Chapter 8
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD
Warren kissed a spot behind her ear, and she recoiled. It should have turned her on, but his face and breath on the side of her neck only made her want to shove him away.
He yanked back and murmured, “I forgot.”
“It’s okay,” she lied. It irritated her that he still forgot things that bothered her, even after months together. How many times had she told him? The fact he still forgot left her wondering if he ever truly listened—or if he only wanted the pieces of her that pleased him.
She pushed her frustration down and told herself the good with Warren outweighed the bad. They’d be married soon anyway.
Fawn warmed at the reminder, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in years.
The thought wrapped around her like borrowed sunlight—fragile, fleeting, but enough to thaw her chest for a heartbeat.
They’d met at the feed store when her grandparents sent her to check an order.
Warren, new behind the counter, struck up a conversation.
He was half human, half fae too, once running a horse ranch in the Human Kingdom before moving here.
They’d been together ever since. She’d built her life around him brick by brick, meticulously setting the foundation for their life together. Her grandparents thought she should wait on the wedding, but Warren made her feel alive, and they loved each other. Why wait?
Once they realized she wouldn’t change her mind, they brought Warren on to work at the ranch to, “keep it in the family.”
Warren turned her over to look at him. “Good morning, gorgeous.”
She smiled wide. Cruel kids in school had killed her confidence, but as her mother promised, she’d grown into her teeth, and working at the pleasure house boosted her self-esteem. Having people desire her enough for a mere dance would do that.
Warren didn’t like her side job and had demanded she quit on a few occasions, but it was one thing she couldn’t give up. At least not yet. His disapproval always lingered like smoke, clinging to her skin even after she’d scrubbed herself clean.
He leaned in and kissed her slow and deep. “What do you think about taking a getaway trip to the Human Kingdom before we get married?”
Her smile faded. She’d love to visit the Human Kingdom. Neither had been back since moving here, and there were certain foods and places she missed, but going before the wedding was an odd request. “Wouldn’t it be better to go on our honeymoon after the wedding?”
Warren sighed. “I wish but we have the stable masters from the palace coming a few days after the wedding and I need to be there.”
Why would Grandpa schedule the meeting so close to her wedding? “I understand.” A pre-wedding honeymoon sounded better than nothing.
Strong arms pulled her close and Warren kissed her again. “Good. I arranged for us to leave today.” She jerked back to argue but he shook his head. “I already spoke with both of your jobs and your grandparents. They helped me keep the surprise.”
Her heart softened, even as unease pricked sharp beneath the sweetness. Surprise and losing control felt uncomfortably alike sometimes.
Her heart melted. “You did that for me?”
His brow dipped. “Of course I did, gorgeous. I’d do anything for you.”
Her fiancé released her and slid out of bed to gather his clothes. Warren buttoned his pants and grabbed his shirt from Fawn’s desk chair.
She admired him as he dressed. Warren was handsome with long, dark blond hair, light beige skin, and bright green eyes.
She sat up and pulled the sheet around her body. “I wish you could stay for breakfast.”
His face softened and he bent over to brush his lips against hers. “Me too, but I need to get things ready for our trip. Meet me at my house at lunchtime.”
“Alright,” she lamented and flopped back on the bed.
About thirty minutes later, Fawn rolled out of bed to get dressed, and then noticed the sunlight streaming through her window reflecting off something on the floor.
The hilt of Warren’s favorite dagger peeked out from under her bed, and she bent over to retrieve it.
She’d see him in a few hours, but he carried his dagger everywhere; said he felt naked and unsafe without it. Fawn tapped the scabbard against her hand and decided to take it to him now and help him prepare for their early honeymoon.
An hour later Fawn climbed Warren’s porch steps and heard a woman yelling on the other side of the door.
“Are you fucking someone?” the voice demanded.
“You think I’d do that to you?” Warren returned. “What are you even doing here?”
“Are you kidding me?” the woman shrieked. “I came here to surprise you last night and you were gone. Then you come stumbling in this morning smelling like sex. How could you?”
Fawn couldn’t move or breathe as her heart beat out of her chest. The words slammed through the walls, each one cracking her ribs until it felt like her chest would split open.
The voices were slightly muffled. Perhaps she misheard.
“Naomi,” Warren tried to placate the hysterical woman. “You wouldn’t understand. This is crown business.” Crown business?
