I could only gape in horror. Gus was lying not six paces away, split open from throat to groin, disemboweled, and this monster was shrugging it off.
The female tsked, looking exasperated by her companion. “Your weakness for damsels in distress will ruin you one of these days.”
She was tall with ebony skin and gray wings that were more bat-like and even deadlier-looking than the male’s. Her skin was ageless, but the severe set of her mouth and confident jut of her jaw aged her. Her clothes and weapons were identical to Hunter’s. The entirety looked like a uniform.
Her hand shot out, grabbing my chin in its steely grip. I jerked away, but her fingers clutched short strands of my hair. A fierce yank had my head falling back. With the other hand, she fixed my chin in place. The female gripped hard enough to bruise. It seemed the tales told in the village were true: the fae were stronger than us. That didn’t stop me from biting down when she went to peel my lips from my teeth. The female huffed a laugh. “Girl, you can cooperate, or I can snap your neck. Which would you prefer?”
The instinct to survive ran too deep, and my pride guttered. I stilled and said nothing. I wouldn’t struggle, but I refused to answer her. She held me there, and like a farmer surveying livestock, checked my hair and teeth. And then she leaned in. Wincing, I angled away, afraid she might bite, but she just took a quick sniff and released me.
“No lice or disease, but she stinks of fear and grief and brittle anger. I don’t care about the first two, but an angry slave is a dangerous slave.”
My bowels turned watery. Slave.
“She’s got fire in her. That’s not a bad thing,” Hunter corrected, assuaging her damning claims. “We could take her to Diana’s training camps.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Kesha scorned. “She’s got no muscles. She wouldn’t last a day, let alone make it as a foot soldier.”
Hunter stepped in closer. I flinched but didn’t move away. What would be the point?
But he didn’t touch me. He only leaned in long enough to take a deep sniff of my neck. He backed off, and if I hadn’t known better, I would’ve said he looked almost apologetic.
Hunter faced the female. “There is fire in her blood. Better to sell her to Diana’s armies as a foot soldier, where she can channel it. She wouldn’t do well in the other training camps or as a domestic.”
The female tilted her head, scanning me, weighing, appraising. “I don’t smell a male on her, and given her age, she’s probably unseeded. The brothels would pay extra for that.”
Unseeded. Vexation and disgust choked me.
“Kesha,” Hunter growled.
The female who Hunter had called Kesha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Fine, but she’s your responsibility. And when the training camps don’t take her because she’s a weakling, just remember—I warned you.” She snarled and turned with an enviable grace.
As she quickened, Hunter lifted me into his arms and followed in her footsteps. Unflagging in his sprint, we traveled through the forest like an errant breeze. Movements assured, he never made a misstep or stumbled in the dark. If I hadn’t known they were fae before, it would’ve been all too obvious now.
Despite being trapped in the embrace of a killer and a slaver, the fear from earlier in the night faded. I hated to admit it, but being out of the cage and warm in the fae’s arms felt like an improvement. I might’ve even been thankful for the rescue if not for the little fact they planned on selling me. And while Gus’s mutilated body would haunt my nightmares, I wasn’t sorry he was dead. Some dark animal instinct whispered that he wouldn’t have stopped at violating me—I doubted I would’ve seen the dawn if not for Hunter.
At least with the fae, there would time to escape. They certainly seemed invested in keeping me alive, even if only to profit from my sale. Although, just why they needed human soldiers eluded me. As did how I’d slip away with two fae watching my every move.
A stranger’s voice echoed, That’s not the right question.
My body clenched in unease. The words echoed as if from a distance. I couldn’t be sure, but the voice sounded feminine, if unfamiliar. Who is that?
The question you need to ask is where would you go?
What are you talking about? Who are you? How are we speaking like this?
This time there were no answers. Repeating the words to myself, understanding dawned. Whoever—or whatever—had spoken, had seen what I hadn’t. There’d be no going back to the village. After what I’d confessed to the elders about Gus, they’d never believe I hadn’t helped slaughter him. I wouldn’t even get exile, not that that was so appealing: cast out to live in some foreign place, my only choices of livelihood being back-breaking labor, or selling my body. No, the punishment for murder was the same as witchcraft: death by fire.
Where did that leave me then? Hopeless. That’s where.
Embrace what is before you.
What does that mean?
Again, silence. I loosened a breath. Hunter must’ve noticed my agitation because he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Would ‘everything’ be a good answer?”
He didn’t speak, nor did he look at me. The only sign he’d heard was a faint crease between his eyebrows.
Annoyed by this—forgetting he could rip my throat out with his teeth—I glared up at him. “Sorry, is it somehow difficult to understand that a person might not want to see a mutilated corpse and then be kidnapped into slavery?”
“No,” he murmured. “But take my advice. I might like your spirit, human, but others in my realm—Kesha, for instance—won’t be as tolerant. You should try to embrace this new life. I can’t promise it’ll be easy, but it might be better than you think.” Lowering his voice, he added in a whisper, “Better than being locked in a cage.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it.
That word: embrace. Embrace a life as a slave? As a soldier? Had that been what the voice meant? I waited for a confirmation that never came. Frustrated and confused, I swore to stop listening to cryptic truths from an unknowable source and trust my instincts instead. They’d kept me alive so far, and right now they told me to watch, learn, and ask questions. Given that Hunter had admitted to liking me, it couldn’t hurt to make an ally. So I tempered my voice and said, “Don’t call me ‘human.’”
The moon’s glow showed the angles of his face softening as he smiled. “What should I call you then?”
“Serena.”
“A beautiful name.”
I didn’t stop to wonder at that. Too many questions filled my head. “Where are we going?” I dared to ask.
“North, to the crossing and the divide between our realms. I’ve heard the humans refer to it as, ‘the bridge.’”
Hoping for a timeline to come up with some sort of plan, I asked, “How long until we get there?”
“Two days, maybe. Our hunt’s over with for the month, so we’ll set out at first light.”
So soon. My curiosity got the best of me. “Why first light? Why not straight away?”
His lip curled at that. “Fae need rest, too.”
Tucking that information away, my attention turned to the apex of his wings. Every human in the Gauntlet knew the fae realm lay north. Viola’s maps and history books had contrasting views—some depicted an impassable bridge as far as the eye could see, extending out to sea, and others spoke of a door in the woods or a giant rainbow connecting the lands. The histories agreed upon one thing: the bridge lay weeks away from the northern settlements.
“How are we getting there so fast? Are you flying us?”
He let out a low, gentle laugh. “No. We can only carry one human at a time, and we’ve taken too many to fly to the crossing.”
My stomach dropped at that, and Hunter dipped his head slightly, as if expecting more questions. “How then?” I didn’t bother elaborating.