24. The Hunter
Getting past four guards would be easy.
Doing it without killing anyone? Not so much.
Still, my plan was solid. I knew it would work. I watched from the bushes as Huck—with Eira invisible beside him—approached the door. Huck’s shoulders were rigid, his steps stiff. He was certainly no actor, but luckily, the guards weren’t equipped to detect suspicious behavior, especially not in servants. The men barely acknowledged Huck as he strode through the door, throwing it open widely so the unseen Eira could trail after him.
Now, it was my turn.
I plunged my fingers into the earth at my feet, digging through snow until I reached soil. I smeared the dirt on any exposed parts of my flesh, though most of my body was already covered in blood and mud. That worked in my favor.
I detached a few large brambles and tethered them to the loose threads in my tunic. I tugged at the hem of my trousers until the fabric ripped, then used that as rope to secure more foliage until I was completely camouflaged.
Then the final touch: my glamour.
With this much dirt and leaves surrounding me, I looked like a tiny bush myself. And if the guards looked too closely at me, they wouldn’t see anything but browns and greens. I would blend in perfectly with the leafy surroundings. I was lucky there hadn’t been a recent snowfall; most of the leaves and branches had a few flakes, but nothing more.
I took a deep breath to steel myself, then emerged from my hiding spot. The guards glanced my way but their eyes moved right over me, dismissing me as another bush. When their heads turned to survey the area to the left, I moved forward a few feet, then stopped.
It was slow work, but I continued my efforts, moving forward in small steps, then pausing to ensure the guards didn’t notice. I was sure Eira was fretting over my absence; I would have to get in quickly to stop her from doing something reckless and foolish.
I was now close enough to sprint for the door if I had to. But the guards weren’t stupid. Even they would notice a moving bush when it was this close.
But I had another trick up my sleeve. From my pocket, I withdrew several rocks I’d snagged. With one swift motion, I launched the rock over the guards’ head. It sank with a thunk several feet away from them.
The soldiers’ heads turned, their bodies going rigid with alarm.
“Did you hear that?” one of them muttered.
I flung another rock in the other direction.
The guards drew their swords, glancing from left to right as if unsure of which sound they should investigate first.
Three more rocks. Thunk, thunk, thunk.
One of the guards swore. “You two search that side. I’ll take this one.”
They split up, and I darted forward, grasping the door handle and easing myself inside. When it shut behind me, I lingered there in the darkness for a full minute, waiting for shouts or approaching footsteps—some indication that they’d seen me.
But there was nothing but silence.
Then—
“Ouch!” I hissed as something sharp pinched my arm.
“That’s for making me wait,” breathed a voice in my ear.
I exhaled, the sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. Relief mingled with amusement in my chest, and I felt as if I could breathe freely for the first time in an hour.
We’d made it inside. And though I couldn’t see her, I knew it was Eira standing next to me. “Sorry for making you worry, princess. I didn’t realize you cared.”
“Come on, let’s get you to the room. You look even filthier than before. I’m not sure how you managed it.”
“I have my ways.”
“Yes, but as elusive as your assassin ways are, we don’t want to make some poor servant faint at the sight of you. That would be the opposite of stealth.”
I grinned, shaking my head as Eira tugged on my arm, guiding me toward a shadowy staircase. From down the hall, echoes of the bustling servants bounced off the walls. The cook was shouting orders. Maids were scurrying about. Thankfully, most of the commotion was on the other end of the hall, so not many people cast me a second glance.
But one dark-haired maid was squinting at me, as if she couldn’t quite figure out who—or what—I was.
“Is our room close?” I muttered.
“Right here,” Eira whispered.
The door in front of me swung open, and I hurried inside before shutting and locking it.
“Where’s Huck?” I asked, as Eira dropped her invisibility and appeared at my side.
“He went to rendezvous with Stella and Denton. Frisk and Mauro are rounding up the other fae beasts. They’re all waiting for my signal. Our safest bet is to make our move when the guard shift changes in one hour. That’ll be the best opportunity to slip past.”
I arched an eyebrow. “What’s the signal?”
She smiled slyly. “You’ll see.” She strode across the room to the wash basin, dipped a clean rag in the water, and wrung it out. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up. You stink.”
