoed through the woods, startling birds from their perches.
“We have done nothing,” Valerio said. Something in his voice now was far more patient than it had been before. “Davina came to us last night with a request. She told us an Elemental had been taken to that temple. She begged us to help you. She said you were important, though she conveniently left out theimportantdetails.”
“What did she say?”
“‘Twin flames carved in flesh’, and a lot of other dribble about Fae Elementals, prophecies, and saving our race. Ramblings of a madwoman.”
Shula couldn’t hear anymore. She whipped out the knife from her pocket and stalked over towards Valerio. “Do not speak about Davina that way!” Even though Shula had done it. Many times over. She couldn’t stand to hear it come from his mouth. To hear her own ugly thoughts voiced.
Before she even reached Valerio, though, Uric was there and a blade was pressed to her own throat, digging into her skin.
“Come at the Prince of Seelie with a knife and expect a swift death.”
Shula swallowed, her throat working against the sharp edge of the blade as she absorbed the words. His cutting scent was overwhelming, as cutting as the weapon pressed to her throat. Like ice and mint and something else that was piercingly intense.
“Uric,” Valerio commanded. It was all he needed to say. Uric pulled the blade away from her skin and took his place next to Valerio once again.
Chest heaving, Shula slammed her palm against her neck, narrowing her gaze at him. “Prince?”
Uric stared at her with pride-filled eyes. “You are in the presence of Prince Valerio Ashera, son to King Amos Ashera of Tir na Faie, the lands beyond the Ley Line and the Seelie Court.”
Shula had thought that the Fae courts had fallen. At least, that’s what she’d been told. As the old war had progressed and humans gained more power, they’d invaded the lands of the Fae and murdered the court nobility. No one had been left alive.
She wanted to be impressed, but how could she be? This whole situation seemed bigger than even her. So instead of bowing to the prince of her race, she snorted, shoving the blade into her pocket, and muttered, “Sounds fucking pretentious.”
Clay barked out a laugh.
“Anyway, if you thought Davina was such a madwoman, why come to my aid?”
Valerio’s—Prince Valerio’s, she corrected—eyes narrowed. “Because, she gave me a glimpse of the future, and I believed her. But when it came to the important stuff, they were nothing but ramblings. So, enlighten us, Fire Dancer, Shula Azzarh. Of what prophecy does she speak? Why did the Brotherhood take care with you?”
“I don’t know,” she hissed. “And that’s the truth. You think Davina gave me any clues either when we were at the circus? She told me the Fae would fall beneath robes of white and red unless I came to my powers. What colors were the Brotherhood’s robes? You guessed it. White and red. Now tell me, what happened to Davina?”
“The emperor’s soldiers got her.” Valerio’s voice was clipped and without remorse. “They sent the hounds, and she sacrificed her life so we could get you away. Now we must leave. It is time to move to the next safe house.”
Shula staggered back, clasping her palms over her ears. No. She didn’t want to believe his words, didn’t want them to be true.
Davina couldn’t be dead, much less because she’d sacrificed herself for Shula.
Not again.
Notagain.
She was cursed, cursed so that all who helped her died, and if there was one thing she knew she couldn’t do, it was go with them.
Because if she did, she would surely bring death upon their camp.
And their so-called Resistance?
It would be the death of her.
14
The Fae’s Captive
Asuffocating pain nearly drowned Ryker in darkness. Spots of white lights and shadows blinked behind his closed eyelids as he struggled for breath. Shit. This was always the worst part of his magic: the price he had to pay. It had been instinct to heal her, even if everything in him told him to let it be.
He shouldn’t feel any sympathy for her, but in that moment he had. He felt sympathy for the Fae who was more human than not, and so he’d taken her suffering.
