Read Online Forbidden (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) by Dawn Steele - Free Book Online Page A

clasped her knife. “Are you a spy, come to scout us so that you can wage war upon us?”
    If he so much as said yes , she swore she’d spring on him.
    “I am not a spy,” he declared. “That I willingly swear upon the leaves of my ancestors.”
    “Liar. You’re a spy,” Snow White insisted, her anger rolling over. She was semi-aware that calling a spy a spy to his face wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do, but she couldn’t rein her emotions in.
    “Don’t make me kill you, native.” His steady eyes challenged hers. In the filtered light of the bank, he was magnificent with silvery water beads dotting his pale flesh – a glistening Poseidon. The side of his mouth twitched.
    “Oh, so we're back to killing,” she said hotly. “Then you’re no better than the people who did this!” She jabbed her thumb at the corpse.
    He seemed taken aback. Before he could say anything further, she strode off, her heart thumping wildly. If he followed her and touched her in any way, she promised herself that she would lash out with the knife. Let’s see how that pretty face looks scarred.
    More buzzing came from behind the trees. She swallowed. Around a cluster of trees, a dead horse lay on its side. An arrow shaft protruded from its neck and a cloud of flies rose. Several open saddlebags were strewn around the horse, their contents half-spilled on the ground. Whoever killed the man had possibly rifled through these and taken anything of worth, leaving the rest to foragers.
    Snow White spied hard bread and cheese. The ache in her belly returned in burning force despite her queasiness. Her hunger for any food other than apples won over, and she stuffed the cheese greedily into her mouth despite the putrid smell that wafted from the horse. By the time Aein quietly approached her, she had already finished a whole wedge.
    Aein emptied another saddlebag. Crumpled clothes fell out. “We will be approaching a village soon, not?” he said calmly. By outward appearances, he had gotten over her little tirade.
    “Ummmph,” Snow White replied, her mouth full.
    “Then perhaps I will wear your loincloth.” He pronounced it with difficulty. “To blend in with the natives.”
    This seemed to be conciliatory, though she couldn’t care less what he did anymore.
    “Whaddever.” She was ashamed of her hunger. Did death affect her so little now that she could feast alongside the ravens and buzzards? If the poor man is dead, she consoled herself, then he would not need all this food, so what better posthumous deed than to bring two travelers back from the brink of starvation?
    By the time Aein was fully clothed in the dead man’s spare garb, the combination of guilt, stench and food made her retch all the contents of her stomach out.
    “You should not eat so much,” Aein said unkindly.
    “You shouldn’t wear your pants backside front.”
    To ditch him or not to ditch him? If she followed the stream, she would have more water than she could drink. But with the killers still present in the woods, it would be better to have company. At least at night, one of them could mount a lookout.
    Miserably, she realized she was still stuck with Aein. The next village couldn’t come soon enough.
     
    #
     
    They followed the stream northward, proceeding with more caution. The next day, at twilight, they glimpsed a distant fire crackling between the trees. Muffled voices trailed from its direction. Reminded of the corpse and her nightmares, Snow White hung cautiously back.
    “Perhaps we are approaching a village,” Aein said.
    Her heart leaped. Was it too much to hope?
    “We should investigate them first,” she warned.
    “But why? I wish to meet and mingle with them.”
    “Just saying we should be careful, that’s all.”
    As they quietly approached, the voices became louder. Laughter interspersed with the snapping of twigs in the flames. The aroma of roasting meat rose, so sweet that it made her mouth water. After days of apples and