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1
DELPHINE
Elves were supposed to be a pretty bunch, but this man was as homely as a stump with a face that only a mother would love—scratch that, an elven mother would have left him in the woods as a baby. I surreptitiously sipped my vodka cranberry and kept one eye on my target.
The sounds of billiards balls clacking and men jeering filled the air. It was a comforting sound because it meant that there was a crowd that I could get lost in if I needed to. The dive bar was small and cramped, but it was filled to the brim with people. Some came for the thrill while others, the regulars, came because the bartender didn’t mind pouring an extra ounce of liquor in their drinks.
Life had gotten much easier since leaving Lakesedge. Back there, Rhoan Glennwood had managed to pull me into a whole heap of trouble that I was more than happy to leave behind. Sinking back into my old life as a bounty hunter felt nice, like putting on a pair of comfy yet violent socks.
No, that didn’t make any sense, but it still felt right all the same.
When the ugly elven man slipped out of a door, I moved to follow. A chill up my spine stopped me dead in my tracks. I hadn’t felt a chill like that since Queen Beryl of the Lakesedge Unseelie Court threatened to call my murderous ex-fiancé on me.
Time slowed as I turned to check behind me. His eyes were the first thing I saw. I cut through the glamour masking his magical identity in the mortal realm and saw his piercing red eyes. My stomach dropped.
No.
It can’t be.
How did he find me?
This wasn’t him. It couldn’t be.
I’d covered my tracks. I’d done everything right. I’d kept moving so that he could never catch up to me.
The magical ring on my left hand tightened around my finger. I almost hissed in pain when it surprised me. The burning sensation lingered as I buried my fear deep down.
The man with the red eyes caught sight of me. I didn’t look anything like he remembered. With a magical glamour wrapped around me, I was no longer the violet-skinned elven woman that had been promised to him. Instead, I was a black woman dressed head to toe in leather, with white braids pulled up into a messy bun.
Yet, he set his sights on me as if he knew.
I looked back to the door and cursed to myself. My target had slipped away. I would have to track him down again later. Right now, I needed to get out of here before Arven D’Or of the Golden Elven Court realized that he’d finally found his bride-to-be.
There was no way that I would ever marry that man. I’d promised myself that I would never even be in the same room as him, but I’d obviously failed on that part. I wasn’t about to fail again.
Arven didn’t deserve so much as a second glace. I twisted to get off the bar stool.
A hand touched my shoulder. My blood turned to ice.
“Delphine Eveningwind?”
I kicked myself for keeping my given name. I should have gone by a pseudonym this whole time. Going by Del and Delphine had been my downfall, even if I’d never told anyone my court name.
Without thinking, I snatched my bar neighbor’s empty tequila bottle. The man was so far gone he couldn’t react as I spun and brought the bottle down on Arven’s head.
Arven staggered as shards of glass rained down on the floor. The bar went silent. I became acutely aware that everyone was watching.
I couldn’t be here. I had to get out. If I stepped in-between, I could be in a whole new city in a heartbeat.
“This is how you treat me after leaving me at the altar without a word?” Arven shouted as he winced and rubbed his scalp. Glittering glass tumbled out of his black hair.
The entire bar gasped. They were all invested in this dramatic argument now. There was no way that I could step in-between with so many humans watching. I cursed under my breath. This was my own doing, and I knew it.
I leveled a glare at Arven and clenched my teeth because I knew he was about to explode. Arven D’Or was not a good man. He was not a patient man. He destroyed anything in his way and left no survivors behind. There was no one who would come back for revenge that way.
He’d made a mistake when he left me behind.
But the man before me didn’t match up with the stories of Arven D’Or at all. He shook his head like a dog fresh out of the bath. When he straightened, his black hair was in disarray and there was a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he laughed it off. He ran a hand through his hair, so dark and full of color that I could barely look away.
