Bonds of Cupidity (Heart Hassle Book 2)

I thoroughly enjoy myself watching Ronak crash and burn as he learns to fly. I can’t even suppress my beaming smile or my gloating when he struggles. It’s like karma is smiling down on me.

I enjoy the spectacle…until he masters it in about twenty minutes and gives me a shit-eating grin. And then he makes me practice with him. And he actually gives me pointers.

Yeah, my victory was short-lived. And now my back is sore.

I plop into the cushy chair in the sitting room, my legs dangling over the arm. “How did you even learn to fly that good so quickly?” I demand.

Ronak just struts around the space like he’s the top dog. Or top cat-bird-thing. “I’ve trained my whole life. Plus, genfins bodies’ are meant to have wings. We prepare for their emergence by doing particular exercises during training. Although, these are a bit heavier than genfin wings normally are.”

His wings are folded against his back neatly, whereas mine are splayed and crushed behind me. Several of my feathers are bent out of shape from falling outside. I sit up and try to fluff them up to look as tidy as his. Evert catches the movement and smirks.

“Hey, did you find anything out about Okot?”

“Not yet, but I’ve made inquiries.”

I nod. “Hey, do you think—“

Ronak is suddenly in front of me, holding his hand over my mouth. All three of the guys are tense, their bodies facing toward the front door.

Ronak gives me a look before removing his hand from my face. With a silent gesture to the others, he moves to a spot at the bookshelf and pops a secret compartment open. Silently, he passes the hidden weapons to Sylred and Evert, and then surprises me by handing me a bow with a quiver full of arrows.

My heart slamming against my chest, I take it, suck in my wings, and strap it over my back as quietly as I can. Ronak makes some more hand gestures that I’m clueless about, but the guys nod and silently move, heading in different directions. Sylred goes to the hallway and pops open another secret panel, where a stepladder comes down from the ceiling. He disappears up the hole in the ceiling and shuts the panel behind him with a soft click.

Evert disappears in the back of the house. Ronak leans in and puts his face right next to my ear. “We’re surrounded,” he breathes. Tilting his head, he pauses. “At least a dozen are outside. You need to turn invisible now.”

I shake my head, the blood drained from my face. “No, I can help,” I say, already pulling out an arrow to notch it.

To my surprise, he nods. “Yes, you can,” he whispers. “But you need the element of surprise for a long-range weapon. Turn invisible, get behind them, and when they attack, take as many down as you can. You can’t hesitate. There will be fae out there who will use magic against you. If you can’t take the shot, don’t turn visible. Do you understand?”

I swallow. “Yes.”

He studies me for a second and then nods. “Good. Do it now, little demon. You can do this.”

Terrified out of my mind, I focus on shoving my body back into the Veil. Sweat breaks out over my forehead, and I hear Ronak moving again, keeping his sword gripped in his hand as he prowls toward the window.

Our eyes meet for a second, and then a thunderous crash sounds, sending splintering wood and glass smashing to the floor. I pop into the Veil.

I watch in horror as vines shoot through the broken window and reach for Ronak. He hacks at them before they can touch him, and his animal side comes roaring out.

Fae come bursting in through the door, weapons raised. Eight, ten, twelve of them come running in, all in full armor. But it’s the insignia on their armor that makes me freeze. It’s the purple color of their cloaks and the violet brand on their chestplates that makes horror wash over me.

“No…”

It can’t be Princess Soora’s men. It can’t be. If she sent them here to arrest us, then that means she was my enemy from the start. How can that be? She helped me. She…I don’t understand what the fuck is going on.

The earth sprite controlling the vines launches another attack while a high fae uses magic to whip wind through the room. I can’t feel it, but I see it pushing against Ronak, threatening to tear the sword from his grip, sending books and furniture crashing to the floor. Pages from books rip out and blow around wildly.

The vines finally manage to wrap around his leg, and while he tries to hack it away, another creeps up behind him and wraps around his sword arm. The second it does, a soldier comes forward and slices his blade against Ronak’s arm to force him to drop his weapon. But it’s like Ronak doesn’t even feel it.

He roars again, sounding like a ferocious beast, and rips the vines away with his strength power. They fall to the ground in shreds at the same moment he slices his sword across the throat of the soldier in front of him. The male falls down in red gurgles and wet coughs.

