I surged down the steps from my throne, grabbing the much shorter Farcuahde by the collar and tossing him clear over the first few rows of seats.
“Get. Out,” I snarled as the hapless elite landedquite coincidentallyat Damon’s feet. At least hewas smart enough to get the message that I had seen through the charade. Farcuahde would assume he’d landed there by a stroke of good luck.
“All of you. Out now!” I bellowed. My dragon surged forward, and I didn’t hold back. The room shrank rapidly as I grew swiftly in size.
The attending ruling class of the Ice Kingdom headed swiftly for the doors at the back. A few cast back curious looks, but I shrugged it off. They could wonder about the unusual outburst all they wanted.
My care was only for Anna.
“Brother,” Dirk said once we were alone. “That was … unwise.”
“No. Letting Anna go alone was unwise. Letting her out of my sight was unwise. Risking my mate’s life was unwise,” I growled, frost billowing from my snout with every breath as I tried to keep myself under control. “Something is wrong, Dirk. I can feel it.”
“Okay.” Dirk took a deep breath. “But you can’t feel her. So what do you plan to do?”
I looked at him. “Tear the entire kingdom apart piece by piece if I must. But Iwillfind my mate, and I will rescue her. I made a promise, Dirk. I intend to honor it. Assemble a team. We’re leaving.”
Forty-One
Anna
I knowthat voice.
“In the wilds you say?” the voice was saying as it approached the dark room where I was lashed to a chair. “Impossible. It’s not her.”
“She’s got purple eyes. How many purple-eyed clippys do you people think are out there?” Keiren growled angrily. “If it’s not her, you need to be more specific next time.”
“They’re coming to collar you,” Milly cried. “Stay strong, Na. Stay strong!”
“You never said the elite was ashe,”I said, trying to quell the quickly rising panic. “Milly, you never said it was a she!”
“I didn’t? What difference does it make?” Milly whimpered as footsteps came to a stop just outside.
“A lot,” I hissed, a second before the door opened abruptly, flooding the room with bright light. I winced, squeezing my eyes shut against the brilliance.
I let out another frantic call to Caz, pushing my renewed fear and anxiety into it. I had yet to feelanything from him, but I wasn’t giving up. Not yet. Not while I could still try.
Keiren walked in to the room and yanked the hood off me. I blinked rapidly until I could see. The hunter was still standing in front of me, but now he stepped aside.
“See. Purple eyes,” he grunted. “Pay up.”
Behind him, a woman’s cold face lit up with an ugly light. I would never be able to think of something so bright as pure ever again. She twisted everything on its head, and the longer she stared at me without speaking, the more my stomach dropped out from under me.
“Found in the wilds, you say?” she purred, eyeing me up like a wolf and I was the sheep. Only she was a dragon shifter with unimaginable power, and I was a rabbit, at best.
“That’s what I said. I’ll take my payment now.” Keiren clearly didn’t understand or care about anything besides getting paid. Typical hunter.
“Yes, yes, of course.” White-Eyes, or Bryna, I supposed, was entirely focused on me. “Did she put up much of a fight?”
Keiren just stared at Bryna until the elite turned to look at him. He held up a hand and rubbed his fingers together.
“Yes, fine,” she snapped impatiently. “You’ll get your reward.”
Keiren nodded. “Then no, she didn’t put up any more of a fight than any other uselessclippy.”
Bryna pondered that and then turned abruptly and left, motioning for Keiren to follow. The door was left open, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think it meant a chance to escape.
“What wasthatall about?” Milly asked the second they were gone.
