Page 100 of Hunted in the Shadows
When Cliff ignored her, she flexed her hand, whispering under her breath. A thin vine broke from Cliff’s other restraints, reaching upward to curl along his jaw. With a pull of her hand, he was forced to face her.An earth affinity,I realized. She might be one of the few present who could effortlessly remove these restraints.
“Where did this traveler find a specimen like you? Those lips…”
Cliff’s green eyes flashed at her as he leaned against the thin, curling vine. “I almost never say this,” he gritted. “But I’m not in the mood to be tied up.”
The female giggled. She pouted with focus as she appraised the slope of Cliff’s neck, glancing back at the male behind her. “Are you sure he’s a hunter?”
“What a waste of a pretty face,” the male agreed, clicking his tongue with disappointment.
Cliff offered them a cold smirk. “Oh buddy, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve been told that.”
The male’s gray eyes sparked with intrigue. He flew forward, grazing Cliff’s jaw with an open palm.He cocked his head to the side. “You have a sharp tongue for your kind. Does it get you in trouble often?”
Cliff jerked away—I didn’t blame him. “Touch me again, and I’ll bite your arm off.”
The female drifted to her partner, clasping his arm and resting her chin on his shoulder. “What if we keep this one, Arthur? If we speak with Marcellus and the others?”
“They would never permit it.”
“But perhaps, if we framed it right…”
My breath seized. Temporary holding was a far cry from permanent captivity.
Cliff shared my revulsion, his gaze going stony. “I’ve got a better idea,” he said. “Why don’t you two love-fucks get a bunch of your little friends together, and you can all suck my dick?”
The female lifted an eyebrow, less than flattered. A second later, Cliff’s bonds had tightened, forcing him nearly prostrate to the floor. His hands braced against the unforgiving stone, his face inches from the ground.
“You wanna kill me or fuck me? I’m getting some real mixed signals here,” he panted.
I muscled down every instinct to attempt ripping free of the bonds, knowing I’d end up with my head on the ground too if I tried. My head still spun from lack of blood.
“Hey!” Sylvia swiveled her attention back toward us, glaring daggers at the nearby fairies. “What the hell are you doing to him?”
The dreamy tone in the female fairy’s voice had soured. “I didn’t injure him. But insults beget punishment,” she said, eyes darkening on Cliff. “Don’t you prefer him on the ground, dear, where he belongs?”
“He’ll stop,” Sylvia said evenly. She threw a hard look at Cliff—a promise that she was handling this. Her gaze settled on me for a moment, and my barely contained rage must have been noticeable because her stare pleaded with me.
For a commanding officer, Marcellus seemed utterly unperturbed by the rising tension.
“Disrespect is not tolerated in our territory,” he told Sylvia. “Least of all from humans.” He cocked his head, regarding her meaningfully. “Honesty is valued with as much ferocity.”
We’re screwed, I thought, sure that he had figured out she was lying.
“Precisely what drew you here?” he asked. “I find myself doubting that sirens and a shimmer of glamour are to blame.”
Sylvia’s hesitation said it all, but Marcellus didn’t appear upset. “I… I’m a gem scavenger,” she admitted. “When I sensed a gemstone and saw its effect on the nearby area…” She chewed her lip, glancing up at him through long lashes with a look that wasboth fierce and vulnerable. A look that would make him weak in the knees—it always had that effect on me. “I’m in search of a fully-charged gem. I had to come.”
Marcellus chuckled. “I fail to see why you are in need of gem magic. You’re adept, clearly. Taming hunters, healing such beasts repeatedly, and willing to defend yourself after that ordeal? Surely you have noble blood.”
A sudden flush crept over Sylvia’s face. “Oh, no—not at all. The noble bloodlines faded from my home over a century ago, if the records are to be believed.”
“Powerful lineages find ways to live on.” Nonetheless, he let the matter go. “It has been decades since an outsider found their way to Veloria, and is it any wonder? The outside world is not kind to fairies these days.” He glanced toward Cliff and me as though we were single-handedly responsible. Reaching behind his neck, he unclasped a pendant and offered it to Sylvia. “I would be honored to show an outsider as tenacious as you what we conceal from the world.”
Sylvia didn’t move as he looped the pendant around her neck. She touched the charm, too small for me to make out. Her head snapped up to look at Marcellus. “Is this—”
“A mere fraction of what we possess. Please, come.”
Sylvia started to follow him without hesitation, then halted and turned to us as if she just remembered we were there. “I can’t,” she told Marcellus firmly. “Not until my hunters are unbound. I won’t leave them to be harassed.” She shot a sour look in the fairy couple’s direction.
