Page 100 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

I went to pull another batch of cookies from the oven. Chocolate chip this time. The ultimate comfort cookie.

“Spying on you isn’t the only reason I’m here.” Rowan broke the cookie in half, then took a tiny bit from the center. Testing it on his tongue before pausing, lifting his brow, then shoving the whole thing into his mouth. He wiped his hand on the front of his shirt before reaching into his satchel.

Curiosity spiked when seeing the flash of silver. It was the dagger Stryder had stolen from me the night of the ball. Rowan had first given it to me last summer when we were in the dark wood running from crow demons and other creatures that wanted us for dinner.

“Did you have this the whole time?” I asked, gliding my fingers over the black stones in the hilt.

Rowan nodded. “Was waiting for the right moment to give it back. Not sure if you know this or not, little treasure, but you and pointy things don’t get along.”

I rolled my eyes but secretly loved how he picked on me for my clumsiness. “Why are you giving it to me now?”

“Can you think of no reason?” Lake asked, his once happy tail drooping behind him. “Should Lord Onyx be consumed by his curse, it’s best that you have a means of protecting yourself. We will protect you too, of course, but in the time it takes us to reach you, it may be… well, too late.”

My heart dropped into my gut. “You expect me to use this on Onyx if he goes beast mode on me?” I shoved the dagger away, giving it back to Rowan. “No. There’s no way I could ever hurt him, Ro. I could never hurt any of you. Never. I’d rather die.”

“Take the dagger,” a silky voice said from the corridor.

As Onyx stepped into the kitchen, everything inside of me screamed to approach him. To pull him into my arms. Instead, I stood beside the counter, eyes stinging with unshed tears and a hole in my heart.

Rowan nodded to him.

“I don’t want the dagger, Onyx,” I said, my voice snippier than intended. “I’ll tell you just as I told them. I would never hurt you.”

“And if I hurt you?” He strode forward before coming to a stop in front of the kitchen island, leaving a large space between us. “If this wretched curse inside me awakens and I try to rip out your throat with my bare teeth, you’ll wish you had that blade to drive into my black heart.”

The words triggered a memory.

“That’s what you meant when we were in the cave?” I asked, understanding blazing through my skull. “When you said the day would come when I regretted meeting you and that you hoped I’d stab you if it did.”

Onyx stared at me, mask in place. But his chest rose and fell with the slight hitch in his breathing. “This between us will only end one of two ways, little bird. With one of us dead or you leaving this realm.”

“You want me to leave?” Such a silly thing to be upset over considering the threat, quite literally, in front of me.

“What I want I can’t have.” Onyx’s nostrils flared before he turned away from me, facing the archway. “Danger lurks beyond the barrier, but I’m beginning to think those knights of yours are right. You can’t remain here forever, no matter how deeply I wish for you to.”

As he left the kitchen, disappearing into the shadows, a piece of my heart went with him.

That summer night so long ago, during the Festival of the Lights, Lupin had warned me that one of my fated mates would either love me or be the cause of my death. No more guesses as to who he’d been referring to. But despite the odds stacked against us and all the risks involved, I wasn’t ready to give up on Onyx.

Not ready to give up on us.

Chapter Eighteen

Is it Weird to Talk to Trees?

Smoke curled upward from the chimney of the mess hall, bringing smells of cooking meat and warm spices. Voices from warriors gathering within the inner courtyard filtered out into the late afternoon air, joined by the clangs of swords and grunts from the nearby training field.

I sat in the grass beneath the shade of a large cherry tree, skimming the first page of a book I’d borrowed from the reading parlor. Skimming because it was hard to stay focused.

Two days had passed since I’d seen Onyx. From the second he left the kitchen that one morning when I’d been running around making croissants and munching on cookies, too stressed to sleep, I hadn’t seen even a glimpse of him.

“This between us will only end one of two ways, little bird. With one of us dead or you leaving this realm.”

Guess there was a third way too. Avoiding each other completely. Not that it was a long-term solution. Even now, I felt the stirring of our fated bond. One that made me want to jump up and track him down, feeling the heat of his skin against mine. Inhaling his smoky scent.

I sighed and adjusted the book on my knee, trying to focus. Pretty sure I’d read the same sentence ten times and still had no idea what it said.

“Boy.”