Road To Winter (Fae's Captive #2)(27)

“Ahead,” Gareth calls.

I snap my eyes forward. An entire contingent of Vundi appear on the road, seeping into view like blood from the dirt. Taylor tenses, but keeps her head up. With one arm I lift her and pivot her around my body so she rides behind me. Her arms go around my waist, and she presses her forehead into my back. I want to tell her she’s safe, but I don’t take my eyes off the Vundi or utter a word.

A leader emerges, her red scarf covering most of the tan skin of her face and leaving only her silver eyes visible.

I ease Kyrin to a stop a few yards away. Gareth is close behind, ready to shed blood if need be.

“Odd for winter realm fae to grace the Red Plains with their presence, don’t you think?” The leader keeps one hand on the hilt of a curved blade at her hip. A whip is looped on the belt that cinches her red dress close to her body.

“Only passing through.” I let one blast of coolness pulse from me, coating the air around me with tiny shards of ice.

“See, that’s a problem.” She’s smiling beneath her scarf, laugh lines appearing beside her eyes. “Because there’s a price for anyone travelling in my land.”

“Your land?” I look down my nose at her and the contingent of two dozen red-garbed warriors at her back. “These lands are within the summer realm and under the control of Queen Aurentia, to whom you owe your allegiance.”

The leader lifts her scarf and spits, a grave insult. “We answer to no supposed queen.”

“If you don’t let us pass, you will answer to the bite of the winter wind.” I don’t make threats lightly, and she seems to understand this, because the smile fades a little.

“Not without the toll.”

“Give us your price.” Gareth saunters up, Beth at his back.

The leader cuts her eyes to him, then re-focuses on me. “You might want to call off your dog, your majesty,” she sneers.

They know who we are. But, of course, word that the winter realm’s king had crossed the border would have spread rapidly.

“Your price,” Gareth presses.

She traces her fingers along the whip. “No small talk? Fine by me, my lord.” She steps toward Kyrin, who snorts his disapproval. “You know what the king beyond the mountain wants.”

“You won’t take my life.” My fangs lengthen as I eye her numbers. “Plenty before you have tried. I’ve killed each, sometimes with more relish than I should have.”

She arches a brow. “You? It seems your ego precedes you, my lord. I’m not here for your head. My price is simple. We require the changeling hiding behind you. She will stay with us, and the rest of you are free to go on your way. A reasonable price, truly, since it ends with all of you breathing even though you trespass in our lands.”

“Your price is death.” A sizzle of cold ripples through my skin. I’m barely keeping my magic at bay, everything inside me demanding I destroy the threat to my mate.

“Why do you want her?” Gareth dismounts and hands his reins to Beth, then positions himself between them and me.

The warriors tense, some of them drawing their curved blades, but the leader doesn’t move at all. Steady like a snake waiting for its prey.

“The bounty on her head.”

“What bounty?” I ask.

“The king beyond the mountain has promised enough coin to fund my people for generations. Anyone who can deliver this changeling alive to the Gray Mountains will receive the reward.” She flicks her whip free. “And I intend to claim it.”

“Maybe I’m the changeling you’re looking for. You ever think about that?” Beth calls.

The leader doesn’t even look at her. “The one I want is coveted by the king of the winter realm. I can assume, based on the way he’s fawning over her, it’s the one on his horse.”

Taylor fists the material at my sides. “Why would he want me?” she breathes.

I squeeze one of her hands. “They won’t take you.”

The leader shrugs. “That’s cute, but I’m not walking away from the reward. So, I will be taking her, even if it requires killing the rest of you.”

“Then you will be disappointed.” Gareth draws his sword. “And your warriors will be dead. Or you could let us pass. The choice is yours.”

“For this sum, I have no choice.” The whip lights with magical fire, orange flames licking along the leather. With a vicious crack, she launches it through the air, and Gareth ducks out of the way. All the warriors go into motion, their blades drawn.

I jump from Kyrin, hand the reins to Taylor and guide both of them to Beth. “Go back down the road. Keep to it, and ride hard. Flee to the Greenvelde and then to Queen Aurentia. She will keep you safe. I will come for you when I can.”

“Wait, Leander.” Taylor reaches for me, but I slap Kyrin’s flank, and both horses take off. The fear in her eyes tears me to pieces, but I can’t ease her. Not now. Instead, I turn and engage the warriors, each of them fast and cunning. But they are no match for my magic. Even in the summer realm, my powers are formidable. With a vicious push, I shove a wave of cold into the nearest soldiers, and a frost creeps along their red clothing, slowing their movements.

I jump into the fray, slashing with my sword as Gareth engages with the leader, the crack of her whip a constant threat. More of them emerge from the low brush along the side of the road, all of them coming straight for us with their curved blades held high. They fight well, not as a unit, but separately, each of them spinning and engaging with lethal efficiency. I cut them down, the ground absorbing their blood as they fall, crimson on crimson.