“I will.” I wouldn’t, just as I wasn’t now. And I needed to hurry.
Leaving the room, my guards kept a close flank on me when a few tried to pull me into the party with them, but I quickly exited out a side door, then surprised all my guards by taking off in a fast jog, my white skirt billowing out behind me, bare feet quickly eating up the white tiling, hurrying around the ballroom.
“Is there an issue?” Elder Farrar asked, keeping pace with me on my right, his expression quickly hardening.
Directly behind me, Elder Bridges murmured, “I believe there’s going to be if Ms. Jules doesn’t try to calm herself.”
King Zeller grunted from farther behind.
“What’s going on?” Cain asked gruffly, navy blue eyes peering down at me directly on my left. “You reek of aggression.”
“Just stop,” I stated brusquely, bitingly. “All of you.” I turned a corner, seeing the door she must have exited from, but no Lissa, although there was a hallway directly across from it. “I am calm for what I’m feeling.” The tiger growled from deep within me as I jogged toward it, turning down the hallway. “Your comments are not helping right now.”
They went mute, silently on alert.
And I came to a dead stop two hallways later, all my guards instantly following suit, and placed my back to a wall directly before an opening…where I heard a woman quietly sobbing. I closed my eyes, my body trembling, glowing somewhat with the exhilaration of the chase, and counted to thirty in my head while my body simmered with the aching need to protect, and claim, what was mine, all the magic sizzling through my veins. Gradually, and ever so slowly, I peeked around the wall…and saw her sitting in an intimate, but open room, the only furnishing the long marble bench Lissa sat on, hunched over sobbing, with the lazy trickle of a fountain next to the bench, long rows of floor to ceiling windows before her, the setting sun over the ocean’s coastline, glimmering over her, making her all the more beautiful in her misery.
Quickly, I sucked in a harsh breath, darting my head back to my guards. Not able to look them in the eyes, I ordered gruffly on a whisper, “Don’t let me kill her.” And with that, I pivoted and moved into the room, my movements slow, and stalking, like the trained killer I was, my guards instantly following on equally silent feet, fanning out inside the room, placing their backs to the white sanded walls, dark pillars of strength and death, against the purity of this white gleaming room, Cain and Elder Farrar staying relatively close, but giving me space as I closed in on her oblivious form from behind.
I stopped, shaking my fists out, staring at the back of her head with a slightly glowing gaze. She still didn’t notice me, lost in her misery as she was. I could have slit her throat in an instant…and then, I stared down at the diamond daggers that just materialized in my hands. I could feel my Lajaks eyes on me, all studying, trying to figure out what the hell was going on while I gritted my teeth, nostrils flaring, I put them back into my treasure trove, and put my hands behind my back, gripping them firmly, brutally keeping them there, as I moved around her slowly. My eyes never left her even as I struck a casual pose, resting a shoulder against one of the windows, Cain and Elder Farrar standing a few feet on either side of me. And I continued watching her, cocking my head, evaluating her from the tips of her perfectly lush curly white hair down the tip of her perfectly manicured toes, her skin smooth and supple, her breasts lush and heaving, a shapely leg showcased from the slit of her own white, satin skirt.
Daggers appeared in my hands again with the feeling of inadequacy filling me, the woman even more beautiful close up in this lighting, but I quickly sent them back with a slow inhale, flexing my fingers behind my back, then I stated, my tone irritated and gruff, “Could you please cut off the waterworks?”
Her head flew up from her hands, misery quickly replaced by shock, then a smidge of fear as her tear-streaked face darted about, seeing everyone silently standing at the walls around her. I saw when her survival instinct took hold. She jumped to her feet, ready to bolt, outnumbered as she was, but I threw my hand out, sending a small, but potent pulse wave—a bit harshly—at her, and she grunted at the impact, her body flying back onto the bench, her back slamming against the backing of the white marble. And a small part of me smiled inside, hoping it hurt like hell, but I kept my face impassive, arm outstretched, the force still flowing from my palm, and stated in a very quiet voice, “Just sit there and keep your mouth shut unless I ask you a question before I lose my control.”
Her bold, beautiful features altered past the force holding her back, and she sneered at me. “Chosen.” Her head dipped all it could, which was more of an eye dip, a clear indication she wasn’t powerful, which I had already figured out with her power signature while studying her.
I lowered my hand, the power holding her back relinquished, placing it behind my back again, holding them firmly there, and crossing an ankle in a bored manner. I watched as she sat up more comfortably on the chair, sitting languidly, but she was nervous and scared…yet the nerves didn’t bank the simmering hatred I saw reflected in her beautiful green eyes. Quietly, I stated slowly, “And cut the fucking charade.” I dipped my head to her. “You hate me. I know this. But,” I teetered my head, “what I’d like to know is who you really are, so as I said, cut the fucking façade you pretend to be, and this will end a whole hell of a lot differently than what you fear right now.”
I held her gaze evenly, trying to reign in what I was experiencing, the need to pounce and beat her to death, my skin still shining with a nice, and furious, ethereal glow, blue eyes illuminating dimly. She took her merry time holding my gaze, and I saw many thoughts flying through her mind, past her hate-filled gaze, but eventually after a few silent minutes had past, she sat up, wiped the drying tears from her face, crossed one leg over another, hands on her knees, sitting primly…but shyly, warily, her gaze flying to each of my Lajaks.
I chuckled quietly, the sound menacing. “Pay attention, Lissa. The threat will not come from them.” Green eyes slammed to mine, so many mixed emotions in her gaze, even while my Lajaks finally learned who the hell this woman was, even if some didn’t know the story behind her. I tilted my head back on the window, staring down at her from hooded lids. “Do you love him?”
Her fingers started ringing the barest bit, her lips thinning. “Who?”
“Don’t play stupid right now.”
She inhaled heavily, then her chin jutted up with an act of courageousness. “Yes.”
I hummed quietly, watching her closely. “Would you mind if I tested that?” I knew how Leric felt, but I didn’t know how she truly felt.
White brows instantly slammed together, and her tone was guttural. “Why are you doing this?” Furious, she was damn furious as she pointed a finger at me. “You have him. Not me.” Her chin wobbled, and the bond magic only grinned. “You’ve won.”
I cracked my neck, the sound loud in the room. “Let’s just say I understand where you are coming from.” And I did. With every ounce of my beating heart, I knew how she felt. “I’ve loved someone for a very long time, but I’ve been smart enough not to get into the situation you are currently in.” Or she thought she was. I rolled a finger. “Now, do you mind if I test your honesty?”
Her jaw clenched. “You’re a heartless bitch.”
I inhaled, then hummed softly. “Yes…many think that.” The fact I wasn’t killing her right now, though, showed I was not, in fact, heartless. “I’ll give you one more chance.” My gaze was bored, impassive. “May I test your honesty?” If she denied me, I wouldn’t believe her.
Her face flushed, tears beginning to well in her eyes. “I don’t understand why…”
“I know.”
Chin trembling fiercely, she slowly held out her hand tentatively. “Don’t use this against him.”
Ah…point one in her favor.
The daggers in my hands behind my back disappeared again, and I moved forward. I watched her stiffen. My movements were of a stalking predator, and I knew it scared her, but there was nothing I could do about it. This woman not at all who I had originally thought. Flexing my fingers again, I tried to keep my movements easy as I took her hand gently, and instantly, not wanting to be near her more than needed, I let myself fly to the heavens, concentrating on the connection and pulled her white tether to my lips, whispering, “Show me the last time you were with Leric.”
