Chapter 29

Hanna

Pre-dawn shadows clung to the city. The chain between Dare and me jerked with every movement as I made my way down the tight, twisting stairs from our little attic hideaway.

On the street, we melted into the labyrinth of the waking city. We”d slip out with all the city-living people who would be moving out to the fields, now that the time of monsters had passed. The rising daylight would drive away the worst of the Snake Queen”s nightmares.

The air was heavy with the scent of impending rain. Fog hung everywhere, making everyone lost to view once they walked out of arm’s reach, as if the weather would be an accomplice to our escape.

As we skirted past the bustling food carts, the aroma of freshly baked bread and spiced meats taunted my senses. My stomach betrayed me with a grumble.

Dare”s eyes caught mine, and glinted with mischief. Quicker than the shopkeeper”s bouncing gaze, he snatched up a pair of steaming meat pastries.

”Breakfast,” he murmured, pressing one into my hand. I couldn”t help but smile. Not at Dare, of course; I was just deeply fond of breakfast and especially of breakfast pies.

We heard the guards” boots before we saw them. Dare caught my arm and steered me into a secluded nook between buildings. The rough stone was cold against my back as we sank down to savor our meal and wait out the guards.

As we ate in silence, the mist descended, hiding us from the rest of the city, so it was just the two of us, shoulder to shoulder. It felt as if that mist blurred the edges of reality.

Dare reached out, his fingertips brushing against my cheek as he lifted my hood to shield me from prying eyes before we left again. His touch sparked a trail of fire along my skin, igniting unexpected feelings.

”That shining hair is going to get you in trouble,” he said, his voice low and husky.

Our gazes locked.

”No quick response this morning?” he teased me. ”Do I need to steal you a cup of coffee too?”

I was tired, and there was a reason for it. ”Thank you for last night.”

Something was tender in his eyes for a split second before he let out a scoff and rose to his feet. ”As I already said. Let”s not mention it.”

”What happens at night isn”t real,” I agreed. ”When we”re tired and lack judgment . . .”

”You always lack judgment,” he said, but without any real rancor as he offered me his hand. I took it and let him pull me to my feet.

We began to make our way through the streets again.

“If I let you take me back to Kaelan—” I began.

He scoffed. “Let? Who’s in chains, girl?”

“I’m chained to you,” I agreed, then smiled. “And you’re chained to me.”

He let out a faint huff. “We’ve been getting along. Don’t ruin it.”

“We’ve been doing alright,” I agreed. “That’s why I wanted to know if we could be a team, helping Kaelan.”

“What do you want, Princess?” His tone carried the dry, sarcastic notes that always rankled for me, as if he were putting cautious distance back between us.

But I didn’t want that distance with Dare now.

“I have a potion for Kaelan,” I said. “An antidote for the enchantment.”

“Which you were planning to offer him respectfully, assuming he seems to be in command of himself?”

“I was going to trick him to take it.”

“I’m stunned,” Dare deadpanned.

“He is enchanted, Dare. He needs it.”

“And where did you get this potion, Hanna?”

“From the Snake Queen.” I knew how bad it sounded. “That’s why I’ve been looking for Ekardo! So we have a backup plan. But she vowed on the magic it really is?—”

“You want me to trick my best friend and my future king into taking a potion that you got from our worst enemy?” Dare asked skeptically.

“Well. At the moment, I think Seraphine is our worst enemy,” I said reasonably, though from the look Dare gave me, he didn’t find it equally reasonable.

The thought that Dare wouldn’t help me tore through me like a sudden ache. I’d felt so lonely until he found me. Dare drove me mad, but the thought that he wouldn’t listen and would just drag me back to Kaelan seemed unthinkable.

“Please,” I said more softly.

He sighed. “I’ll think about it. Alright? We’ll observe Kae before we go in, see what he needs.”

“Thank you,” I said warmly.

“Don’t thank me yet.”

A shiver of premonition rippled through me as Dare”s grip on my wrist tightened. I followed his gaze to see the unmistakable glint of armor amidst the early risers.

Guards.

With a swift tug, he ushered me into the shadowed recess of an arched doorway, pressing my back against the cool stone. His shoulders rose like ramparts between the threat and me. Our breaths mingled, his tall body leaning over mine.

”Stay still,” he murmured. The space between us was charged, our shared pulse thrumming through the air. Just like last night, when his heart had beat fast like mine, then quieted slowly, showing me the way back to firm footing.

