AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I didn’t know what I saw exactly, but it had a body, and that alone was threat enough in a place like this. We took a stance on either side of the tree and carefully craned our necks to look around the trunk before we leapt out with weapons raised.
Dangling from the tree was the gruesome sight of a male with the lower half of his body missing. His wrists were impaled with blades that held him up the tree. Blood pooled beneath him, with shreds of skin and muscle littering the ground.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, calming my racing heart. I turned around just as I heard Njall vomiting behind me.
“This has to be who we heard last night,” I said as I tossed Njall a canteen of water. He poured the water in his mouth before spitting it back out. My own stomach churned. I had thought it was from one of the beasts in the forest, but this was fae…“You alright?”
“Better than him.” He nodded. He wiped his mouth and tucked the canteen in his side pocket.
I took one last look at the male and shuddered before turning around to face Njall.
Gods, that could have been either one of us.
I jutted my chin. “Let’s get out of here.”
He nodded as we both turned to go back around the tree before Njall was tackled to the ground. An arrow was aimed at my face before I could react, and a sword at Njall’s neck held by a brawny male on top of him.
“Move and she dies,” the male spat.
Njall growled, bearing his teeth.
“Well if it isn’t the lovebirds, finally down from their perch,” a silky voice said venomously. The female was tall, taller than me, and dressed in sleeveless leathers showing her muscular arms. Her dreadlocked blond hair hung loosely down her back to her waist. “We saw you two cuddled up in that tree of yours.” Her eyes flicked to Njall. “What, you couldn’t go a few days without a piece of ass?” She aimed a smug smile and winked.
This Torx bitch was delusional, and I wanted to smack the look right off her face. The male let Njall stand, the tip of his blade still pressing into the skin of his neck—a small amount of blood dripping down the length of it. The female stepped closer, the arrow aimed at my eye and so close that I could see the string of the bow fraying from lack of care. I smiled inwardly.
Big mistake.
“We couldn’t get close enough without you noticing us, and thought maybe you’d come running to this one’s rescue once you heard the screams. Seems our bait took a little longer than expected to catch its prey.” My eyes snapped to the burly male standing in front of Njall, both staring each other down with rage rippling off them. The scent of their fury was stifling.
“What do you want?” Njall’s voice was low as he seethed through clenched teeth. I swore that if he had his fire, his burning look would have melted the male’s pale skin right off his bones.
“Why don’t you tell us what you know of the riddle, andmaybeI’ll let one of you live,” the female said, glaring at me.
Njall’s eyes narrowed on her. “We don’t have it solved.”
She scoffed. “Liar. You’ve been traveling together since the first day, with purpose. Looks like you two have it all figured out.”
The male stepped forward, pressing the tip of his blade harder into Njall’s neck. I gritted my teeth. I wouldn’t have been able to move fast enough to get to him without her killing me first.But I knew they weren’t going to let us go until they got what they wanted. And even then, they would have still killed us so we didn’t get in their way.
Neither of us spoke. We both knew they wouldn’t let us live, so why make it easier for them.
“Kill her. Maybe it’ll loosen his tongue,” the male suggested.
The female shrugged and pulled back the arrow—
“You don’t want to do that,” Njall said quickly.
“Oh? Why is that?” she asked.
My fingers twitched, itching to reach for my blades.
Njall paused for a moment, then sighed. “She’s my mate.” Completely forgetting about the arrow, I snapped my head to him with wide eyes. “I felt the bond when we arrived and she was in distress.”
What?!
My heart sank, and I felt the color drain from my face.
No. This couldn’t be happening. It didn’t feel right. I hadn’t felt anything. I should have felt something, right?
