Page 2

She leaned forward, her forehead gently touching his. Her thick lashes lowered, briefly extinguishing the warm violet of her irises. He felt the tension in her body release with a single, steady exhale from her pursed lips.

A sudden bang on the door jerked him upright. Through the dusty window of their small home, he pinpointed a set of horses in the dirt drive.

She touched his arm as he stood, fingers stiff. Her eyes flashed with concern.

“It’s fine, beloved,” he assured her, gracing her fingers once more with a brush of his lips before he stood and answered the summons.

Two merchants waited on the other side of the door, caps lowered. Behind them, their horses grazed on patches of grass that poked up through the dirt.

“Sorry to bother you, sir, but there’s a problem at your store.”

“My store?” He lifted his chin, gauging the two men. “My store was closed today. Surely you’re mistaken.”

The man with a scar over his brow cleared his throat. “You own the grocery store in town, aye?”

He nodded once, eyes narrowing on the two men. “I do.”

“A man is holding two kids hostage inside. We”—the scarred man motioned a finger between him and his friend—“saw it happen and came straight here. The sheriff was shot outside the shop. The crook demands to see the owner of the store.”

Gentle fingers wrung his wrist. He glanced down at his beloved. A fine line deepened between her brows. Worry steeped her eyes. The air around her hummed with warning, confirmed by a near imperceptible shake of her head.

“Sir, those kids…”

The merchant was right. The air settled heavy on his shoulders, ominous as he battled with his decision. These men were strangers, though he’d seen them sell their wares on the streets. For all he knew, they could be lying.

But if they weren’t?

“Mikhail, be wary,” she whispered, gaze lowering to the men.

He cupped her face between his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I must go. I’m sure it’s nothing, just a misunderstanding. I’ll return before supper, little bird.”

He tugged his riding cape from the hook beside the door and herded the merchants away from the house, his wife. Their lingering gazes on her unleashed a whip of jealousy, a foul essence he’d become accustomed to feeling whenever she was near and others coveted her. Men couldn’t help but stare at her.

He couldn’t help it, either. She was radiant. She was Fae.

“I’ll meet you in town.”

The merchants nodded and mounted their steeds, the animals’ hooves kicking up plumes of dusty dirt as they headed back toward town.

He saddled his horse quickly and was on the desolate road within ten minutes, trying to ignore the weight that steadily increased on his shoulders. The weight of the universe as his beloved’s gaze watched from the front door as he put distance between them.

His horse navigated the winding forest road with ease, but there was a chill in the air on this particular ride. Overhead, the squawk of a bird lifted a wave of goose flesh on his arms. When he looked up, a single black crow kept pace with his mare’s loping stride, wings flapping, head cocked with a single beady eye on him.

Turn back. Turn back. Turn back.

He pulled back on the reins, slowing his horse to a trot.

And heard a set of hoofbeats fall out of rhythm behind him.

He twisted in his saddle, saw the two shadowy figures approaching. Clad in black from head to toe, with a piece of cloth covering their faces below the eyes.

The bird squawked again, wings fluttering as it landed in a tree alongside the path.

A throb pulsed along his palm, then faded.

His stomach twisted in a knot, one so tight it might have fisted his lungs in iron.

He tugged the leather reins, steering his mare back toward town.