“I am not a damsel, and my name is not Cherry,” I grumbled out, crossing my arms, well, as much as I could with one in a damn sling.
Ronan let out a soft laugh, the kind that was annoyingly cute and entirely at odds with the whole lethal hunter thing he had going on. His hunter gear clung to him, and it was entirely too distracting.
“Well, Cherry, your dragon wasn’t exactly chatty, so I had to improvise.” His grin was all mischievous, for just a second, something darker flickered in his eyes.
“I’m Ronan, by the way,” he added, flashing that annoyingly perfect smile.
“I know.”
His brows rose in interest. “Oh? Been keeping tabs on me, have you?”
I snorted. “Please. You talk loud enough for the entire realm to know your name.”
He laughed, completely unbothered. “And yet, you remembered it. Cute.”
I crossed my arms. “It's hard to forget a name when it’s attached to that much ego.”
“Oof,” he winced dramatically. “Sharp tongue. I like that.”
“You’d like a cactus if it talked back,” I muttered.
“Only if it looked like you,” he said with a wink.
His voice dropped slightly, edged with something cold, completely changing the conversation, “You held your own, I’ll give you that. Wasn’t expecting vampires whilst the sun was still up, though.”
That brief flash of malice, a hunter's raw, quiet fury, was gone just as quickly as it came. Buried beneath his usual easy-goingsmile, but I saw it. I knew it. In the same way, I knew Ronan might joke and flirt, but beneath all that charm, he was still a killer.
He still worked for Vespera.
He could kill me, and he would—if he knew.
“He’s a chatty one,”Xarothar grumbled.”I can’t even talk to him, and he still won't shut up.”
I laughed quietly at that, earning a curious quirk on Ronan’s brow.
Up close, he was even more unfairly handsome. I had watched him before—whenever I ventured into town or when he and the other hunters lingered at the forest's edge. But now, in the firelight, I noticed what distance never allowed me to see. His eyes weren’t just blue. They were laced with flecks of green, deep and rich—like moss-covered stone beneath dappled sunlight. He smelled of cedarwood and something sharp and citrusy, like a bergamot —clean and fresh, with just a hint of something wild underneath. A storm rolling over in the trees.
“You’re the witch my brother has been searching for.” He finally said, his voice was quieter. He had been staring at me for a while —but to be fair, I was staring right back.
I wasn’t sure how to react around men, especially ones that I found attractive. I’d never been around them unless they were vampires trying to kill me or take me back to Eclipsara.
“Looking for me?” I asked, my grip tightening slightly on my leg.
Instead of answering me, he nudged the bowl of soup toward me.“Eat, Raven, it's fine. You need it.”Xarothar was backing him up.
I hesitated only a second before taking it with my good arm, the warmth seeping into my fingers. The scent of spices and herbs curled into the cold night air, and suddenly I realised how hungry I was. I didn’t understand why he was being so nice orwhy he helped me at all. Sure, he hunted vampires, but that didn’t mean he had to spare me. I was also an unregistered witch with a dragon.
Still, I lifted the spoon to my lips, the rich flavour hitting my tongue. A soft sigh of satisfaction escaped before I could stop it, followed by a low groan that didn’t come from me. I opened my eyes to see Ronan shifting slightly, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. His eyes flickered to mine, unreadable, but there was something sharp in them—something I couldn’t quite place. Hunger? Amusement? Who knew, but it was a bit intoxicating. I needed him to leave before my thoughts spiralled further.
“Hmm, Darian has become a little obsessed with finding the witch who managed to put him on his arse the other night,” Ronan said finally, a playful glint in his eye, before continuing.
“It’s quite funny watching him lose his temper over it.”
“Well, you found me,” I replied, taking another spoonful of the delicious soup and trying to keep my voice steady despite the butterflies in my stomach.
Ronan chuckled, leaning back slightly, his teasing smile growing wider.
“My lucky day indeed. Now, Cherry, why are you hiding out here in the woods with something that is meant to be extinct and goes against the old laws?” He was calm, but the underlying authority in his voice was impossible to miss.
