Page 5 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
He looked at us just as Mama had said his kind would, like we were buzzing mosquitoes—short-lived irritants drawn by his magic as surely as the buzzing pests were drawn to warm flesh and the promise of blood.
“A bargain was struck long ago.” His gaze swept the crowd again and rested on us, turning my stomach to stone. Rose nudged me behind her, back straightening as though she were my shield.
Wild Hunt take me, but I couldn’t help peering around her. My eyes burned from staring at him. The iridescent sheen on his hair was a mystery, a marvel. I hadn’t even seen anything like that on a fae-touched human. Admittedly, I hadn’t seen many other than me.
I’d watched magpies and ravens in the fields and forest, entranced by the gleam of blue and purple on their feathers. And dozens of times, I’d tried to capture that shifting colour in my sewing. Samples in the bottom of a chest at home were testament to my failure. But somehow magic and nature had created it in this fae.
His gaze was still on us, and a lazy smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as though he found Rose’s defence nothing more than amusing.
Except… I shifted and his eyes followed, narrowing a fraction. He wasn’t looking at us, butme.
Fingers aching where I gripped Rose’s sleeve so tightly, I shivered.
Djinn and fae, just the same. Beautiful but deadly.Mama’s voice chimed in a distant memory.
I sank into my hood and pulled closer to Rose.
Head tilting, the fae turned and continued surveying the square. The long, elegant sword at his hip caught the light as he moved. He was likely just as dangerous without it. “That bargain has been neglected for many years, but its terms still stand.” Any hint of a smile vanished from his face as his brows drew together, leaving his expression stormy and dark. It didn’t suit him, not as well as the smirk had. “And this dusk, at your stone circle, I will collect the Tithe.”
I gasped, and dozens more did the same. The fae hadn’t claimed the Tithe in a century. Why would they suddenly—?
But he was gone. Motes of black shadow puffed out from the spot where he’d stood, like someone had blown a handful of soot in the air. A second later, that too disappeared.
I sagged against Rose’s back, the tight twist in my stomach easing. The tart sweetness on my tongue faded, that sense of someone calling my name going with it.
“Are you all right?” Rose gripped my shoulder, brow creased in concern.
“I’m… I’m fine.” I was now he’d gone.
Her lips flattened like she didn’t believe me, but she only shook her head. “The Tithe. I can’t believe he’s claiming it after all these years.”
The poor girl he’d take. Plenty would volunteer—more fool them.
Mama had told me how as a teenager in her homeland of Thanatolia, her closest friend disappeared, taken by the djinn. Three days later, Mama had found her wandering on the hillside, clothes torn, face bruised. But worst of all was her mind—shattered beyond repair. She’d stared into the distance, singing strange songs. She hadn’t recognised Mama or even her own parents or brothers. All those years later, Mama’s eyes had shone with tears as she’d told me.
The fae are the same. They take you and break you without a second thought. Humans are nothing to them.Her words blocked my throat just as surely as her voice filled my head.
No matter how handsome that fae was, he was no person: he was a dangerous monster in a beautiful shell.
Somehow, there were women in Briarbridge who didn’t understand that—the richer families especially. They thought they could frolic with the fae and have fun, then get on with their lives. Theythoughtold stories of the Tithe meant a marriage on equal terms.
Idiots, the lot of them.
At best, a human would be a fae’s passing fancy.
At worst, a pet.
“Ari?” Rose rapped on my forehead as I shuddered. “Are you there?”
I snorted and swatted her away. “I’m here. Just worrying about how I’m going to stop you putting yourself forward because you think it’ll be a great adventure.”
“Hmm, I don’t think being sold off to marry a fae lord sounds like much of an adventure.”
“So you’re not completely insane then. Good to know.”
“Insane? Ouch. What have I ever done that would make you fear for my sanity?”
I tapped the dagger that was now back at her belt. “Wearing this and sneaking off to train with the boys so you can become a guard.”
