Chapter 27

27

Cassius

Tenebris's hooves tore into the soft earth, kicking up mud and leaves. I pushed him harder as night set in. My fury blazed, consuming my thoughts and fueling something worse, something I wasn't accustomed to—fear.

What the fuck was she doing out there? Was she trying to escape? Had Lorayna and Bianca driven her to flee, or was she trying to get away from me?

The villagers all knew that there was no way through the cursed woods. They'd never risk being out at night—not without a purpose. Suspicion crept into the corners of my scorched mind. Had she been meeting someone? A conspirator? Another immortal? A lover?

I tightened my grip on the reins and pushed Tenebris harder.

We followed a hunter's trail deeper into the forest, and I opened my senses, searching for any sign of her. If I'd taken her blood—a misstep I'd soon remedy—I'd already have pinpointed her trail, but as it was, I had to rely on her scent alone.

I'd searched the section of trees flanking the castle and was about to head into the denser growth when I scented her—lilies and fresh rain, lush and intoxicating, and a godsdamned magnet for attention. My cock stiffened even as I scowled. Any immortal within a league would have been drawn to her.

My shoulders relaxed slightly. There was no scent of blood. She was okay.

Yet there was another scent as well—distant, but enough to chill my blood. One of the beasts. It was out there, hunting.

I hurried forward, turning Tenebris off the trail and pushing him through the dense trees. The low brush would cut him, but I'd treat the wounds with a little of my blood later, as I always did.

Neither of us feared pain or scars.

That damned woman. She was too innocent, too enticing for her own good, and I was the idiot who gave a fuck whether she lived or died. It was unfathomable but undeniable. I would have let the beasts devour any other servant foolish enough to wander into the woods. Why not her?

I pulled the reins, stopping Tenebris as Ella's scent overwhelmed me.

"Are you sure the castle is this way?" Her voice penetrated the thick trees. "I'm certain we already passed that tree twice."

My fists clenched. The little mouse had met someone. A red haze fell over me, and I spurred Tenebris forward, skirting around the dense growth until I saw her.

Ella's eyes rounded with terror as we burst from the cover of the trees. She stumbled backward, and it was almost as if the branches wrapped around her to steady her. " You ," she hissed, her expression flickering from fear to relief to fury.

Her boots were coated in mud, and she was holding up the hem of her tattered dress. My greedy gaze fell to her exposed legs, the skin smooth but lightly scratched, and a hunger like no other rumbled through me, heightening my anger.

I maneuvered Tenebris around the trees, searching for Ella's companion, but there was no one. My mood darkened further. "Who were you talking to?"

She was taken aback by the force of my words, and so was I. "Nobody. I'm alone."

"Don't lie to me, little mouse." I narrowed my eyes at her, suspicion creeping over me. "I heard you speaking to someone. Who was it?"

She lifted her chin even as her fists trembled. "I'm not lying. I was talking to an owl. There is nobody out here besides you and me."

I sniffed the air. I only scented her—the scent of pure fucking delight. No one else.

She was telling the truth.

Ella took a tentative step backward, her eyes darting around like a cornered animal. She was a runner. It didn't help that I was circling her like a predator, but I didn't care. She needed to learn that the woods were dangerous and not a place for maidens.

"Then what are you doing out here after dark, alone?" I growled. "Are you insane or a fool?"

She looked up at me, a vision of defiance and beauty. "What do you care? I'm a servant, not your prisoner."

A low, guttural growl rose in my chest. "Because you're mine ."

Her eyes rounded with shock, and I instantly regretted the words that had come from instinct. The claim was not something to be said lightly—not for my kind. I cleared my throat. "You're my subject, and if I tell you to stay out of the woods, that is law. Do you understand?"

Some of the tension from my slip of tongue left her. "I grew up in these woods, and I know them better than most."

"Apparently not, if you've resorted to asking birds for directions."

She sighed in exasperation, and my attention fell to the rise of her breast and the sheen of sweat on her collarbones. "I have never been in this section of the woods, but I'm not na?ve about the dangers here."

She was the epitome of na?veté, and it drove me fucking mad that she thought otherwise. "What do you know of the dangers out here?"

"I know enough."

I bared my fangs. "Monsters are not the things of bedtime stories, Ella. They dwell among us, and the sooner you realize that, the safer you'll be."

Her gaze flicked to my mouth, and a wry smile crossed her lips. "Indeed."

Fury blazed across my neck. She had no idea of the danger she'd been in. "If you met one of the things that dwell out there, you wouldn't last a second. I would've been lucky to find a fragment of your corpse."

"I see," she said flatly. "Lucky for me, you arrived in the nick of time."

I gritted my teeth. Her gaze was steady and unwavering, too confident for a farm girl by far, and her words wavered on the knife's edge of sarcasm. I would have cast it off as foolishness or hubris, but there was something more. Something deeply unsettling.

She couldn't know about the beasts in these woods, could she?

Ella crossed her arms. "I've gotten by just fine taking care of myself most of my life, and though I might be weak compared to an immortal, I am neither an idiot nor a silly little girl with her head stuck in the clouds."

I tensed. "That's not what I was implying."

Something flashed in her captivating eyes. "Why are you out here, Your Royal Highness? Hunting defenseless animals as usual?"

"Looking for you," I said through clenched teeth. "I am a hunter, Ella, and you…you are the most delicious kind of prey."

The shadow of fear crept onto her face for a moment, but then it was gone, and she lifted her brows. "So, the prince personally goes hunting for all of his wayward servants."

It was not a question but a statement. Irritation rippled through me. "My servants know better than to disobey me."

Defiance burned through her. I wanted her to say some snappy remark that would give me any excuse to toss her over the back of my horse, but she didn't.

She smoothed her features and looked up at me, the defiance repressed and her expression calm once more. "Well, are you going to lead the way back to the castle or just sit there like a pompous prince and bluster?"

Contempt curled my lips. "Actually, I had other things in mind."