“Then explain it to me.” The underlying hurt in Naomi’s voice would have made Fawn feel sorry for her if her own life wasn’t imploding. “You moved us to the Garden Kingdom to fight in their battalion, and then immediately take off on business . I came to surprise you and found you like this.”
The world tilted. Us .
The Garden Kingdom? Battalion? Fawn’s heart stopped completely, hovering in her chest before shattering as the implications of Naomi’s words set in.
A long pause followed.
Warren started talking again just as Fawn slammed open the door and hurled his dagger at him.
Her hand shook with rage, but the throw cut the air clean, fueled by every ounce of betrayal lodging like glass in her throat.
Luckily for him, it was sheathed, and it landed halfway between them.
Unluckily for her, she caught the tail end of his sentence too late.
“…take Fawn to the Human Kingdom to kill her.”
The words echoed, hollow and endless, carving her name into a death sentence she hadn’t been privy to. It took her brain a moment to wade through the hurt and absorb his words. “…take Fawn to the Human Kingdom and kill her.”
Warren and a beautiful human woman, if her ears were any indication, jumped and spun to face the door. Naomi stood stunned, and Warren cursed under his breath. “Fawn?”
“You were going to take me on our ‘early honeymoon’ to fucking kill me ?” she choked out, unable to grasp the reality of her situation. It dawned on her then that he might try to kill her now and she’d stupidly stuck around to yell at him.
Fawn spun on her heel to run but only made it a few feet before Warren lunged and snagged her around the waist. He slammed her against his chest and tightened his hold. The air rushed out of her lungs; his arms, once a comfort, became iron bands of betrayal.
“Warren what are you doing? You can’t kill someone!” Naomi screamed.
Fawn twisted and tried to jab her elbow into his face, but he dodged the blow. “Stop struggling,” he commanded and dragged her inside.
“Let me go!”
“Calm down,” he snapped, “or I’ll snap your fucking neck.”
He’s going to kill me, and I’m too weak to stop him. Dancing kept her body strong, but not in the way that would help her fight off a desperate man.
Naomi sobbed somewhere behind them, begging him to stop.
Warren tried to say something else, but his words were cut off by a sickening squelch and a gurgling sound. Hot liquid sprayed the back of Fawn’s neck, and his arms slackened around her.
They fell away, and Fawn stumbled forward. She spun around to find Warren on the ground with a dagger sticking out of the back of his neck. The man grasped at his neck until his movements slowed and stopped altogether.
Fawn’s wide eyes met Naomi’s hysterical ones. The woman stood in shock, holding her bloody hand away from her body. “I killed him,” she whispered. “I-I killed him.”
Fawn stood stunned, looking from Naomi to Warren and back again. She didn’t know what to say as Naomi sobbed harder and wailed, “I’m a murderer.”
Once her shock wore off, Fawn scooted around Warren’s lifeless body and wrapped her arm around the woman who saved her life. “You did it to save me,” Fawn reminded her.
“W-what if they don’t believe us?” Naomi stammered. “What if they think we did it because he cheated on both of us?”
Fuck . The woman might be hysterical, but she had a point.
Fawn guided Naomi down the hall. “We need to clean ourselves up and then we’ll figure out what to do.”
Naomi blubbered the entire way to the bathroom, and as they wiped themselves down, Fawn tucked her hurt and fear away, smothering them deep.
“It’s going to be okay,” Fawn assured her. “Did you bring a heavy cloak with you?”
Naomi sniffled and nodded. “It’s hanging by the door.”
“Good.” Fawn grabbed it and draped it over the woman’s shoulders. “Keep it closed while we walk so now one sees the blood on your clothes.”
The trek to her grandparents’ ranch from Warren’s cottage took about an hour on foot.
In times like these, Fawn wished riding a horse didn’t scare the shit out of her.
As they followed the path, Naomi explained that she and Warren were set to be married next year.
A few months ago, he moved them from the Human Kingdom to the Garden Kingdom to join their battalion.
He wasn’t half-fae, he was fully human. The deception reached far deeper than Fawn could have imagined.
Everything he’d told her was a lie. Why her?
Once at the farm, they followed the path around the house to search for her grandfather. “Grandpa,” Fawn called out once inside the barn.
Grandpa stepped out of a far stall and grinned. “Hey, squirt.” He looked to a crying Naomi and his smile fell. “What’s wrong?”
Fawn blew out a long breath. “We need your help to hide a body.”
A long silence followed as her grandfather studied her face. “Did one of you kill them?”