But movement in the trees a dozen feet behind them caught my eye.
Another soldier. Female, just like the first.
She lifted her bow. Knocked an arrow. Aimed it right at Jax’s head.
I didn’t think. Just whipped my dagger at her, straight and true. It zinged through the air, blade over handle, and hit the mark—the soft hollow just above her collarbone.
She let out a strangled gasp, then dropped to her knees.
Jax turned around just in time to see her faceplant.
Without a second thought, he pulled a dagger from his boot and sliced his fae’s throat.
“Jax!” I bolted up from the ground and ran to him, but pulled up short when I saw the fiery rage burning in his eye.
“I told you to stayput,” he growled. “What thefuckwere you thinking?”
Excuse me?
I folded my arms across my chest and took a step backward, glaring right back at him. “I’m sorry. Was that demon-speak for ‘thanks for saving my ass?’ Because yeah, you’re welcome.”
“Fuck, Haley. You killed her. You fucking killed her.”
“Um…” I gestured at the dead fae at his feet. “Hello?”
“I didn’t want to kill them. Leaving a trail of bodies—Midnight soldiers—is a sure way to get tracked.”
“Then what the hell were you doing to her? Before you sliced and diced her, the poor thing looked like she was about thirty seconds from dying of fright.”
He sighed. Glared. Waited for me to catch up, which…
Holy. Fuck.
“You fear-mojo’d her.”
“My intention, had you let me take care of things, was to scare her so badly she’d take off, forgetting she’d ever seen us.”
“And her little friend back there? Did you think she’d just wait in line for her turn?”
Jax said nothing.
“You didn’t even know she was there, did you?” I asked.
Silence.
“Okay, so why did you end up killing her after all that?” I asked. “Why not let her go?”
“Because the trauma of seeing her partner assassinated might’ve been enough to shock her out of the fear-haze and alert the rest of her squad to our presence.”
I walked around the dead fae slowly, still trying to process what I’d seen.
She reallyhadlooked like she was about to die of fright.
“What did you show her?” I whispered, almost afraid of the answer. “What was her worst fear? How does it even work? When we were together, I didn’t… I didn’t feel anythingcloseto that. I mean… She wasterrified, Jax.”
He gripped my jaw and leaned in close, his grin turning cruel. “You just got front-row seats to the kind of terror a direct hit from a fear demon can unleash, and that’s not even the worst I’ve got. Still think you can outrun your demons, angel? Or are you ready to wise up and stay the fuck away from me?”
“Fuck off.” I jerked away from his touch and stalked off to go retrieve my dagger.
