Page 53 of The Sunbound Princess
“Why are you two staring at each other like that?” Ezabell asked, interrupting our silent argument.
Before Nikolas could respond, a high-pitched whistle split the air. Something flashed past his head, missing him by inches before thudding into the tree behind him.
An arrow protruded from the bark, its feathers quivering.
I grabbed Ezabell and dragged her to the ground.
Nikolas dropped into a crouch, his dagger appearing in his hand.
A second arrow hissed into the clearing, piercing the air where Nikolas’s head had been a split second before.
We were under attack.
Chapter
Thirteen
EZABELL
The arrow thunked into the tree behind Nikolas. A second later, a towering man in black burst from the forest in front of us.
“Fuck,” Nikolas muttered.
“Stay down,” Dain told me, springing to his feet.
Nikolas followed, the dagger clutched in his fist. The newcomer roared as he pounded toward them. He moved with unnatural speed for a man his size—and he wasenormous, taller than Dain and twice as broad. A jagged scar bisected his face from forehead to jaw.
I pressed my body against the forest floor, my heart hammering against my ribs. My fingers itched for my magic, but of course it didn’t come.
The scarred giant pulled a battle axe from his belt and swung it in a deadly arc, forcing Dain to leap backward to avoid being sliced across the midsection.
Dain flanked the giant’s right, circling just out of reach as he searched for an opening. But he had no weapons, and the giant was a walking armory. Knives and daggers bristled from his belt. More stuck out from holsters lining the leather straps that crisscrossed his chest. His eyes glinted with an eerie amber light.
He laughed, the sound so deep it vibrated the ground beneath me. “Viraxes sends his regards.”
“I’m flattered,” Nikolas said, dagger at the ready, “but I don’t recall asking for them.”
The giant sneered, the gesture twisting his scarred lip into a gruesome angle. “You should have thought of that before you stole from him.” Amber eyes flicked to me. “Although, it appears you’ve stolen something far more valuable since.”
Fear prickled down my spine, along with confusion. Who was Viraxes?
Nikolas lunged forward suddenly, ducking under the giant’s axe and slashing at the man’s thigh with the dagger. The giant bellowed and brought his axe down in a vicious overhead strike. Nikolas danced away just in time, the weapon embedding itself in the ground where he’d been standing. Dirt flew, and the giant growled as he wrenched the blade free from the soil.
Before he could straighten, Dain darted in from the side. But the giant spun in a blur of speed and backhanded Dain across the face, sending him flying. He crashed to the ground, grunting as he landed on his hip and shoulder.
“Dain!” I cried, rushing forward.
“Stay back, Ezabell!” Nikolas shouted, rushing forward again. His dagger flashed as he jabbed at the giant’s flank. Once again, the man spun with shocking speed, his axe flying in a horizontal sweep. Nikolas dropped flat to the ground, and the weapon whistled over his head.
“You’re quick, little thief,” the giant rumbled, amber eyes glowing. “But not quick enough.” He reached down, seized Nikolas by the throat, and hauled him off the ground. Nikolas brought the dagger up, but the giant knocked it away. It thumped to the ground, the blade glinting in the sun.
Nikolas coughed, his feet dangling, as he clawed at the man’s fingers. “Fuck…you.”
I stood frozen, my heart trying to pound from my chest. The man was no ordinary human. He was too fast, his eyes too unnatural. He was elfkin, maybe. Or perhaps something more. My dormant magic remained locked under my skin, my power inaccessible. Across the clearing, Dain struggled to his feet, blood trickling from a cut on his lip.
The giant grinned. “The sorcerer will be pleased with the woman. He’ll pay double when I deliver such beauty to his feet.”
Nikolas’s face turned red. He kicked and struggled, speaking through clenched teeth. “You’ll die first.”
