Oh Gods, maybe I would have to use myhiddenmagic, because if it was the only option...No, I just need to call the kingsfae.
Trying to maintain a level head, I assessed the situation more. Abel hadn’t advanced with his knife. He was simply holding the stranger, and the stranger wasn’t fighting or provoking my crazy neighbor further.
Right. I need to call the kingsfae.If I did, Abel would be arrested, and perhaps this innocent stranger would be spared, and nobody would need to learn my secret.
I whipped around, searching for help, but there was no one nearby. Whoever owned this house didn’t appear to be home, and this far into the outskirts of the capital was quieter. Trees were everywhere, and even the houses were farther apart.
I was on my own.
Shite. Whirling back around, I said in as calm a voice as I could muster, “Abel, put the knife down. Don’t hurt him. He’s done nothing wrong.”
“Hekissedyou,” Abel hissed.
I gulped and took a hesitant step closer to them.
Abel pressed the knife more into the male’s throat. The blade sank into his skin, threatening to tear it open.
“Abel! Abel, no.Stop.” I held my hands up and took another step cautiously forward.
Abel seethed, his lips curling back.
The stranger still didn’t move. He didn’t even blink.
“Abel, this is ridiculous, even for you.” Despite my words, I was careful to keep my voice low and gentle. “You arenotmy betrothed. You never have been, and I’m not bound to you in any way. Who I choose to marry is not of your concern, and I’ve chosen to marry this male, even if it was unbeknownst to you. Now, please, release him. He’s done nothing wrong.Please, Abel.”
But Abel’s hand tightened so much around the knife that his knuckles turned white. “How long have you been with her?” His focus stayed on the stranger, as though my words had fallen on deaf ears, and the earlier flare of jealousy that had wrapped around his aura when we’d spoken of Lexer increased a hundred-fold.
The stranger’s attention slid my way for the merest second. When our gazes locked, something flashed across his expression, the first break in his composure. A look of heat, fire, andwantburned so quickly, but it was fleeting and gone so fast that I wondered if I’d imagined it.
“Nearly a month,” he replied calmly, then eyed Abel again. “And as she said, I’m her betrothed. She’smine. It’s bestthat you remember that.”
A shiver struck me at his possessive tone.Mine. Every fae male knew what that declaration meant, but then I remembered that this male was merely playing along, doing me a solid favor considering how psychotic my neighbor was acting.
“Abel?” I said softly, trying again. “Let him go. Please.”
Abel’s nostrils flared, and he glanced my way. “You are meant forme, Prim. Sooner or later, you’ll accept that and?—”
A blur of movement and a surprised shout of pain came from him. Then, Abel was on the ground, face-first, both hands held behind him by the stranger.
I blinked.
Blinked again.
What just happened?
“How—” I couldn’t manage to ask more.
The stranger shoved his knee into Abel’s spine, and the huge sword at his back gleamed in the sunlight.
My neighbor struggled and thrashed beneath him, but it did no good. Whatever the stranger had done had pinned Abel completely. And on top of that, he’d also dislodged Abel’s knife and had flicked it down the alleyway to clatter harmlessly to the ground.
“You just...” My gaze met his, and I realized that he likelydidknow how to use that sword strapped to his back. “But how? How did you do that so fast?”
The stranger’s tone was no different than it’d been a moment ago. Calm and smooth. As though females nearlyramming him with their enchanted carpet, or forcing a realm-shattering kiss upon him, or having an unhinged neighborly dispute brought to his feet were no different to him than having a cup of morning tea.
It also wasn’t lost on me that he ignored my question completely and merely said, “Do us a favor and call the kingsfae.”
CHAPTER FOUR
