CHAPTER ONE
Rhodes urged his horse to go faster as he galloped down the cobblestone lane. The princess had left the castle and he’d been waylaid by a handful of street vendors who’d unintentionally blocked his path. Considering she had guards with her, he wouldn’t be kidnapping her today, but he liked to keep her in sight.
As often as possible.
He shouldn’t be in the Nova realm, definitely shouldn’t be near their castle. But very recently the royal family had celebrated the marriage of their long-lost daughter and her return—and they’d opened up the realm to outsiders. Ares had even woken from his hibernation to see his daughter married. And it didn’t seem as if he would be going back to sleep anytime soon.
Now that the oldest daughter was married, that left the youngest daughter, the petite Stella with bicolored eyes and an astonishingly small build for a dragon. He had overheard some females make a derisive remark about her size, but…there was no denying how attractive she was.
Or how kind.
Nothing at all like he’d expected—been led to believe when he’d been contracted by the fae king of the Domincary realm.
He slowed his horse as he reached the small town’s edge, then tossed the reins back onto the saddle and patted the horse on its flank. It immediately headed back down the cobblestone pathway toward the castle—where he’d ‘borrowed’ it from.
Pausing by a bridge that would lead into the town, he eyed the long row of quaint houses on either side of the road, looking for any threats.
Even with the foot of snow covering all the front yards, candles and magical lights lit most of the windows. Sunset was perhaps half an hour away and everything had a soft feel to it. Though there were signs of people—footprints along the road, smoke from most of the chimneys—he didn’t actually see anyone through the windows.
In the human realm, it was currently spring, but here it was still ice cold. Which was good for him as he had on a hooded coat that helped him to blend with the population. Not that he’d received any odd looks since arriving in the Nova realm a week ago. He’d been sleeping in the nearby woods in his dragon form, using his natural camouflage to stay hidden from the sentries around the castle and throughout the realm itself.
He was an assassin for a reason—he was naturally good at getting into places unseen.
Only months ago this place had been almost completely cut off from the rest of civilization but ever since the new mating and return of the older princess, they had opened up their realm and created an alliance with the territory of a human place called New Orleans. The castle’s security was still tight, however.
But it wasn’t good enough to keep him out.
He waved casually to a big male riding a horse through town and the male waved back. As he made his way down the street farther into the town, he inhaled deeply, easily able to follow her scent. She wasn’t far now. Though she wasn’t alone. He scented many, many others nearby.
Frowning, he picked up his pace.
Stella shouldn’t have left the castle this late. Though her clan was a matriarchal line, with fierce female dragons running the realm, they kept her sheltered. Protected.
Rightly so. He wasn’t sure why she’d come to this nearby town, why she was out near dark. He didn’t like it.
Luckily he was a born tracker, was easily following her wild, sweet scent that reminded him of strawberries. He could practically taste her on the air—had fantasized about tasting her from the moment he’d seen her. Scented her.
It didn’t matter that he’d been ordered to kidnap her, to bring her back by any means necessary. He wanted her with a desperation that defied logic.
He locked down that thought as he reached the top of another bridge. And that was when he saw her in a gazebo, talking to a handful of large dragon males. His dragon snarled, not liking that at all. Music played from somewhere, lifting on the wind, and the rest of the townspeople were laughing, drinking, having a large party.
The townspeople who lived outside the bailey walls, no doubt. The farmers and others who provided various necessities for the realm.
As he strode closer, the music grew louder, people laughing and singing and—a man stumbled before he clapped Rhodes on the shoulder.
Rhodes tensed, almost going into fight mode until the slightly smaller male shoved a tankard into his hand. “Praise be to the goddess and hope we see an end to this winter soon!”
“Praise be to the goddess,” he murmured, taking the drink, the scent actually quite pleasing.
Which made sense. This was a realm known for their finery. Everyone here had an education, a roof over their head and was given the chance to figure out what type of job they preferred. They would not be drinking some of the swill he’d had the misfortune to taste in other realms.
Taking a sip, he neared the edge of the gazebo and turned from Stella and the two males as he leaned against the outside railing, watching the revelry. But he remained close enough to hear her, scent her.
“I promise that we’re looking into what happened.” Stella’s lilting voice was soft, lyrical as she spoke. So very soothing. Her silvery hair hung down her back in a thick, intricate woven braid and she wore a simple navy tunic over loose navy pants, as was the style of the realm. It was clear her clothing was quality, however, given the elaborate silver stitching along the neck and hemlines. Her breasts were full, given her petite size, and they strained prettily against the fabric, making him wonder…all sorts of things. Like how soft her skin would feel if he were to caress her bare breasts.
No. He shut down that thought, forced himself to focus, to scan for her security—who was nowhere to be seen.
“Aye, we know that you are. And we appreciate you coming here in person to speak with us.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss the festival anyway,” she said on a laugh. “You’ve outdone yourselves this year.”
“We really have. So when will we be hearing an announcement about your engagement? Now that your sister is happily mated—”
Rhodes inwardly cursed as the ale sloshed over his fingers when he crushed the metal tankard in his hand. Luckily no one was paying him any attention.
Children—in dragonling form—were sliding over a frozen pond while their parents looked on. In the distance he could see slightly older children sledding down a huge hill and there was an ale tasting going on. Which made sense considering this little township provided the ale to the rest of the realm.
He funneled all of that out as he strained to hear Stella’s response. An engagement? He’d heard nothing whispered about her getting mated. Not even a hint. And he hadn’t seen her with a male, not romantically anyway.
She laughed, the musical sound a balm to his ears. “No engagement for me. I’m far too busy to even think about looking for a mate.”
One of the males laughed. “Well, we were just curious. The wedding celebration was…”
Rhodes tuned out the rest of the inane conversation when he realized she wasn’t engaged. Wasn’t looking for a mate.
He shouldn’t care, not considering he’d been hired to kidnap her and deliver her to the fae.
Not that it mattered what his contract said. Because he wouldn’t be kidnapping her. His dragon had decided to keep her instead.