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“Let me explain.”

“We don’t have time. Go back to your room. Now.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“I can’t.” She shook her head, willing more tears not to spill.

“Go. It is your only option if you wish to live.”

“No.” She tilted her chin up and pushed her shoulders back. She wasn’t less than him and she wouldn’t act as though she was. She wouldn’t be beaten into the belief that she was. She may have temporarily forgotten who and what Asher was, but the memory of cold steel against her throat had cleared her of any romantic notions.

He was a dark fae and she a human.

She certainly didn’t owe him—or any of the fae, for that matter—allegiance. She needed to go back to her own people.

Suddenly, he tensed and turned his back to her, both swords drawn this time. It took Lore a moment to realize that he’d put himself between her and two guards patrolling the grounds. She hadn’t even heard them approach.

“What is this? Who is there? The garden is closed at night.”

“Yes, sir. I was just explaining this to the lady,” Asher said.

“Hey, you... wait a minute, is that the human?”

“What are you doing out at night? Where are you going with that bag?”

Lore flinched, stumbling back a step, and suddenly she was back in that dark forest. Nineteen, with her bag. A cruel hiss in her ear:What are you doing out at night? And where are you going with that bag?

“I, I...” Lore stuttered.

The taller soldier cut her off, sneering at Asher. “Gylthrae, you should have taken her into custody immediately. You will report to me as soon as your shift is over. As for the human, it looks like she was trying to escape.” He pulled a small knife from his boot. “Come with us. I want to see what’s in that bag. I’m sure there are valuables in there.”

This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

Asher was still between her and the two guards. “Let me take her back to her quarters, sir. I can search her there.”

“And let you have all the fun? Stand down, soldier, we will handle this human scum.”

Lore bristled. It had been a while since a fae had spoken to her with such evident disdain. She’d almost forgotten that this was really what they thought of her.

She expected Asher to move aside and let them through.

But Asher hadn’t moved. He was as still as a statue.

“I’m telling you to let me handle it.”

The speaking guard visibly bristled. “Who are you to give me demands, Lower? I am your superior. You will do as I say.”

Asher steeled his jaw, a muscle ticking in his temple. “Lore, go back to your room.”

Lore made as if to take a step, but the guard barked laughter. The sound was cold, cruel, and haughty. She froze with fear, not daring to move a muscle.

“Not only do you defy me, but you do it to protect this unnatural spawn of demons? Her kind were cast away by the very demons that made them, and yet you would defend her from your own kind?”

“Lore, go,” Asher said through clenched teeth.

“Handel, I bet he has lain with her. That’s why he’s risking everything to defend her.” The other guard spoke for the first time, venom and disgust coating his words.

The first guard’s eyes widened in mock outrage, though the vile delight in his eyes showed that he was enjoying toying with them. “Gylthrae, you know it’s a death sentence for one of our kind to lie with one of them.” His mouth twitched into a malicious grin. “Stand down, soldier. We are taking you both in.”

The blood drained from Lore’s face. She would rather die than go through what their sick minds promised to put her through. She hadn’t been aware that it was a death sentence for the sentries who were with humans. She just knew that when the fae forced themselves on humans, it was never the human’s choice, and the humans didn’t live to tell the tale.