A Broken Blade (The Halfling Saga #1)

by Melissa Blair

“I want to kiss you until you fall asleep.” His grip on my waist tightened. “And for that we need a bed.”

gift. “When you wear them, they will let you know if the person you fear most is nearby. You—and only you—will hear a soft ringing that will get louder the closer you get. If you lose them or someone takes them from you, it will not work for them.” I had taken a vial of Gwyn’s blood with me to Aralinth to ensure it. I doubted she remembered the day I took it from her. She’d been a child, but I wanted to be prepared in case I ever made it into the Faeland.

There was only one head I intended to bring in, and that was the king’s.

pulled at my jaw, lifting my head to face him. “You’re as beautiful as you are strong.” He pressed a kiss against my ear. “And you’re the strongest person I know.”

“I spent so long trying not to want you,” he whispered against my chest, pressing a kiss between each word. “But when I watched you plummet from that dam”—his hands tightened around me—“I knew I would never need another the way I need you.”

for a moment. “When we share that with each other, Keera, I want there to be nothing pressing in against us. Nothing but you and me,”

“You aren’t just going to the Rift, are you?” I pulled his head back toward me with a finger under his chin. Riven’s body froze against mine. “I trust you, Riven,” I said earnestly. “If you can’t tell me, or think it’s better that you don’t … I trust you. Need to know, remember?” Of course, when I made that deal with him, I never expected us to be wrapped around each other the way we were.

“But Riven …” My breath hitched. It was starting to make sense. “Yes, my Shadow has kept me well-informed of your missions,” Killian said, waving his hand. His Shadow? It couldn’t be true. Riven would have told me. He couldn’t have kept this alliance from me for so long. Not after I proved myself in Silstra. Not after we …

“I reckon someone willing to get blown up wants to defeat my father just as much as I do. Maybe even more.”

floor. I didn’t trust his words, but when I looked over his shoulder, I saw Syrra. Her lips were set into their usual straight line, but her eyes were locked on me. She nodded once. A sign that I could trust the prince. Or at least that she trusted the pretty things he said.

“Now,” he said as the thick rope fell to the floor. “Let’s kill my father.” It wasn’t a joke. It was a promise.