I’m still floating here like a useless idiot when I hear more fighting outside.

Sylred and Evert.

Ronak goes on the offensive and starts slashing at the other soldiers, and even though he’s outnumbered, he uses his immense strength to his advantage. With a single punch, he makes one fly across the room and crash through the wall. The male crumples to the ground and doesn’t get up again.

The high fae with the wind power is screaming orders, but the other soldiers look nervous now. Even the earth sprite has started to back up. The high fae shoves his way forward with murder in his eyes. He launches an attack against Ronak, using his wind to undermine every movement that Ronak makes.

With him attacking Ronak so ferociously, his men rebound. With one burst of air that pushes Ronak to his knees, the high fae uses the butt of his sword to strike Ronak’s skull, leaving him dazed. Four other soldiers close in, grappling him to the ground. I see iron shackles come into the high fae’s hands and reach for Ronak. I can’t let the bastard put iron on him.

I fly to the kitchen behind them all, and take aim. I can’t feel the bow and arrow, not yet, but that’s okay. All I need to do is line it up. I pay extra attention to the way the wind is blowing, too.

When I have my shot aimed right at the high fae’s exposed neck, I pull on my anchor’s connections and burst back into my body. The second I can feel the taut bowstring, I let the arrow fly.

I hit my target perfectly. The wind stops abruptly, making papers flutter to the ground just as the high fae falls face-first in a puddle of blood and lost breath. The remaining soldiers whirl around to face me. “Shit.”

I grapple for another arrow, but my hands are shaking so badly that it takes me too long to notch it. One of the soldiers runs at me full out and hits me in the chest with his shoulder, sending me sprawling backwards. I land in a flash of pain, the air knocked from my chest.

He straddles me, and the weight of him adds even more panic as he presses a dagger against my throat. I freeze.

“Drop the arrow,” he orders.

I hadn’t even realized I had it in my hand and was trying to stab him with it. I immediately drop it, letting it clatter to the floor.

“Irons,” he barks over his shoulder.

Another soldier comes up and shackles my hands and ankles immediately. Iron won’t work to stifle my powers, but they are heavy and cumbersome.

The soldier climbs off me and pulls me to my feet. When Ronak sees me, his golden eyes shimmer, and he lets out a furious snarl, his canines biting into his lip. Even though he’s being held down by five soldiers, and he has vines wrapped around neck, chest, arms, and legs, seeing the soldiers manhandle me gives him another burst of adrenaline and he starts throwing them off, trying to get to me.

I internally struggle with what I should do. Do I turn invisible right now? It’ll give away my most important secret and means of defense, but if I don’t go into the Veil, then I can’t help the guys. The soldiers will use me as leverage against them. They’ll take us all prisoner and then what? Even if I can get myself out of a cell, I can’t free my guys in the same way.

Making up my mind, I look around the room. Noting every weapon and soldier, I take a deep breath. Before I can exhale all the way, I push myself back into the Veil. The iron shackles come with me. Dammit.

I fly through the room until I’m right beside Ronak and turn visible again. It’s much easier to switch back and forth now. Before the shouts can register about where I went from my spot in the kitchen, I’ve already grabbed hold of a soldier’s sword, surprising him.

I swing it against the vines holding down Ronak’s right arm. The second it slices through, I pass Ronak the sword in his now free hand, and go invisible again. And not a second too soon, because the soldier’s hand tries to reach for me. Instead, his fingers grasp air.

I fly to the other side of the room, turn visible, and punch another soldier in the face. I startle him more than anything, but he drops his sword to grab his nose. I quickly pick it up, my hand closing around it just as another fae surprises me from behind and slams me into a wall.

Panic swells inside me and then a burning anger overtakes it. That anger burns so sudden and so hot that it’s like I can feel it spreading through my veins and trying to erupt out of my hands.

I have to use up this burning energy. I have to. Driven on pure instinct, I reach around with an ear-splitting scream and grab hold of the fae’s head.

The second my burning hands clutch his skull, there’s a pulling sensation, and then I’m yanking something out of him.

It comes out like gray fog. His eyes are open wide, his mouth open in a silent scream. The next second, I’ve pulled the last of the fog from his body and he’s dead. Just like that.

He falls to the ground at my feet. All I can do is stare. My hands no longer burn. The gray fog is gone.

What the hell did I just do?