Knight of Darkness Read Free Page A

spill all over the man whose arm she bumped. Cursing, he rose from his chair, twisting a circular dagger on his index finger as he glared his hatred at her.
    Merewyn tensed in expectation of the dagger slicing through her body. But just as he would have plunged it into her, he was spun about to confront another man. One who held her attacker’s hand and dagger so that they were harmless.
    Her jaw went slack. Not from fear, but from speechless awe. The newcomer was tall and lean with the greenest eyes she’d ever seen in her life. As clear as a scrying crystal, they seemed to glow from a face that was so perfectly sculpted he should be Adoni. Indeed, he had the lethal manner of that race, but no Adoni would ever bother saving something like her.
    His curly black hair brushed against his shoulders in a haphazard manner that said he wasn’t one to be overly concerned with his looks—as did the whiskers that darkened his tanned cheeks and accentuated the slight cleft in his chin.
    Without a word, he used his studded vambrace to twist the dagger from her would-be attacker’s hand and knocked him back. The man staggered against the table, then rushed toward her savior. But before he could reach him, another man shoved him away.
    “That’s Varian duFey you’re attacking, Hugh. Think long and hard.”
    Merewyn snapped her jaw shut at the name that was legendary among the evil beings who called Camelot home. It was said he was demonspawn who lived on the blood of his enemies. That he’d sold his soul to the devil or Tuatha Dé Danann so that no man would ever be able to defeat him in battle. That he’d killed his own brother just so that he could learn Adoni magick and feed his own powers. But even worse, it was said that he knew magick so black that even Morgen feared him.
    Those were only a few of the numerous stories that told of his insatiable cruelty.
    And by the evil twist of his lips as he watched Hugh like a man eyeing a fly he intended to kill, she could believe every one.
    “What’s the matter, Hugh?” Varian taunted in a deep resonant tone that went down her spine like warm velvet. “You only attack those who can’t fight back? What say you try to carve me a little?”
    Hatred flared in Hugh’s eyes, but he knew better than to respond. Rumor claimed Varian duFey used the entrails of his victims as laces for his boots and armor. He was one of the few beings who could walk between Avalon and Camelot because neither Merlin nor Morgen dared to confront him.
    Hugh spat on the ground before he sheathed his dagger at his waist and retook his seat.
    Varian glanced around at the others, who werefrozen in tense stances. And as his gaze fell to each one, they looked away nervously before they returned to what they’d been doing. That alone spoke volumes about the man’s skill and powers.
    She saw the satisfaction in Varian’s crystal green eyes before he bent to pick up the goblet she’d dropped on the floor.
    To her complete shock, he handed it to her, and if she didn’t know better, she’d swear his face actually softened as his gaze met hers. Still, she noted the pity in his eyes as he saw how deformed she was. “You’d best be on your way, lass. A little more carefully this time.”
    The single word that acknowledged her as a woman and not a hag went through her with a giddy rush. It’d been centuries since any man had looked at her with anything other than complete disgust in his gaze. Countless centuries since one had called her anything other than “hag,” “crone,” or some other insult.
    Bowing to him, she quickly scurried away to complete her errand. But she couldn’t resist a quick glance back to where he was making his way toward the bartender. He’d already forgotten her, but she would never forget him or the kindness he’d shown her.
     
    Varian took a stance at the end of the bar with his back against the wall. A force of habit that came from having so many people around him who’d rather