Page 131 of Destiny of a King

Fiora appeared from behind the stonework and flew toward them.

“How the bloody hell did you get in here?” Dravic demanded.

Fiora rolled her eyes. “I’m a fairy. We can get ourselves into almost anything.”

Dravic opened his mouth to respond.

Fiora immediately pressed one tiny finger to her lips. “Shhh.”

Something in her expression wiped the remnants of Dravic’s smile away.

Adira straightened in his arms.

Fiora flew closer and kept her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s a trap.”

Dravic went still. “What is?”

“The village. All of it.” Fiora glanced toward the door. “Don’t go outside. They’re waiting for you.”

Dravic’s arm tightened around Adira. “Who?”

“I don’t know. Warriors started arriving before dawn. More came out of cottages. Your men and the Hunters are surrounded. They were taken before they could lift a weapon.”

Fury hardened Dravic’s face. “All of them?”

“From what I could tell and they’re all alive. That’s why I came to you instead of doing something clever and heroic myself.”

Dravic ignored that. His mind was already racing back over the night before.

A cottage waiting for them. A fire already burning. Food set upon the table. Privacy offered before he’d even asked for it.

He scowled deeply. “They knew.”

Fiora nodded.

“They knew we were coming.” He cursed beneath his breath.

He had walked willingly into the trap, pleased by the prospect of getting Adira alone when he should have questioned why everything had been prepared for their arrival.

Merek.

His directions had brought them here.

Dravic’s gaze went to Adira.

She had heard every word. She kept her expression carefully controlled, but fear had begun to gather inside her. Not for herself… for him.

Fiora darted toward the back of the cottage.

“The window in the rear wall. No one is watching it. They’re all waiting for the king to walk out the front door.”

Dravic looked toward the window.

“You need to leave. Now,” Fiora whispered.

“My men are out there and the Hunters who serve me loyally.”

“And what good will you do them if they capture you too?”