Page 41 of Promise of Darkness
“You will never back down, will you?” He shakes his head. “Fine. This is your own fault.”
Grabbing hold of me, he throws me over his shoulder as though I weigh nothing at all. I catch a glimpse of a slick of ice to our left, right where he’s headed, and suddenly understand his intentions.
“Don’t you dare!” I kick him in the midriff, but he merely curls an arm around my legs and traps them. “Thiago!”
“Thiago. I like the sound of my name on your lips.” His arm softens, becoming a hand that slides up my thigh. “Perhaps if I heard it again, with a few additions like ‘please’ or ‘I’m sorry I threw a snowball at you,’ then I might reconsider my current intentions.”
“You pig-fucking merciless prick! I swear—”
A sharp slap on my ass makes my eyes pop wide.Did he just…?
“Manners, Your Highness,” he says smugly. “Now apologize.”
We’re getting closer to the ice.He wouldn’t. We’re in the middle of a snowy wasteland, and this will set us back hours.
But his steps aren’t slowing, and I’m starting to recognize the set of his shoulders at times.
“If you dump me in this pond,” I snarl, “then you’re going to have to wait until I dry.”“I have a hunting cabin nearby. I could just chain you to the fireplace and return when I’ve done what I need to.”
A hunting cabin? It momentarily sidetracks me. “Why do you have a cabin here, in disputed territories?”
“Because I sometimes like to hunt.” He hauls me down into his arms, where I make one last effort to escape as he threatens to heave me onto the ice.
“Fine!” I yelp, clinging to him like a barnacle. “I apologize!”
Thiago stills. “You apologize for….”
Gritting my teeth, I look him in the eye. “I apologize for throwing that snowball at you.”
Evenifyou deserved it.
“Good.” He sets me on my feet. “Next time, use your magic. It’s far more effective than any punch. You’ll never beat me without it.”
I’m left staring at his back, quivering with fury and shock as he strides away.
The ground shakes, snow shivering off trees and a squirrel fleeing with a sudden squeak. It startles me enough that I let go of the anger I’ve been building.
Instantly, everything falls quiet again.
Thiago looks back at me.
What was that?
It wasn’t the same frenetic energy I’ve felt inside me but couldn’t touch. No, this came from far underground, as if my anger somehow roused a sleeping giant. I can still feel it, stirring beneath the frozen earth like a sluggish river of power.
“Princess?” Thiago calls softly. “Are you coming?”
I bolt after him, suddenly feeling the trees press in all around us.
I can’t sense that power anymore, but perhaps that’s a good thing.
Whatever it is, it’s not coming from inside me, even if I suspect it responded to me.
And it’s not fae magic.
* * *
Mistmere loomsout of the frozen wasteland of the lake, the ancient keep’s spires soaring toward the skies. It was built on a rocky island, a single bridge connecting it to the land. Dawn silvers the skies in the east, but shadows cling to the city, making it look like some sort of eerie graveyard of rubble.