“Oh, really?” I drew closer to her, a smirk playing on my lips. She staggered backward, but I continued my approach until I had her practically pinned against the wall.
Her eyes grew wide, and something heated sparked in her gaze.
“Does my scent bother you?” I asked. I’d meant for the words to sound playful, but my voice was husky.
She raised her eyes to meet mine. “No.” Her voice was a gentle murmur, like a whispering wind brushing against my face. Slowly, she lifted the wet rag and brushed it along my cheek. “Your scent reminds me of a snowy forest in the mountains.”
Stunned, I could only stare at her as she wiped away the grime, her movements cautious. The moisture was cool against my skin.
“My cottage,” I whispered.
“What cottage?”
“I have a cottage in the mountains. It’s a… refuge for me. My—My goal was to fulfill my contract with the queen and retire to live out there on my own. Undisturbed.”
Half her mouth curled in a half smile. “That sounds quite nice. Too bad I completely ruined those plans.”
I stilled her hand, forcing her gaze to meet mine. “You didn’t.”
She wet her lips, drawing my gaze to the flick of her tongue. She dragged the edge of the rag against my lower lip, tugging it downward. A groan built up in my throat from the slow, seductive movement.
Eira’s eyes burned into mine, but she continued her meticulous work, rubbing the cloth into my beard, sweeping away coats of dirt and blood that had been caked in. With her free hand, she traced a faint scar that ran from my temple to my cheek, then another just above my eyebrow.
“I never noticed these before,” she said. “How did you get them?”
“The small one was from a soldier in the Summer Court,” I said. “I was young and cocky, and he almost got the better of me. The longer scar is from the first dark fae I fought.”
Her eyes lifted to mine once more, worry and admiration glowing in her gaze. “You live a dangerous life, hunter.”
“Yes, I do.”
She returned to her cleaning, the rag running down my neck and dipping under my collar. Water trickled down my chest, and I shivered.
“There is… a lot more of you I still need to clean.” Eira dropped her gaze as she plunged the rag into the bowl to wring it out once more. The clear water was now stained with flecks of brown and red.
Need pulsed within me from her words, and I remembered how close we’d come to taking each other in the woods earlier.
Did she really mean it? Before, I hadn’t been certain if she truly wanted me, or just wanted me to feel something, to keep me from doing something stupid like getting myself killed.
But now?
Eira withdrew the rag from the bowl and raised her eyes to mine again. Her eyebrows lifted expectantly. “Well? Will you let me clean you? Or do you require privacy because you’re too bashful?”
A heady laugh burned against my throat, but it sounded hoarse and strained. Her fingers toyed with my collar as she loosened the strings, then slid the rag underneath to wipe across my chest.
“Blood and ice,” I whispered, closing my eyes to relish the feel of the cloth gliding along my skin.
“This will be easier if you remove your clothes,” Eira said.
A hot lump formed in my throat, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I opened my eyes to look at her with uncertainty. My hand clasped hers to still her once more.
“Eira.”
“Theron.”
Our gazes held for a few heartbeats before I found my voice again. “What did you mean back in Tolston… when you said I was yours?”
Her lips parted in surprise, and she said nothing at first. Her eyes dropped, then lifted again as if she had to force herself to meet my gaze. “I—I meant that you… you…” She licked her lips and tried again. “I want you to be mine. I want you to belong to me. To stay by my side. To fight with me.”
“As your soldier? Your protector?”
“As my lover. My partner. My equal.”
My breath hitched from her admission. The blush in her cheeks deepened, but her pale eyes held mine.
Lover.
Gods, this woman would be the death of me. She tormented me, taunted me, frustrated me… And yet, everything inside me sang with conviction from her words. Because I wanted her by my side, too. As my partner. My equal. My lover.
I didn’t even care that I had failed. Years of killing and hunting, and this was the first time I had failed. Instead of taking her heart, she had claimed mine.
It felt like a victory instead of a defeat.
I leaned in until my nose brushed against hers. She sucked in a breath, her eyelids fluttering.
Just before my mouth met hers, I murmured, “I am yours, Eira.”