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1
ANARIA
The team of horses thundered down the narrow dirt road, gritty dust sifting into the carriage, coating me and the only other passenger in a thick layer of brown.
I might hate him, but I couldn’t stop watching Tavion Montgomery with wary curiosity, my stomach lurching in time with the rickety contraption. A few hours ago, I’d been sitting in my father’s court, watching the daily audience with feigned interest. Now I was stuck in this death trap with my husband.
My fake fucking husband.
Who was taking me home to meet his family. I wanted to cry. Or howl.
Ironically, howling was more myhusband’sforte.
The road to Warrington Hollow was barely a road at all and my pervasive sense of doom grew heavier with every mile we rattled north on this fool’s errand, because that’s what we were doing.
Wasting time heading in the wrong fucking direction.
Keeping up this ridiculous pretense instead of joining Zorander’s attack against the Fae King and his demonic army.
We should be with him.
Ishould be with him.
But Zor was twenty miles west, and we were heading in the opposite direction, all because of the pompous arsehole sitting beside me.My fucking husband. The thought struck me so violently my fingers dug gouges into the luxurious leather seat.
Making this whole situation worse, every time the carriage swayed I was thrown against Tavion’s hard, muscled body, forced to peel myself off him like skin from an apple, as if I had any fucking control over the laws of physics.
Maybe if I drew my knife the next time we hit a hole, I could accidently stab the bastard in the heart and no one would be the wiser. I could always dump the body out of the side door. Obviously, the road wasn’t heavily traveled; with luck, he’d never be found.
But unfortunately, we needed Tavion alive, so for the moment I set aside my schemes of murder.
“How much further?”
“Two hours, if the horses keep up this pace. From their scents, Lyrae and Crux are lagging a few miles behind, but still trailing us.” Tavion’s mouth tightened in frustration. “I thought they’d have given up by now and slunk back to their master.”
“What a surprise. Apparently, they’re every bit as stubborn as you.” I kept my eyes fixed on the blur of trees outside and my mind off the fact that the Shadow King’s most vicious protectors hadn’t turned around yet. Every moment they chased us took us further away from the war we should be fighting.
Leaving Zorander to face the Fae King alone.
Which was unacceptable.
We’d just confronted—and killed—the Right Hand of the Fae King. Nearly died in the process. Now we’d been summoned back into enemy territory by the Oracle, an even bigger threat than Solok.
It was no coincidence Zor had been dispatched to the war in Caladrius on the very same night. We’d been split up, which meant he and his men were walking straight into a trap, and so were we.
We should be together, not apart.I rubbed my aching chest, trying to erase the hideous sight of Solok’s death from my memories, trying to get rid of my overwhelming dread.
The feeling this was another of the Oracle’s malignant games.
Tavion cracked his knuckles. “Anaria, look at me.”
“Why bother? You’ll just lie, so let’s not waste each other’s time.” I couldn’t face him, was still so angry at how he’d manipulated Raziel and me into this charade that I didn’t trust myself not to do something foolish.
Besides, my energy was best saved for the battles that lay ahead, and the way things were going, there were sure to be plenty of those.
“I could have handled this morning differently. Ishouldhave handled everything better.”
Another hideous crack of his knuckles, then a meaty pop that made me wince. “I should have warned you about the king’s plans for the war, about Zor leaving, but…fuck, you twist me up so bad inside, I never know what to say around you.”
