The Winged Assassin

by Gwynn White

  Averin glowered at her. “I find that very hard to believe. There was no way you could have bonded with Deja without air magic.”

  Her wings flared, and she rose up on her toes. “You were testing me?”

  “You bet I was testing you.” His voice softened, and he stroked the leading edge of her wing with tender fingers. A thousand tingles swam through her blood. She pulled away before they totally befuddled her already baffled brain.

  “You should know by now that I’m economical,” Averin continued. “How could I resist giving the fae I adore, and long to bond with, something she really wanted? Especially if it also gave me the knowledge I craved? It totally sent the wind blowing through my hair. Added to that, I needed you to have a bird you can trust for a mission I’ve been planning since the night you forced me to go to Angharad with you.” A smile showed his canines. “It all came together like kismet.”

  Wingtips almost dragging on the ground, she took a step toward him while watching Rican and King Seph. Both their faces wore cautious hope. “I think I’ve lost the plot. How does Deja fit into it all?” It was the easiest, least-fraught question to ask.

  Averin capped her cheek with a cool hand. “It’s very simple, my lizard. I’m planning a raid to deliver an assassin to Darien’s fortress.” He waved at Suren. “I figured he’d be a real asset. After a frank discussion before breakfast, he agreed to help.”

  Suren nodded. “This time of my own free choice.” He touched his face. “The raven’s gone. He removed it because he wanted to, not as part of any bargain or deal.”

  Averin. Confusing, frustrating, irritating, fabulous fae. He must have figured that seeing Suren here would calm her enough to stop her shooting fire when he ditched his awful redheaded glamour. It bought him time to pull a stunt to win back her heart. Except, perhaps this time, it wasn’t a stunt.

  She folded her arms. “I was going to ride on Deja? To Pyreack? To kill Darien?”

  “That you were, pit princess. With a taskforce of handpicked Azura to support you.” He chuckled and stroked the sharply pointed arches on both of her wings. It was an effort not to croon and preen against his touch. “Deja will be so disappointed, but I think we have a winged assassin who can fly herself to Phyrturq.” His hands fell to his sides. “So, I ask for the third and final time: What other magic do you have locked away inside that beautiful, powerful body of yours?”

  She huffed a breath to hide the joy surging like pure energy through her. “Nothing special. Just water.”

  Nothing special! An ice arrow shot out of her core, flew straight up into the air, and struck the tip of the pinnacle. Rock exploded in every direction before raining down on them.

  Mouth gaping, frozen to the spot, Stasha watched it come. Averin grabbed her hand and pulled her down into a huddle with everyone else under a hastily tossed up shield. She fixed her eyes on Rican. “Our sealing? Is that still happening?”

  King Seph lifted a finger to his lips. “Let’s not risk the wind discovering all our secrets, shall we?”

  She smiled that he had a plan as stone crashed around her. The disaster hadn’t quite been averted but perhaps delayed. There would be time enough before the Hiding of the Moon to figure out how he planned to thwart his all-powerful wife, so that she, Averin, Rican, and Zephyr could finally be free.

  The avalanche ended, and Averin pulled her to her feet. “About that magic training.”

  Eliezar slapped both her and Averin’s shoulders. “Leave it to me. I’ve got it covered.” He scratched his head as he studied her. “I’ll also try and figure out why she hasn’t fully shapeshifted. Why she’s limited to wings.”

  “Fabulous wings,” she corrected with a grin. The pain had gone, and her magnificent wings felt as home upon her back as her skin. What did it matter if she hadn’t fully shifted? She preferred it like this.

  “Fabulous, like everything else about you. Except, perhaps, for one small detail.…” Averin rested his forehead on hers. “From now on, my lizard, no more secrets. Not between us. Deal?”

  About to nod furiously, she caught the stench of something foul on the air.

  Dead things and rot. Only magnified a million times by her hypersensitive air-magic nose. A chill shot through her. Somewhere, the Tiyanak lurked. Worse than being spied on, no one, not even Eliezar, looked around warily to find it. It made her heart pound that the monster could move so silently, so insidiously. Its threat to kill Averin if she mentioned their bargain burned her to the core. Having just gotten Averin back, there was no way she’d risk losing him again.

  Not to the Tiyanak.

  She rammed her boots into the ground, tossed her shoulders back, and smiled. “No more secrets. Not even one.”

  Thank you to all of our devoted fans for reading The Winged Assassin. As a little treat, we’ve delved into Averin’s head to see what he was thinking just prior to the breakfast that changed his and Stasha’s lives. Turns out that Blue Eyes is as complex as his sapphire eyes are deep. You can read his scheming by signing up to our newsletter and we’ll send you the link. Without you, there would be no books. It’s as simple as that. We couldn’t be more grateful.

  The Crowned Killer, book three in the series, will be released in mid-December 2019. If you’d like to be notified when it’s ready, you can sign up here: Notify Me

  Stasha’s story has been a labor of love for both of us. Many sleepless nights and plotting dates at our local coffee shop have brought us, in our opinion, one of the best books we’ve ever written. But we’ll let you be the judge of that. If you want to leave us a review on Amazon or Goodreads, it would mean the world.

  We’d also like to extend a special thank you to Dionne Lister, our amazing and always witty editor. She made the final stages working on The Winged Assassin great fun. We’re so grateful.

  To our cover artist, Amalia Chitulescu. We spend far too much time staring at your gorgeous covers when we really should be writing. And who could blame us when you’ve made our Stasha look like such a badass?

  And lastly, to our families (husbands in particular) who have been so patient and kind during this process. Your support means everything.

  And with that, we’re going to get back to writing. Stasha’s still got a long way to go!

  All our love,

  Gwynn and Erin.