Chapter 19

19

K yrie

I flail and kick against arms of steel, my foot finally making contact with a shin.

“Do not fight me!” she growls. I am shocked because it is a woman who speaks. It is a woman who is holding me so tightly in her grip.

I go still.

The bloodfae in front of me lifts his hands as if to calm me. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

I don’t believe them for a second.

Just because one of them is a woman doesn’t make them trustworthy. Women can be evil, too. Snow is a perfect example of that.

“I am going to let you go,” she says. “Please don’t scream; you could attract unwanted attention, and it would hurt my ears.”

“You’re quite safe,” the bloodfae before me says.

I still don’t believe him.

I mumble into her hand.

“Here goes nothing.” She lets me go.

I stumble away, quickly turning so that my back isn’t to them. I pull my dagger, holding it in front of me.

“You do know that if you draw a dagger, you should be prepared to use it,” the female says, folding her arms across her chest.

“Oh, I’ll use it, alright.” I slash the blade in front of me. “Stay where you are. Both of you.” I look at each of them in turn.

They are well-armed. The female has two swords strapped across her back, as well as a bow with a quiver full of feather-tipped arrows. I’m sure she has at least one dagger tucked away somewhere as well.

I note that the woman is a human. Her dark hair is tightly braided against her head. She’s also wearing leather armor over a white tunic. Her breeches are a rust color.

“I mean it.” I slash again. “Stay back.”

She smiles. “You should stop doing that. It’s a dead giveaway that you don’t have too much experience at wielding a knife. You should put one foot a little in front of the other.” She shows me. “It would help you to maintain your balance. Wild sweeps of the blade will leave you wide open to attack. You should keep your movements concise. Stabbing is better than slashing.” She demonstrates, even though she isn’t holding a knife. “I’m Thesha, and this is my husband, Xander.” The two exchange a look that leaves no doubt that they are together and in love. I almost want to look away. It’s that intimate, even though it’s just a look.

I frown. “But you’re human,” I tell her. “Isn’t a union between a human and fae illegal?”

Thesha shrugs. “They are not our rules; they’re her rules. We refuse to live under Snow’s rule.”

I like her. I still don’t trust her, but I do like her.

“Please help us, human. If you do, we’ll catch a horse for you and help you on your way,” Xander says.

They want my help? It makes no sense. How, in Kakara’s name, am I going to help these two? They seem more than capable to me.

“What do you mean?” I fold my arms. “How do you want me to help you?”

“We’re tracking a group of shadowfae. We think that a friend of ours was with them. His name is Damon. He’s an icefae. Did you see anything?” Xander looks around him, his expression grave.

I try not to react at the use of his name.

“It looks like the party was ambushed by bloodsuckers.” Thesha looks around at all the corpses.

The male chokes out a laugh. “Easy there, love.”

“You are bloodsuckers.” She widens her eyes and then winks at him. They exchange another sappy look. “I mean no offense, babe.”

“Careful. When you ask me to bite you later, I might just—”

I clear my throat.

“Oh, um…” Thesha licks her lips. “Forgot you were there for a moment. Did you see them? Was Damon taken? Did he escape?”

“What do you want with Damon?” I narrow my eyes.

“So, you do know him?” Xander asks, his voice is filled with excitement.

“Maybe,” I whisper.

“She knows him,” Thesha tells Xander.

“Of course she does.” He nods.

“ She has a name. It’s Kyrie. Who are you? Why do you want to know about Damon?”

“I told you, we’re good friends. We heard he’d been picked up by shadowfae and that he was on his way to the Ice Court. Something about a bounty on his head. He was traveling with two others. A male and a female, both human.”

“What do you want with him?” I ask; my tone is hard.

“Ooooh, she’s protective of him, Xander, my love.”

“I see that.” The male smiles. “We want to rescue him. For the third time, we’re friends. It’s what good friends do; we help one another.”

“Or perhaps you want the bounty for yourself.” I narrow my eyes.

“Here’s the thing, Kyrie, I can overpower you in a second,” Thesha says. “We could beat the information out of you. But firstly, that would take time that we don’t have, and secondly, we’re nice people. Nice people don’t beat innocents. Please, can we do this the easy way?”

“Also, we’re not after the bounty,” Xander says. “We helped orchestrate the whole snowstorm in the desert. We freed Damon from the spell; why would we take him to Snow? He is far more useful to us if he’s far away from her and out of her evil clutches. In fact, if she got to him, it would be a disaster.”

My heart beats faster. “You know about the snowstorm?”

“Of course,” Thesha says, nodding. “Why would we free him just to watch him be captured? Okay, technically, it wasn’t the two of us who made the snowstorm happen, but we were part of the whole thing. Bottom line: we’re here to rescue Damon.”

I clutch my chest. “Oh, thank the gods.” I push the knife into my boot. “I’m coming with you. We’ll rescue him together.” I rub my hands together.

“You can’t, it’s too dangerous.” Thesha frowns. “You don’t even know how to use a knife, let alone a sword. You’ll get in the way.”

“I’m coming. I’m helping you. You can use me as a decoy or bait or something.”

Xander narrows his eyes. “Who is Damon to you? Why is this so important?”

“We’re…um…friends…we were best friends. I was sent to the salt mines in the Bohab desert. He was already there when I arrived.” A smile tugs at my lips. “He was the longest-standing prisoner.” I laugh softly. “I tripped the first day I arrived, and he caught me, and he’s been catching me ever since.” My throat feels a little clogged, and my eyes sting.

“Oh, so it’s like that then, is it?” Thesha smiles.

“Like what?”

“No wonder you’re so cagey. You guys are together. You should have just said so.” Thesha rolls her eyes.

“No, no…not at all. Like I said, we’re friends.”

“You said you were friends. You made it past tense, and I assumed you evolved into something more. I mean, you just offered to be the bait in a rescue mission. I’m sure you wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Let me guess, he was human one second and then…” She clicks her fingers. “Then he wasn’t, and it’s left you feeling out of sorts.”

“Exactly. Suddenly, the person I knew all along was gone.”

“I know how that feels,” Thesha says, her eyes wide.

I’m not sure how she can possibly know that, but okay…fine…whatever.

“I mean, people aren’t always what they seem.” She gives me a tight smile. “So not lovers, then.”

“No, definitely not. We’re friends…really great friends.” It sounds all wrong. It doesn’t fit anymore. “I need to help you find him and rescue him from the bloodfae. He’s been saving me for over two years now. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Damon. I owe him.”

“You want to risk your life and run into untold danger because you owe him?” Xander looks amused.

I have to say, although these two could snap me in half in a second, I don’t get any sinister vibes from them.

“Yes, exactly.” I’m not so sure what’s so hard to understand about that. Once I pay my debt and Damon is safe, we can go our separate ways. Until then, he’s stuck with me.

We have to save him.

We just have to. I’ll do anything to make it happen.