Page 40 of Crown of Darkness
My breath catches. Thiago’s only mentioned one other male who might be able to veil like this. I take a closer look at him as he slips his hood back.
Long, silky-black hair gathers into a half-knot at the back of his head, and intense eyes as black as the heart of night itself return my stare. There’s a hint of the Danesh Su about his face—those eyes and cheekbones that could cut like a knife—but it’s the tattoos that crawl up his throat that capture my attention.
A blood moon, glowing red for a second, before it fades into whorls of black ink.
Erlking’s hairy cock….
“The Prince of Shadows sends his regards,” the stranger purrs, lifting his finger from my lips.
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Chapter Seven
Itry for the knife again, and the bastard simply takes it off me.
“Ah, ah, ah,” he chides, balancing the tip of it on his finger before he flips it, and then presents the handle to me. “If I wanted you dead, Princess, then you wouldn’t have seen me at all.”
True. It stills a few of my nerves. Not all of them, though.
“How did you know who I was?” I can still see my fake red hair tangling over my shoulders.
The Prince of Shadows twists his hands together in front of his forehead, then slowly parts them. A golden eye appears. A tattoo of pure magic, not ink. “Long ago, I traded my soul for the ability to see through magic itself.”
Very mysterious. Also, very hospitable of him to answer. “I’d swoon, but my husband has inured me against charming strangers. He also lies through his teeth when I try to corner him on a topic. “Theron himself, I presume?”
“Such a name might exist.” He produces the Sorrow’s Tear, brushing the red-black petals against his lips. “I received your husband’s calling card.”
“My husband is waiting for me at the Wayfarer, and you’re probably lucky he’s unaware you’ve cornered me here.”
Where in the Darkness is Finn?
Theron smiles, as if I’m blundering down the path he wants me to take.Oh, look at me, a mysterious charming scoundrel who wouldn’t dream of sticking a knife in someone’s heart.
“Ah, Princess.” He brushes the rose againstmylips. “I’m not afraid of your husband. You’re in my territory now.”
I bat the rose aside. “Touch me again with that rose and I’ll shove it up your ass, stalk first.”
“Strange. You seemed to enjoy it earlier.”
So he’s been watching us. “My husband has the right to touch me. You don’t.”
He holds the rose up in surrender, a smile on his lips.
“As enjoyable as this is,” I continue, “you’re not here to try and charm me.”
“You’re right. I’m not. What does he want?” Despite the earlier smile, there’s a dangerous look in his eyes.
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because he’s being watched.”
I run the tip of my tongue over my teeth. “By whom?”
“Friends,” he replies. “Not friends.”
“This… Gray Guild.”
Silence. Theron stares at me for a long moment. And I realize there’s no reason to suspect he’s not involved in this.
