AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 2
Bree
Bree didn’t stick aroundto see his last breath, but she knew it would come. The blade had gone right into his heart. Tears streamed down her face at the horror of it, and her feet pounded in time with the heavy beating of her heart. She hated what she had done. Killing was the last thing she ever wanted to do. It was why becoming a Redcap had been so torturous for her. The bloodlust drove her wild. A bloodlust she had wanted to rip out of herskin.
It was a long way back to the Faerie Ring that would lead her home to Otherworld, and she no longer had a horse. For a brief moment, she considered letting her beastly form take over. It was itching to get out, making her skin pulse with the need to run, run,run.
But as awful as she felt about what she’d done, she also felt unspeakable relief. She would not be turned into a champion, an assassin, or whatever else the Prince had planned for her. She would be free, and Otherworld would be safe. No one would ever know what had happened to the King or the Prince, and the Light Fae’s realm could continue on asnormal.
Except...a little voice in the back of her head reminded her that some things were still very much not fixed yet. There was still the Tithe to worry about. All the innocent humans who would be lost because of it. She didn’t know how they would end the Tithenow.
Up ahead, she could see the dark stone ring that would lead her back to the Light Fae’s realm. Almostthere.
Heavy wings beat overhead. More ravens? No, these wings sounded like thunder, like they were ten times heavier, and they were coming close. Frowning, Bree slowed her steps and paused to gazeoverhead.
Two enormous silver wings pounded against the air, protruding from the bloody back of a very angry and very alive-looking Prince Taveon. Bree’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach at the sight of the fae, and dread poured through every vein in her body. All she could do was stand there, dumb-founded, staring up athim.
How the hell had hesurvived?
He’d been seconds away from death when she’d left him. The blade had gone straight into his heart. Blood had painted the ground all around his brokenbody.
The blade was gone now, along with his shirt, though the blood was still caked to his slick, luminous chest. One with tightly-coiled muscles that rippled as his wings beat the air. He had found a rope somewhere, and he had slung it around his neck. The ends swirled in the air from the force of his powerful wings. Bree swallowed hard and took a step back, not sure whether to scream or run orboth.
Instead, she settled for staying rooted to the spot, calling to the beast within her. Maybe if she transformed into her wolfish counterpart, she’d have a chance at fighting back. Maybe the beast could take on this monstrous DarkFae.
Because damn, did Prince Taveon look as though he were itching for afight.
He settled down on the ground before her as the force of his wings formed a tornado around her shaking body. Her hair whipped at her face, and the scent of smokey death filled her head. She took another step back, staring at the Prince. Hot breath shot from his flared nostrils as he eyed her with a ferocious intensity that made her kneesquake.
“You killed me.” His voice was a deep growl that slithered across herskin.
She raised her eyebrows. Interesting choice of words. He certainly didn’tlooklike she had killedhim.
“I showed your world mercy. I intended to keep your dear Princess safe.” His nostrils flared even more. “And you repay that favor by killing me while I lay bleeding beforeyou.”
“I think you might be confused. You don’t look dead tome.”
In fact, he was breathtakingly alive. Blindingly so. It was hard not to stand and stare at him. Before, it had been impossible not to notice that he was easy on the eyes. His smooth dark hair, that strong jaw. But now, he was on a totally different level. Power rippled off him in waves, so fast and furious that Bree felt knocked senseless by his verypresence.
He blinked, shuddering as he folded those massive silver wings of his behind his back. And she felt as though she could breathe slightly easier, now that she didn’t have to stand there transfixed and staring at them. That didn’t fix his bare chestthough.
“I am impossible to kill,” he merely said. “Or harm. At least for more than a fewmoments.”
“Right...” Bree frowned. “Wait a minute. I thought you got injured back in Otherworld. That’s why Norah brought you back to the castle in the first place. So that Liam could healyou.”
“I was not truly harmed then either. I needed an excuse to be taken to your castle.” He pressed his lips into a grim line. “That is your first lesson of Underworld. Never trust the words of a DarkFae.”
Another lie. Another falsehood. For what? To get close to Princess Norah? To gain her trust? So that he could then steal Bree away toUnderworld.
Bree took a step back, shaking her head. “What are you going to do tome?”
He pulled the rope over his head and took several large strides toward her. She backed up quickly, her eyes darting left and right. “I shall take you back to the castle like I had planned. And you will become my champion and my Redcapassassin.”
She stumbled back.No. She wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t let ithappen—
“And Bree?” He gave her a cruel smile. “If you try to run again, if you try to kill me, then I vow to tell my Court exactly how my father died. And I will not stand in their way when they want to kill every last Light Faealive.”
Her whole body trembled as she stayed exactly where she was. He’d given her no other choice, she realized. She’d happily risk her own life to get the hell out of here, but she wouldn’t risk the lives of anyone else, especially not those she loved. As he strode behind her to wrap the rough rope around her wrists, she ground her teeth together. She’d never hated anyone more than in thatmoment.
