Page 104 of Prince of Darkness and Deceit

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. She’s brave. And strong. Everyone in Verdanthia loves her.”

Sure, the prejudice of being Kinless follows her, but it’s never seemed as bad for her as it is for me.

“You’re brave,” he says. “You wouldn't have spoken up in that meeting hall if you weren’t.”

Heat prickles up my neck from the intensity of his stare. I keep my eyes on Darius.

“Ferria is bolder,” I murmur. “And louder. And⁠—”

“Your confidence is louder than hers. You just don’t hear it.”

My hands still. My chest tightens. No one has ever said anything like that to me before… Why does it make my pulse race?

I cough, then busy my hands with stirring the broth again, anything to ground me.

“What about you?” I ask. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I’m an only child.” He shifts the book in his hands. “But Draven, Jaxon, and Darius are my brothers in every way that matters.”

I finally lift my gaze to him. “That’s…really nice.”

“It is. Most days.” He smiles, but his eyes flicker with something I can’t name.

The low murmur from the soldiers outside cuts through the stillness.

I jerk my head toward the sound. “Where were the soldiers when I arrived?”

His shadows writhe and obscure his features. “Dealing with a problem.”

I don’t bother prying. I know a pointless cause when I see one.

Instead, I draw the blanket higher on Darius’s chest. Cool shadows shift across my arms as I move. They dance now, subtle tendrils curling with the warm magic pulsing under my skin. I suppress a shiver and peek at Rian.

He’s bent over the book, and there’s a sharpness to his jaw while he reads, a strength in the curve of his mouth. Dark lashes fan across his cheeks as his eyes scan the pages. He’s beautiful, and it’s distracting.

Stop it, Elara.

Rian is Fae. And I’m…just me. A healer from Verdanthia. A human healer. He needs me to help his friend. And I need him to leave my loved ones in peace. Once we both get what we need, we’ll go our separate ways.

Whatever strange feelings are happening between us…I can’t afford to give them a name—to let myself believe they matter.

Because they don't.

Not now. Not ever.

Not when humans are subjected to the whim of the Fae and the evil contained in their dark, undefeatable power.

21

Sleep refuses to claim me. My body aches for rest, every muscle heavy, but my mind will not yield. I lie tangled in threadbare sheets, eyes fixed on the ceiling’s worn wooden beams, unable to stop thinking of him.

Rian.

Every time my eyelids flutter closed, he’s there. His dark, unyielding stare holds me captive.

I trace the sharp cut of his handsome features, admiring the strength coiled into every line of his body. His shadows reach for me, hungry, desperate. As if they crave me. Their phantom touch lingers on my skin, wrapping me in their darkness, squeezing tighter every time I fight them…every time I tell myself I don’t want him.