But the guards lingered, each burst of laughter like an arrow.

Each second felt like an eternity as they hovered just beyond Dare”s protective shadow. Then, an idea sparked inside me as I looked up at the hard angle of his jaw, the two days” scruff that covered his skin.

And maybe part of me wanted to kiss him, almost as much as I wanted to hide.

Before doubt could snuff out my resolve, I reached up, fingers tangling in the wild mane of his hair, and pulled his head down to meet mine. My lips found his with an urgency that was both feigned and...not.

Dare stiffened, surprise etching his features before melting into something raw and unbridled. He kissed me back fiercely, his hands finding purchase on my waist as if he sought to anchor himself. Longing surged between us.

Dare didn”t stop kissing me.

Not even as the guards” footsteps receded, muffled by the fog so that they seemed to disappear like ghosts.

For a suspended moment, there was only Dare and me, trading fervent kisses.

My pulse was still echoing the frantic beat of our intermingled breaths when we broke apart.

The two of us stared at each other like the pair of cowards we were. Anything we said would be a lie; that was our nature, at least when we were together.

So we said nothing. He laced his fingers through mine and the two of us headed out into the street once more.

We slipped into the throng of workers with practiced ease, our long early morning shadows all mingling. I felt Dare”s gaze on me as we shuffled forward, bound by more than just the iron clasping our wrists.

The cuffs chafed against my skin, a constant reminder of my predicament. I needed Dare to trust me, and I couldn”t win him over. Dare barely trusted anyone.

At least, as we melded into the river of bodies flowing through the gates, no one gave us a second glance.

Once beyond the city”s embrace, the open road beckoned. I could barely breathe as we passed through the gate. Empty market stalls, with vendors bustling around just beginning to set up, lined the path away from the city.

With every stall we passed, some of the tension in my shoulders eased.

We were only at the end of the rows of vendors when a clamor at the city gates shattered the air. There were shouts of warning, then the sound of the gate being lowered, too late.

”Run,” Dare commanded.

With a surge of adrenaline, we turned from the road, plunging into the sanctuary of the forest. Branches clawed at us, the world blurring into shifting green and brown as we raced through the undergrowth.

The magical handcuffs wrenched at my arm, and I felt bruises blooming around my wrist, but I was glad that Dare and I wouldn”t lose each other.

Breathless, we pressed deeper into the heart of the woods, where sunlight struggled to pierce the dense canopy.

We paused, chests heaving. As we listened to the quiet, I thought maybe we had eluded our hunters.

Dare stood close, his face covered with shifting shadows from the canopy above that made his angular, handsome face even more mysterious and ever-changing. His eyes met mine, then fell to the shimmering band that stretched between the two of us.

”You”re hurt,” he said softly, taking my bruised wrist in his hand. His fingers brushed gently over my bruises, and his touch felt strangely soothing.

”I think we lost the guards,” I answered. He was looking at me as if he might kiss me again, even though now we didn”t need any subterfuge.

”Too bad for you, the guards were the better option.” The harsh voice broke the quiet.

From the shadows stepped five Fae, a variety pack of different creatures.

There were no Fae but high Fae left on the Isle, and I was always fascinated by the different types.

At least our death wouldn”t be boring.

A goblin with skin like sloughed mud bared jagged teeth in a sinister grin. Behind him, a half-orc towered, muscles rippling beneath his patchwork armor, a scar cleaving his face from brow to jawline.

”Handsome man,” I muttered, because I couldn”t help myself.

”Could you not, for once?” Dare muttered back.

A willowy creature with iridescent wings fluttered above, her beauty marred by the cruelty etched into her delicate features. Was it a Wraithwing? I’d read about them, but never seen one; she was almost invisible in the sunlight.

The last, cloaked in shadow, looked like a regular high Fae from their form, but I couldn”t see the face under their hood; the nasty pair of swords they had drawn certainly commanded my attention, though.

Dare”s tension mirrored my own as we moved back-to-back, the magical handcuffs biting into our wrists. I drew my sword, awkwardly, gripping it with my left hand.

”Stay close,” Dare commanded.

”I have to,” I reminded him bleakly. ”How the hell are we going to fight like this?”

”You”ll manage,” he said.

”Dare, be reasonable,” I began.

They didn”t wait for Dare and me to finish bickering. To be fair, they probably would”ve had to wait an eternity.

They attacked.

