Page 47 of Midnight Shadow

She turned her back to him and moved to her steed.

Terran crossed the inner ward to the stairs of the keep with long strides.

Damn her! He was trembling with such desire he felt powerless before her. He clenched his fists, fighting the feelings threatening to overtake him. He wasn’t used to battling an unseen foe. He couldn’t fight these feelings with swords or lances.

He cursed silently. She is just a woman. How do I battle this control she has over me?

He turned back to stare at the stables. Am I mad? I’ve left her to go to another man. I will not permit it!

The stable door flew open and Bria emerged on her steed.

Instinctively, Terran stepped toward her.

But she raced past him toward the outer gatehouse.

I have to stop her, Terran thought. He took two steps toward the stables before realizing he’d never reach her in time.

By the time he got his horse out of the stables, she’d be gone into the Midnight Shadow’s arms.

Frustration consumed him as he watched her ride out of the castle.

The Midnight Shadow hid in the foliage waiting for the two tax collectors. Suddenly, the sounds of horses’ hooves came to her ears, the clip-clop against the dirt road as they walked. She stepped out into the road, still hidden by the shadows of the forest. The moon was but a sliver tonight, giving just enough light for her to see them in the open road, but not enough to expose her position. Slowly, she saw them coming down the road in the dim light. Only two men.

Something prickled the back of her neck. What kind of fools would be riding so slowly when their bags were heavy with coin? She wasn’t the only thief to travel these roads this late. And where was their escort?

As they neared, she could make out the white horse one rode on. She waited until they were almost a horse’s length away to rush forward and seize the bridles of their mounts. “Good evening, gentlemen,” she greeted in her customary low whisper.

They glanced at each other. They didn’t seem at all surprised to see her. Again that feeling clawed at the back of her neck. They hadn’t even reached for their weapons. Her hand immediately dipped to the hilt of her sword. She drew her weapon.

Their gazes lifted to somewhere behind her.

A trap! The thought exploded through her mind.

Footsteps thudded on the road behind her. She jerked to turn, but a voice cut her off. “Don’t move.” The familiar voice left her cold with fear and foreboding. Kenric’s voice.

Her limbs went stiff and her breathing shallowed.

‘‘The Midnight Shadow,” he scoffed. “Just a common thief. It’ll be a great pleasure to see who you really are.”

She whirled, bringing her sword up and smashing it against his. He growled and brought his weapon down, cutting into her left arm.

The Midnight Shadow bit back a cry of pain. She whirled between the horses, shouting loudly to spook them. They reared slightly, inhibiting Kenric for a moment.

Her left arm throbbed painfully, but she dashed behind the horses and swatted them so they jerked forward. She circled around one animal and found herself face to face with a guard. She met his lunge, knocking his blade cleanly aside, and parried with a cut to his stomach. He cried out and she sidestepped his fall, then turned toward the forest.

“Get him!” Kenric cried. “Fools! Don’t let him escape!”

The pounding of a horse’s gallop sounded behind her and she quickly entered the forest, moving abruptly to an area too thick for the horses to follow. Her left arm ached and she cradled it to her side as she ran through the branches.

Twigs exploded behind her and foliage crunched and crackled as her would-be captors gave chase.

Her mind slid back to another time when she was racing through the forest running from Kenric. She pushed the thought aside, gathering her cape beneath her arm so it wouldn’t snag on the branches of the trees.

She had to think. Think of some way to escape.

She ducked behind a tree, quickly summing up her position. A fallen tree two paces to her left, a small clearing large enough to fight in to her right, and straight ahead more forest, more darkness in which to hide. She’d become very good at disappearing into and out of the darkness. Her cape was perfect for concealing her. She lurched forward, but froze as Kenric emerged, panting hard, from the copse of trees she’d just come through.

His dark gaze swept the area, but he didn’t see her. “Spread out,” he ordered as two more men emerged and finally a third. “If he escapes, it is your lives.”