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His gaze was searching the tree line, looking for a threat, but he hadn’t noticed me. I could easily cross the cleave and slit his throat if I dared. It would be far too effortless if he were only a man, but I didn’t know what powers lay beneath his clueless stare.
My fingers edged toward my dagger as I looked past him and scanned the camp. There were several tents, all bearing the royal seal proudly, and a few soldiers sat by a large fire, laughing as they spoke to one another. I clenched my jaw as I watched them so at ease.
Soldiers sent here to take a human girl against her will, but that fate didn’t seem to weigh heavily on any of them.
They were nothing but fools of a crooked kingdom, and my heart pounded in my chest as I watched them.
None of them sensed a threat. Not a single one of them worried about what the Starless could do to them.
But I wasn’t Starless.
The twin moons shined brightly above me as my fingers traced over the rough metal handle of my dagger I had memorized years ago, but they tensed as my spine bristled. I turned to look behind me just as a gloved hand clamped down around my mouth.
Panic ensnared me as I searched the dark eyes behind me. His hand flexed against my mouth harder as if he was worried I would scream, but I wouldn’t. None of these people would help me, and I didn’t want to draw any attention from the fae soldiers.
They were already after me, and I didn’t want them to know that I was watching them so closely.
“What the fuck are you doing?” his deep, sensual voice that I didn’t recognize growled at me before he dropped his hand from my mouth and jerked my own away from my dagger and tugged it out of my boot.
“Give that back.”
I reached out for my blade, but he quickly moved out of my reach.He opened his hand and my dagger was enveloped in black smoke that dripped from his fingers. It floated in the air as if nothing was holding it but his magic. My breath rushed out of me as my marks hummed against my skin. It was as if the stranger in front of me had roused them from a deep slumber that I hadn’t realized they were in.
“That’s not going to happen.” He lowered his hood, and my face flushed with warmth as I looked up at him. His jaw was sharp and his cheekbones high. His hair was black as the night sky and cut short. And gods, he was beautiful. High fae, I was absolutely certain. His ears came to the slightest point that always gave the fae away, but it was his unnatural beauty that divulged what he was so easily. That and his domineering boldness. “What are you doing on the edge of the cleave with nothing but a dagger to protect you?”
“I can handle myself.”I had become tired of repeating that sentiment, but I still said it regardless of the fact that I didn’t owe this fae any explanation.
“Can you?” His hand shot out and wrenched me forward. I flinched and barely noticed his hand as he pulled my hood back with a harsh tug.
His head jerked back as his gaze flicked rapidly over my face, and I knew exactly what he was seeing.
“You’re the Starblessed?” His hand tightened around my arm almost to the point of pain, and my pulse raced beneath his touch.
“Starcursed.” I lifted my chin as I corrected him. “You are a fae soldier?”
He didn’t look like the other soldiers I had seen walking around the camp. His clothes were all black and held no marking of the royal guard.
He hesitated for a second before a small smile appeared on his full lips. “You could say that.”
I didn’t trust him. Whoever this man was, I knew that he was someone I should stay far away from.
“Let me go.” I jerked my arm out of his hold, and his smile widened until his teeth were bared.
“What is the Starblessed doing in the woods in the middle of the night by herself? Shouldn’t you be getting rest to meet your new husband tomorrow?”
Tomorrow. I was going to meet the crowned prince of Citlali tomorrow.
“I have a name.” I turned away from him and looked back toward the camp. The soldiers there seemed none the wiser that either one of us stood in the woods just outside their tents.
“Adara.” My name sounded like a plea from his lips.
I spun back toward him and searched his face. “I seem to be at a disadvantage. You know me, but I have no damn clue who you are.”
That only made him smile harder.
“I’m no one important.”
His answer grated on my nerves. It was nothing more than a distraction. “So, you won’t tell me your name then?”