The goblin lunged first, his sword a flash of silver, but the arc was wide, telegraphed by his eagerness. We pivoted, using our chained predicament to our advantage, sending him sprawling with a well-timed sweep of our legs.

”Let me loose, Dare!” I called sharply as the Wraithwing descended upon us with talons outstretched, aiming for my eyes.

Without a word, he acquiesced, his fingers weaving an intricate pattern in the air, muttering a spell that made the cuffs fall away. I threw my sword to my other hand, and met her flight with a sweep of my blade. She fell back with a screech that could barely be heard over the clash of Dare”s sword with his opponents.

I reached for his belt and wrapped my hand around the hilt of his enchanted knife. He”d already drawn his sword, so he let me be.

I cast short, brutal strokes forward with the knife when someone got in closer than my sword”s arc.

When the shadowy assassin almost took me down, my knife dug into his flesh, his cloak failing to shield him. He fell, but there was no time to celebrate.

Dare”s sword was a blur as he parried the half-orc”s savage strikes.

”Three down,” Dare grunted, his gaze flickering to mine with a glimmer of admiration. Maybe it was the silent acknowledgment that together, we were almost unstoppable.

Hopefully almost was enough today.

The half-orc, with tusks curving like crescent moons beneath his snarl, launched at me like a battering ram.

The moment stretched, crackling with tension as I waited. I felt Dare”s attention shift toward me, felt him move toward me, but I didn”t dare break my concentration.

I feinted left, a ruse as old as war itself, but it bought me an opening. As the half-orc shifted his weight, I slid under his guard, rolling through the dirt and coming up behind him.

My dagger found its mark at the back of his knee, a precise and debilitating strike. With a roar that shook leaves from the trees, he stumbled.

”Nice trick.” Dare”s sarcasm was so thick I almost missed the genuine note of respect. ”Our little trickster queen.”

”You wish you were so clever,” I shot back at him.

The half-orc recovered quicker than expected, lashing out with force that carried the weight of a falling tree.

His tusks caught me across the chest, the impact stealing my breath and pain blossoming across my ribs. I grunted, staggering backward, tasting the copper tang of my own blood as it welled within my mouth.

”Damn it, Hanna!” Dare”s voice cracked like a whip, snapping me out of the haze of agony. His sword was a metallic extension of his fury as he parried another blow meant for my head. ”Focus!”.

I gritted my teeth. ”I am focused, you absolute ass.”

Magic pulsed at my fingertips.

”Stay with me,” I urged Dare, even as I summoned my fire, hurling it toward the half-orc. It struck true, carving a path of searing heat across his arm, setting the leather of his armor smoldering.

”Isn”t that what you”re afraid of?” he said as we fought side by side. ”That you”ll be stuck with me?”

The half-orc before us sneered, his tusks gleaming with my blood, and then he slowly licked that blood from his tusks, in a movement that was a mockery of sensuality. ”Can”t wait to have more of you,” the half-orc ground out.

In that moment, Dare”s restraint shattered, his jaw tightening with fury… and his body beginning to change.

“No,” I said, holding up my hand. Shifting was such a surge of magic that it sent up a beacon, and we didn’t need to attract attention. We were already being hunted.

Dare”s form blurred, contorting and expanding, muscles and sinews stretching until the man I knew was gone.

In his stead, a colossal dragon emerged, scales shimmering an iridescent cobalt that caught the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

Dare”s dragon was breathtaking.

The half-orc”s eyes widened in terror as Dare unleashed a torrent of white ice. Our opponent became a frozen statue, then Dare struck out at him with his powerful tail and talons, and the statue shattered.

I stood, transfixed by the sight, feeling the raw power that emanated from Dare”s dragon form.

But the fight wasn”t over.

The last opponent, the goblin with eyes that glinted with malice, lunged at us, daggers poised to strike.

Instinctively, I shifted too, my human guise falling away like a discarded cloak as I embraced my dragon. I launched myself upward.

As I circled above, I saw Dare snarl, his size dwarfing the goblin. My fire gathered, ready to blast at the goblin.

But Dare didn”t need me. He could easily destroy this enemy.

But Thorne and Kaelan needed me. I wasn’t sure what Dare’s decision would be, ultimately: would he help me trick Kaelan or drag me in front of him, where I might find myself powerless to protect Kaelan? To bring Thorne back from the Snake Queen’s nest?

I wanted these men by my side, but I couldn’t trust them if they didn’t trust me.

I wheeled around and left Dare, ignoring how flying away from him tore at my heart.