“Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t beat you,” Faith started, fists clenching.
Dracyrus stopped, turning to glare at her. “Doesn’t it? Beneath that cloak, you are weaker than any Harbinger before you. You are nothing compared to the warriors I have fought.”
“Your ego is too big,” she said. “The bigger you are, the harder you’ll fall.”
He chuckled. “Such bravado.” With two long strides of his legs, he was before her once again, and she fought the urge to either attack him or run away. This was not the time to start shit with the Dread King, not when she had no clue where she was. Her legs remained rooted in place, even as he leaned down to whisper, “You will die by my hand and my hand alone. I will tear out your still-beating heart and show it to you. The last thing you will see is my face, and the last thing you will feel is my hand inside you. You will—”
“You’re full of threats, aren’t you?” Faith interrupted, causing him to sneer. “I think I’ll be able to spill a little of your silver blood before you go doing all that to me.”
“Or perhaps I should show you the kindness that your kind showed us?” In a flash, he grabbed her neck lifting her off the water. “Perhaps I should tear off that cloak and break your body before I kill you?” With a growl, he threw her, and she was slow to roll to a stop.
Coughing, she got up, shooting him a glare. “Hold me accountable for the sins of mankind,” she said, rage fueling her words, “and I will hold you accountable for yours.”
He rushed her, grabbing her by her arms beneath the cloak. She didn’t even care that he could see every inch of her. There was nothing in her mind but hatred. His grip was like iron as he hissed, “Everything I have done, I have done to kill you.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Faith said, a lie if she ever told one.
“When we get out of here, when I am back in my body, I am going to relish killing you.”
“We’re not there yet, buddy,” she said, yanking away from him. Or, more correctly, he allowed her to yank herself free. Faith crossed her arms, head angled awkwardly as she glared up at him. He did the same, only he glared down at her, tossing in an ugly sneer.
How she hated him. How she wanted to wipe that sneer from his ugly face. How…
Ophelia’s suggestion rose in her mind, and Faith instantly pushed it away. Sleep with her arch enemy? How ridiculous. How stupid. No, she would rather stand there and spend eternity glaring at him than even think of doing anything nasty with him. Plus, with his size, he’d probably break her.
No. Hatred would win out, just as it always did.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Fae sat, her arms hovering over the crystal ball. Before her, he walked around the cages, inspecting the Human males. He was as regal as ever, and though she knew she was but a Fae, one of the few pure-blooded Fae left, he hardly looked at her. His expression was cold and cruel, and as he smiled at the Humans, a sense of dread filled her.
Was this the right decision? Should she help him? Surely the Humans would come looking, but by then his experiments should be complete. The Court Elf’s plan did make sense to her…
He returned to her, his image hovering, blinking in and out of existence as she glanced up at him. Big, wide, violet eyes were hers, blinking in anticipation. She wore rags, though she was about to become rich. She could use her talents for many things—creating portals to the Middleworld, creating illusions that were so real the common races believed them, and seeing what will be. She had spent years perfecting her skills, and Ophelia had paid her well for it.
She was nowhere near as powerful as her ancestors, but she was getting there.
“They look perfect,” he spoke, and she smiled up at him, never once removing her arms from the stone. If she did, his image would fade away. “Bring them in, and my seneschal shall reward you with the agreed upon coin.”
“I look forward to working with you,” she said, grinning. Once he bowed, she let the image waver and disappear by withdrawing her arms. She would not look at the boys in the cages, would not hear their pleas and their cries. They were fed and not beaten, which was more than they should’ve gotten with the words they called her, even if she did deserve them.
Her employer was on the track to the type of power all men of great birth were drawn to. If the Humans did come for their males, they would not find them. They would be unrecognizable. The one she worked for would have more power than any man in all of history, the Dread King included, and she would revel in the winnings of victory, push aside his stingy wife and stand beside him. She would forgo her pure bloodedness for him. She would do anything for him, even betray the Elf who’d opened her eyes to the world of possibility.
Humming, she reached into her knapsack, about to pack up to head into the kingdom, but a vision stopped her, startled her, froze her. Her breathing became short and erratic, her eyes flicking back and forth in her skull as the vision whizzed by. The threads of time were abrupt and unpredictable.
Something was different this time. The Dread King was set to return to this world, just as she hoped, but the Harbinger? The Harbinger was not who he should be. The Harbinger was…a girl? No, no, no. And then, the seer Fae saw it: the union that would destroy everything she built. Her world, her future, her love.
A union of flesh, of two hearts, all the heat and passion that came with learning to fall and trying again. A coming together of two ancient enemies that, if things had gone according to her plan, would be impossible, for the Harbinger was always, always male. She would go to him, and he would claim her, make her his, and she would let him.
Blinking, the vision ended, and she shook it off. She would not allow some aberration to ruin it all. She would get her payment, thank her lover again—personally—and then travel to Springstone, where his bones lay. The vision of the future was only one possible outcome, and it would not happen if she got to his bones first.
Let the race begin.
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading The Harbinger! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. Faith’s adventures (and relationships with the guys) are only beginning. Please think about leaving a review on Goodreads as well as on your blog (if you have one), and I do hope that once it’s released in November, you can put your review up on Amazon as well.
Reviews help us indie authors so much!
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The Fellowship will be out in December 2018!
The Harbinger Page 19
