I released her wrist with a wide smile. Maybe it was because of how distracted I was that she got as far as she did. She bolted the second her skin left mine, a devious grin on her lips. I knew exactly what she planned, of course. Sneaky she was not. With barely a thought, I activated the ice on the bottom of her boots. The magick thickened and grew until it encased both her feet in heavy blocks.
With a high squeak, her body pitched forward while her feet remained frozen to the grass. Her knees hit the ground, then her face. Ass in the air and skirt flipped up, every muscle in my body locked as I got a good look at all that smooth skin on display. That scrap of lace did nothing to hide her from me, and my mouth watered. She screeched and clawed at the ground, trying in vain to free herself. All it did was wiggle that ass in my face like a white flag.
Gods, if only it were a sign of surrender. I would be buried in her so fucking fast. Alas, her squirming and foul language was a level of torture I wasn’t sure I could withstand.
“Please stop talking,” I begged, adjusting my dick before I humiliated myself.
“You’d like that! Because then you wouldn’t have to hear the truth, you fucking—”
“I can make you if you’d prefer, but you might moan a little.”
I melted the ice with a wave of my hand, and she scrambled to her feet with an embarrassed speed. Her cheeks were red and covered in bits of grass. Beautiful. I made sure some of my magick remained on the soles of her boots just in case she tried again, but I had a feeling once was enough.
I allowed her a moment to brush the dirt from her knees and collect herself before I started up the path once more. After a beat, I heard her follow. It was actually better for me to go first, in case of danger, and one never knew what would pop up out here. Godsdammed, lurky, bad luck attracting trees.
Head on a swivel, I kept my senses on alert for the slightest sounds, but all I heard were our footsteps and her grumbling.
“You’re horrible at pinky promises,” I told her, trying to break the tension. When she didn’t answer, I thought it was because she didn’t know how they worked. “Maybe humans do it differently. See, you're supposed to hook your fingers together, make the promise, and thennotbreak it. Which, of course, you did—are you listening?”
I turned, prepared to take it from the basics and teach her the proper way to complete the promise, when movement in the shadows caught my attention. What did I fucking say? Halfway back home, and there wassomething in the trees. I was going to burn this whole forest down.
Save bond first, commit arson after.
“Ezra?” Rani’s muffled voice was tinged with worry. I felt a nugget of it in my chest. She covered it well, but her emotions were too strong to hide from the bond.
“Stay behind me,” I ordered, but I had no intention of allowing her to move.
I failed once again. I was off my game and heavily distracted by the sultry woman behind me, but that was no excuse. We shouldn't be in these woods. Rani shouldn’t have even madeit past the barrier. Because I fucking lacked the ability to do anything right, she was in danger.Again.
I knew better. I godsdamned knew. The djinn weren’t finished with us. And case in point, walking out of the shadows in front of me, using these motherfucking trees as cover, came two hunters. One had his hands tucked in his pockets, like this was just an evening stroll. All nonchalant and innocent—they didn’t fool me for a second.
I heard Rani’s gasp and moved to cover her completely. Her fear saturated the bond, and it took all my control to push it aside and not let my instincts take over. I had to be smart about this. Grabbing her and making a run for it wasn’t an option, no matter how badly I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and get her out of here.
I coated the ground in ice, a wide arc that kept the djinn away by several yards.
“That’s close enough, boys,” I warned, fingers twitching to send frozen spikes through their hearts.
Rani’s terrified whimpers stoked the need to shed blood. Djinn blood. I thought we had more time before they’d come sniffing around again.
“Interesting,” the djinn in the back murmured.
He was taller and more broadly built. Obviously, the one in charge. I zeroed in on his wild hair that he did nothing to keep out of his face. A possible weakness? How he expected to fight like that was beyond me, but I wasn’t about to underestimate him either.
“The tribunal cleared me and my cousin of all charges related to Dalton Ashford and your heir.” The forest seemed to go silent at my decree, and only the sound of the ice cracking and shifting at our feet interrupted the tension. “An attack on us now will be seen as a threat, and my faction will respond accordingly.”
The djinn chuckled as he stepped closer, until the toes of his boots taunted the line I’d drawn in the dirt. Fucking assholes, it was like they had no sense of self-preservation.
“No one’s attacking,” he droned. “Yet. But I’m sure you’ll give us a reason soon enough.”
His pointed look at where Rani cowered behind me was enough to start a war right there and then. Unfortunately, taking them both on would leave her vulnerable, and I’d do anything to avoid that. I still didn’t like how they watched her. Her warmth was a steady reassurance at the small of my back, but there was no hiding her vibrant hair or the subtle glow her fear initiated.
I sent calming waves down the bond. Our connection was new, but I felt it grow tonight, and hopefully it was enough for me to help her. Two fists gripped the back of my shirt as one of the hunters broke off to circle us. With a flex of my hand, spikes grew along my blockade in warning.
I turned us, enough to keep both djinn in my sights.
“Is that her?” the big one called, and there was no stopping my growl.
Especially when his friend answered,
