Starkeeper of the Fractured Crown

They were relentless in their hunt, but hopefully seeing me would change that.

“That’s a lot of confidence for a stuffed pig.”

I shook the thoughts away and focused, meeting the pair of navy-blue eyes so deep, they reminded me of the night sky.

The male was panting, staring at them, sword up, ready to deliver another blow.

Besides the panting, he was still as stone, waiting.

One of the verlacs sniffed the air around me, growling as he turned back to the male.

The male’s expression twisted in confusion, his eyes flicking from the demons to me. “They listen to you?”

I hadn’t said anything to them. In fact, respect was one thing, but their feral need to attack and kill was another. They could still kill me, but I prayed they wouldn’t.

He looked exhausted. So while his abilities far surpassed mine, I had to believe that I could release thearrow before he even took a step.

But gods was he beautiful. Brunette hair, darker than mine, fell to his shoulders in slight waves. According to his stance and well-formed body, he was a warrior. He stood tall, so a proud warrior. One whose body had been trained to kill.

He looked from the demons, who had turned back to him, to me. “Tell them to leave.”

An order.

Ihatedwhen people tried to tell me what to do in my own fucking woods.

I moved my arrow a hair, aiming for his left eye, the good one. Besides the chiseled jawline and beautiful skin, he had been hit by one of the verlacs. A jagged cut from right temple to the left side of his jaw. Blood dripped down his face, the meat from under his skin clear as day from where I stood.

Good little demons.

It looked excruciating, yet he seemed fine. He wasn’t reacting at all to the pain, wasn’t even worried about it. Didn’t even notice.

“Put the sword away,” I ordered him instead.

He scoffed. “They’re going to kill me.”

I rose a brow, challenging him.

He watched me carefully before finally sheathing his sword, the verlacs snarling at the movement.

I stared at him for a second longer before letting out a sharp whistle, calling the verlacs to attention. “It’s okay, he won’t hurt anyone else.”

They huffed and snarled, digging at the earth.

“But I give you full permission to tearhim limb from limb if he tries anything again.”

The male frowned deeply, eyes darkening.

One of them turned to the others, releasing a strange string of yips and barks.

The other yipped back, snarling.

The first lunged for it, stopping just short of an attack.

Finally, the remaining five turned away from us and disappeared into the darkness.

I kept my arrow fixed on the male as he watched after them.

“You saved me,” he finally said, turning back to me.