Page 67 of The Princesses of Ruin (The Princesses of Ruin #5)

F lowers and bread curl through the scent of her sweat. She moves with deadly precision. Her every step is fluid grace. A waterfall of black hair spills down her shoulders. It curls and waves with the wind as she moves.

I lean forward, trying to smell her better. The branch beneath me creaks and her weapons routine stops. She whirls toward me, her spear aimed at my heart.

“Who’s there?” she demands in a voice made of snow.

I want to reveal myself.

I want to take her now.

The thorny brand on my wrist tightens and pain shoots through my body. My shadows falter, and the girl gasps, taking a step back.

“What are you?”

I cloak myself in darkness once more, until I’m certain she can’t see me. She blinks and rubs her eyes.

“Princess Thaleia, it’s well past time to come inside,” someone says from the doorway to the training ground .

She nods and waves them off. When they’re gone, she looks back to where I squat in the shadows.

“I’ve seen you before, you know. I told my mother. She says I must kill you.”

I chuckle. “You will try.”

The hair on her arms stands on end and her scent changes, laced with fear. Fuck, it’s a gorgeous bouquet of smells.

She pulls her lips back in a snarl. “I will kill you.”

“Two years yet. Keep practicing, little flower.”

With that, I take flight, returning home.

She roars a curse at my back and I grin.

Two years more.

And then I will have my mate.