Oath of Betrayal (The Broken Bonds: Slavic Fantasy #1)

I couldn’t believe how much meeting Annika complicated my plans. The task was simple: come to Zalesie, find the mage, and use the geas to make her come to the fortress for whatever Alaric needed her to do.

Since learning Ani was the mage that had caused the avalanche ten years ago, the same person that Vahin rescued right after the incident, I’d been unscrupulous in ensuring she would have no choice in following my orders. However, Ani was nothing like I’d expected.

I couldn’t shake the impression that I’d just sparred and lost, despite holding all the cards. She’d done it so skilfully I wasn’t even disturbed by my loss. And her appearance … The uniform she wore made her look dangerous and professional while accentuating her femininity and softening the righteous indignation she wielded like a sword.

She was also very drunk, glaring at me each time she stumbled, almost as if blaming me for the uneven cobblestones under her feet. ‘Slow down, there’s no rush,’ I said, once again grabbing her arm to prevent her from falling.