Page 26 of Prisoner of Steel and Shadow

For such a large man, he was oddly pretty. The angles and proportions of his face were perfect in their symmetry and placement. If his hair was the color of flame, his eyes were shards of ice. A flinty shade somewhere between blue and gray, they brought to mind the sky in winter. And his lips were full, if not a touch pouty. For the first time in her life, she had the impulse to lean forward and steal a kiss. Just to see if he was real.

He was so handsome. In fact, he reminded her of a sculpture she’d seen once. A depiction of a celestial come to life. Something more than human, rivaling the perfection of the heavens themselves.

The color bled from his sun-kissed skin, and the man staggered, reaching out as if to touch her. “R-Reyna?”

She jerked her head back on instinct, knocking her hood free. Shocked gasps rang out as whispers of her name exploded up from the crowd like kernels of roasted corn.

For fuck’s sake.

“It’s her, the High Lord’s Shadow.”

“Shadow is entering the contest!”

“Stars above, it’s really her!”

“Do you think she’ll autograph my sword?”

“Put that away, Gary. She’s not interested in signing your wee willy.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed back a howl of frustration as panic began to claw at her. Time was up. She needed to get her name on that list before it was too late.

“You’ve got the wrong person,” she informed him, taking a step back and forcing the people around her to get out of her way. It didn’t take much effort on her part now that everyone knew who she was.

The handsome stranger put his hand on her shoulder, tugging her back. Panic morphed into icy anger, and this time, she moved in close, pressing the tip of her dagger in just hard enough there was no mistaking her intent.

“Mister, you do not want to fuck with me,” she growled.

Something like nostalgia washed through his expression. “That’s not the first time you’ve held a blade to my groin.”

He was mad. Moon-touched. She didn’t have the patience or restraint to deal with this.

“Oh? Perhaps you didn’t learn your lesson. Shall I remove the appendage this time to make it stick?”

“You always were overly interested in my cock.”

“Now I know you’ve got me confused with someone else. I couldn’t give two shits about the dangling bit of meat between your legs.”

She rolled her eyes, her lip curled in disgust. Men were so damn predictable. They thought everything was about their dick. As if anyone was impressed by a cock and balls. What was so special about it? Dogs had them. Horses too, and they were a fair bit more impressive. The first lesson any woman learned when fighting off a man was to aim for his crotch. Surely they had to realize those balls they were so proud of were a weakness, not a treasure?

“It’s more than a bit,” he said with a cocksure grin.

Shadow sighed, disappointed he went with such a typical reply. Elbowing people to the side, she started forcing her way to the front of the line. When she realized he was keeping pace with her, she snapped, “And for the record, size says nothing of skill. If I’ve learned anything about men, it’s that the more one has to say about the subject, the more unimpressive they are. Inallregards.”

He shook his head, his lips twisted in a confused smile. “You really don’t remember. I’d wondered... It was the only thing that made sense, assuming you weren’t imprisoned.”

She paused long enough to blink at him, his words not making sense. Even though a panicked voice in her mind screamed for her to shove everyone aside and get her name on that damn list, she couldn’t help but ask, “What are you going on about?”

“Why you didn’t come back. It never made sense to me. You’re too skilled not to evade your kidnappers. Eventually I started to wonder if you’d taken a blow to the head and lost your memories. It happens sometimes.”

“That’s a lovely story, but I assure you I know exactly who I am, as all these people can attest.”

“Reyna—” he tried again.

“That’s not my name. It never has been.”

Instead of shutting him down, her brush-off seemed to infuriate him.

“Yes, it is.Youmay not remember who you are, but I do.”

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