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She was just there, as if she had blinked and it had happened, bowling the tall man over onto his backside and pinning him to the wall. Her dagger pressed across his throat.

The man’s blue eyes were wide in their sockets, his breathing shallow and rapid. His companions stood frozen above them on either side of her.

“Apologize,” Remy snarled, crouching in front of him.

“Remy,” Hale called, but she would not acknowledge him. She knew from the reflection in the human’s glassy eyes that her irises were glowing red. Her hands and eyes vibrated, filled with her power.

The man went ghost white. Remy grimaced as his bladder released. She was truly not a meek hiding creature anymore, but someone to be feared. She smiled icily at the man as she ordered again, “Apologize to your prince.”

“I’m sorry,” the human whispered, his voice shaking so violently his words could not be discerned.

Remy loosened the pressure of her dagger, but her magic kept it floating an inch away from the man’s neck.

“Louder,” she demanded.

“I am sorry, Prince Norwood,” he whimpered. Remy was sure tears were building in his eyes. “I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness.”

“You are forgiven.” Hale spoke in a powerful and stoic voice.

Remy stood then, snatching her dagger from midair and sheathing it. She gave one last look to each of the other human men. They flinched from her glowing red gaze, as if looking in her eyes alone would curse them. Remy didn’t take the prince’s outstretched arm as she grabbed the horn of the saddle and moved into a perfect reverse of how she had dismounted the saddle, her leg sweeping over the horse’s mane. Her leg muscles barked at her, but she did it anyway, just to let them see how strong she was.

Hale huffed an impressed laugh at her acrobatics and then turned to the cowering men.

“Let this be a warning to you,” Hale said, his voice deadly as he looked down on them. “I may tolerate your disrespect, but my red witch will not.”

My red witch.

The red glow of her magic flared anew from her eyes in response to those words. He said it like they were an unstoppable pair. Lifting her chin a bit higher, Remy straightened her posture.

They rode on in silence until they had turned out of sight. The buzzing behind her eyes abated, the red glow clearing from her vision. The prince’s heart thundered against her back.

“That stunt was impressive . . . stupid, but impressive,” he murmured into her hair.

“What, you mean you can’t jump off a horse mid-stride while pulling out a dagger?” Remy asked with a mischievous grin.

Hale’s laugh echoed through her. “Well played. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were part fae.”

“Another piece of advice from your red witch,” Remy steered the conversation back to those men. Your. She loved saying it, indulging in the fantasy that she was his. “Any person who treats you with such disrespect deserves a dagger at their throat.”

“It’s a good thing I have you to do that for me then.” Hale’s arms tightened around her as he passed the reins from one hand to the other.

She would do it. She would cut down any man who called him a bastard. It was true, and it spoke from a part of her that existed beyond logic. It was wild and base. She could not deny that instinct.

They passed the last of the houses, through stretches of empty open land before they reached the city’s far wall of huge tree trunks rammed deeply into the ground and spiked into sharp points at the top. The iron gates lay open to the forest beyond. No enemies here to defend against.

As they ventured past the wall and into the forest, Remy knew that today their enemy was not one wielding a sword— it was a steep, foul mountain that lay on the other side of this forest.