Page 49 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

Tipping his head back, he rolled his eyes. “Alright. I see your point, my lady. But take this.” He unsheathed one of his silver daggers and handed it, hilt first, to me. “You certainly didn’t hesitate to use it last time.”

“Pure luck.” I had never actually used a weapon before that moment, and I hoped to never have to again.

“Instinct,” he corrected. “Always lean into it.”

I placed the silver dagger beside me on the boulder.

“I will return shortly. Stay hidden…please, my lady,” he practically begged.

I nodded, and Darragh walked toward the small home as I stood and moved to the horses.

I raised my pitch to them. “I suppose you two would like a treat for being such a good boy and girl.” Astorath stomped the ground in excitement, and Celeste, ever the proper lady, nuzzled my arm.

I handed them both a green apple, and they chomped them greedily. The juice from their first bites ran down my hands, and with a few more chomps and crunches, the apples were devoured. “Hungry beasts, aren’t you?”

The sticky, sweet mess of juice and horse saliva coated my hands. Wiping them on my cloak wouldn’t rid the tackiness.

I kissed Celeste on her velvety nose. “I’ll be but a moment. You two stay out of trouble.” I grabbed the dagger as I passed by the boulder and stepped into the forest.

Just fifty yards into the trees, a bubbling stream flowed quickly, filled with leaves in a swirl of autumn color. The days of rain had made the stream high and rushing. A small deer stood on the other side of the embankment with her spotted fawn as I plunged my hands into the cold water, washing away the apple and horse residue. I smiled at how attentive she was to her fawn.

The doe alerted, her ears at attention. The mother and her young turned and bounded quickly through the trees, hearing something that I was not privy to.

“A pretty little thing wandering around the forest?” The deep voice startled me, and I jumped to my feet, spinning around.

Four seraph men stood before me, all with wolfish grins. A man with a scar across his cheek, a redhead, a curly-haired brunette, and a seraph who looked like he was barely into adulthood. All strapped with daggers and swords. My heart froze in place.

The man with the scar took a step toward me. “Our lucky day.”

The redhead lightly slapped the shoulder of the brunette next to him and pointed at me. “Hey, ain’t she that pet human the city is all abuzz about?”

I took a step back, my heel hitting the edge of the stream with a tiny splash. The silver dagger lay on the ground, naively dropped in my haste to plunge my hands into the water.

“She is.” The scarred seraph sucked his teeth. “I saw her ride in with the king’s brother. That’s her.”

They all took another measured step toward me. I tried to control my breathing and straighten my face. My heart, however, could not be tamed, and it boomed in my chest.

The brunette tipped his head. “Pretty dress.” He looked at the young seraph. “She looks expensive, don’t you think?” I willed my hands not to tremble.

The young man looked at the rest of the group and back at me. “She sure does.”

I swallowed. “I—I wish I could say I was, but I do not wear jewels or carry coin like the noble seraphs of Tironaill. I am not wealthy nor important.” I held my hands out in front of me to show them I was bare of any jewelry.

The man with the scar cracked his knuckles. “Well, my pretty little thing, I think that’s simply untrue.” He took a step toward me.

I smoothed my panicked look as best I could. “I must be getting back to my escort,” I lied, having to push the choking words out of my mouth with my drying tongue. A sliver of knowing twisted along my spine. I looked between each of them with hopes to see even a small show of apprehension in any of their faces. I was met with the certainty of what they wanted as they traced the curves beneath my dress instead.

I flicked my eyes down to my discarded dagger and back to the aggression that was encasing me, step by step.

The brunette seraph looked at the dagger and smiled. “Oh, I think you are selling yourself short. You seem plenty important to that son of bitch commander, and that makes you valuable.”

I shook my head, but he still advanced toward me.

“I can’t be letting you leave here without a proper welcome from the lads and me.” Violent hands grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. I was positioned in the center of their group, large bodies towering over me.

The redhead stepped up to me and pressed his torso against mine. He grabbed the back of my hair and pulled, my face angling up to his. The fire I had buried beneath the mask of propriety blazed to life. Fuck. This. I spat, landing it in his eyes.

His grasp on my hair fell, and he stepped back from me. “Bitch!”