Read Online Why Are All the Good Guys Total Monsters? by De-Ann Black - Free Book Online

hand, hunted after me. He looked as fit as
Sabastien and Daire, and bore a handsomeness that deeply affected my senses. He
frightened me, and fascinated me. A lethal combination. These fae were a
distraction, their beauty part of their guile to ensnare the unwary, to entice
me to falter or fall for them.
    Keep going, I told myself. Run. Run.
    ‘Vesper!’ he shouted, his voice spurring me on to get away
from him. Hearing him shout my name gave me the coldest feeling, and yet it
enticed me. Another spell to reel me in, I thought.
    Something silver shimmered ahead. A river? Yes. I could
swim. I could get away from Archer, unless…I glanced back again. He’d drawn an
arrow from its sheath and while running he’d secured it in the bow.
    I heard the arrow slice through the air, missing me by a
whisker, causing me to almost stumble.
    Where was the river? Panic burned my throat. Then I saw it,
moments away. I could make it. I ran and dived towards the water, but Archer
flew and caught me. I struggled. He dropped me. I ran on again, into the
darkest forest I could ever have envisaged.
    Shadows and trees with twisted vines trailed to the ground
thick with leaves. Almost silent. Somewhere in its depths a haunting wind blew
through the branches, touching my hair, and a whispering warning — beware … beware …
    I trudged on, pushing the branches aside. I’d no intention
of venturing far, just far enough to hide from Archer until I was sure he’d
gone.
    A monster’s roar made me stop and look around, my breath
like mist in the icy atmosphere. It roared again, sounding all around me. Which
direction should I run? Or should I hide?
    ‘Vesper!’ Archer’s voice sounded again. ‘Don’t run. Don’t
move, or he’ll kill you.’
    Movement from the trees made me trust his warning.
    Archer aimed his bow, not at me this time, but at an unseen
monster, unseen by me at least. The arrow wasn’t blue or crystal; it was dark,
a vague outline, as was Archer, though his ice blue eyes glanced at me before
he fired. Even in the gloom, the intensity and colour of his eyes was
unnervingly beautiful. His face was sculptured and pale, and his blue–blond
hair seemed darkened by the dampness of our surroundings. Everything about him
was intense, from the upswept angle of his eyes to the determined line of his
tempting lips.
    The arrow hit its target; the monster’s cry confirmation it
had been wounded.
    Archer ran towards the creature, and I grasped the chance to
slip into the shadows, away from both the monster and Archer.
    Realising I’d gone, Archer came after me, leaving the monster
to its wounded fate.
    Deeper and deeper into the forest I ran, hoping Sabastien or
Daire would find me before Archer did.
    ‘Vesper!’
    A different voice. Daire’s voice. A surge of energy charged
through me. ‘Daire!’ I shouted, knowing that Archer would hear me and know now
where I was. But I had no choice. I had to hope that Daire would reach me
first.
    A strong hand grabbed hold of me.
    It was Daire.
    He clasped me to him, relieved he’d found me safe, and then
soared off with me, leaving behind Archer and the roar of other monsters.
    I clung on to Daire, who held me close. My fingers felt the
chainmail on his chest, his muscles strong beneath the metal.
    ‘Hold on, Vesper. Not far now,’ Daire assured me, his voice
buffeted by the force of the air as he flew towards another part of the forest
nearer the city.
    We landed in a clearing, surrounded by the tall silhouettes
of trees like a wall of warriors protecting us from prying eyes.
    Daire put me down gently on the ground.
    I felt exhausted.
    ‘You’re safe,’ he said, brushing my hair back from my face.
He checked that Archer hadn’t wounded me.
    ‘I’m not hurt,’ I said, though I felt the sting of tiny cuts
and grazes on my legs from running through the forest.
    ‘Where’s Sabastien?’ I said.
    Daire glanced at the sky. Several silvery lights shimmered
in the distance. ‘He’s