Ever After Read Online Free PDF

my way, boy,” I chuckled. “You’d be wise not to detain me. Wait ’til yer old enough to grow whiskers afore incurring my wrath.”
    When I made a step forward, the youth snatched from his back a stave, twisting it with a flourish that was no doubt meant to instill fear. “I’ve bested men far larger than you, pilgrim.”
    I somehow doubted that very much. But more amused than annoyed, I shook my head and strode forward, closing the gap between us and hoisting the lad up by the scruff of his tunic before he’d even seen me move. “Away y’go.”
    I received a hard crack across the shins with his stave for my troubles.
    With a shrug, I dropped the lad on his bum right there in the center of the bridge. “G’day to you, lad,” I called over my shoulder. “Mayhap you’ll yet get yer fortune from a weary traveler this day.”
    I was unprepared for the sharp thwack of the lad’s stave across my shoulders. My patience now gone, I whirled around, grabbing the stave and twisting hard, flipping the lad in midair. He landed with a startled grunt.
    The boy slowly rolled onto one hip, rubbing his bruised posterior. “Bloody hell.”
    I extended a hand to help him rise and was surprised to see wide dark eyes with long dark lashes staring up at me from one of the loveliest faces I’d ever seen. It seemed the lad was actually a lass, and a fair one at that. “I’ll be—”
    Before I could finish the thought, the little shit grabbed my hand, using my surprise against me, somehow managing to flip me head over heels. The air shot out of my lungs as I hit the ground.
    â€œGet up, coward,” the lovely little brigand taunted. “Fight me fairly or risk your honor.”
    I slowly rose to my feet, studying my companion with new eyes. “I’ve no wish to fight you—fairly or otherwise. Shouldn’t you be home practicin’ yer needlepoint insteada robbin’ men on the highway?”
    With a growl of outrage, the thief launched herself at me, apparently hell-bent on proving that needlepoint and other feminine pursuits could be damned. Her attack was swift, graceful, and admittedly adept, but I had the advantage of my fairy’s prescience, and now that I had the measure of her, easily avoided her strikes. And yet she refused to let up, her attack becoming more violent with my growing amusement.
    As much as I admired her tenacity and skill, she was delaying my journey. Needing to be on my way, I waited for her to come charging at me with a mighty roar and calmly stepped out of her way. She had misjudged me and her attempt to slide to a halt failed. Her feet slid on the wet wood and sent her careening off the side of the bridge and into the water below.
    â€œDamnation,” I muttered. The jaded and hardened warrior in me was tempted to leave the troublesome lass to her own devices, but some vestige of nobility made me toss aside my bundle and cloak and leap into the water after her.
    A moment later, I had her in my arms and was dragging her onto the riverbank. She sputtered and coughed, choking as she expelled the water that had filled her lungs. I lifted her arms over her head, making it easier for her to breathe before dropping down beside her.
    â€œDaft lass,” I grumbled, pulling my tunic over my head and attempting to wring it out. “We’re both fair dreepin’ now. What the hell were y’thinkin’?”
    She laughed then, a merry sound that unexpectedly warmed the center of me. “I was thinking that there was no way a man could resist a damsel in distress.”
    With a twinkle in her eye, she raised my purse of coins before my eyes, having divested me of it at some point during my rescue of her. I snatched it back, unable to smother a grin as I leaned back on my elbows. “You risked yer life for a few pieces o’ silver?”
    She gave me a saucy grin and a toss of her head.