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“Unmated female is a prize for all males. Mated males protect their females. And our cook must be in proper condition. Soldiers must eat.” He pounded his chest, rattling his bones. “I must eat. So it is none, or it is a mate.”
“Are we doing this?” shouted someone further in the crowd.
Voices raised, impatiently agreeing. Vampires wanted time with their prize before sunrise.
“Don’t let me stop you.” Leaf displayed his palms. “But I will compete.”
“No weapons,” the orc declared, eyeing off the Guardian’s sword. “No flying. No mana. Same for everyone.”
“But your size is your weapon,” he pointed out dryly. “And the vampires have fangs. The shifters have claws. The stags have antlers. All can hear, see, and smell better to track the females. I see no other elves competing here tonight. That means I’m the only one at a disadvantage. Taking my weapon would make it worse.”
“Fine,” he snarled. “One weapon. No metal.”
Nova caught the gleam in Leaf’s eyes before he scowled. “I suppose you’ll choose the weapon?”
With a grunt, Grung stomped into the darkness—toward the severed heads on pikes. Nova thought he might return with one of them, but he continued until he ducked into the supply tent and returned with a flimsy filleting knife made of bone.
“Set the females loose,” the captain yelled.
Nova startled. She had no ties binding her wrists. Did he mean now? Her wild eyes darted about, searching for the best place to escape, but seeing in the dark was impossible. Leaf was right. The more animalistic fae would see her coming a mile away. The other females didn’t hesitate. They ran—each disappearing into opposite ends of the forest.
“Run,” Grung roared, his big voice booming to fill the surrounding area. His eyes lit up with excitement. “See you soon, my future mate.”
As if her heart still hadn’t caught the memo, she glanced at Leaf but found him frighteningly unworried. Only someone more lethal than the others would hold that unwavering confidence. How stupid she was to think a fate with him would be better than death.
ChapterSix
Leaf had to be insane. But too many things about this woman didn’t add up. She’d mistaken him as someone from her time. Clarke said his future mate would be found on the way to the ruins. Perhaps this was the journey, not the old one he’d been avoiding.
Being the victor in this hunt meant he was doing his duty as a Guardian. He could not, in good faith, leave a woman from the old world here to fend for herself. Despite his belief they were distractions, all who had awoken from that time had contributed to their fight against Nero.
So, using that logic, he would win the hunt and convince the imbecile orc that he had mated with her. If that didn’t work, then he’d kill them all.
At least his horse would have rested by then.
Then Leaf would continue to the ruins, find the last journal, and return Nova to the Order, where she could have one of those ridiculous drinks with tiny umbrellas. The last thing he needed was a herd of women harassing him for abandoning this one. That was the only reason he was doing this. Not the pain in Nova’s eyes when they’d ripped the rings from her ears. Not the way his pulse seemed to quicken when he looked at her face. And indeed, not the inexplicable notion that her voice shook something loose from the disquiet of his soul.
She was no one to him.
Unstrapping his baldric with short, sharp moves, he glared at his competition as they waited for the signal to give chase. The orc wouldn’t be the only threat. Shifters and vampires had the best senses. But vampires preferred to hunt from the sky. Since they were forbidden, they’d have to make do on foot. The shifters, however, were quite adept at running in the forest.
Hadn’t there been one that sniffed Nova’s crotch?
He located the wolf shifter standing away from the fire, staring in the direction Nova had run. Following the desperado would be Leaf’s best chance.
He dropped his satchel next toReckoning. Long before the taint had warped mana, he’d placed protective wards on his belongings. If anyone attempted to steal them, they’d likely find themselves without hands.
Straightening, he put the flimsy filleting knife between his teeth, pulled a leather cord from his pocket, and tied the length of his hair back. It was laughable how easily he’d lulled them into a false sense of security.
If Leaf could rely on his mana, he would have taken Nova through a portal to the Order, Grung’s rules be damned.
After securing his hair, he removed the knife from his mouth and spat the bad taste on the ground. Revolting, uncouth, reprobate and—
“HUNT!”
Stampeding feet trembled the trees and ground as soldiers ran past Leaf. For Crimson’s sake… almost the entire troop joined the hunt. He stayed back, watching every direction they ran, waiting until the last of them disappeared into the forest’s shadows.
Then he reached forReckoning.
