Then one of the men grabbed Mallory by the hair and yanked her upright.
Jakob turned and the world went very still.
For one heartbeat relief punched through him so hard it nearly dropped him to his knees. Her eyes were open. Glassy with pain, unfocused, but open. She made a small, broken sound as she was hauled up, and Jakob latched onto it like a lifeline.
She’s alive.
Then the man’s fingers tightened in her hair and jerked her head back. Jakob’s relief curdled into something black and murderous.
“Don’t,” Jakob warned.
The word came out low and distorted. They were dragged up from somewhere deep and feral and barely sounded human. The dragon surged against his ribs, furious and demanding blood.
The man glanced at Jakob before his eyes flicked over the bodies on the ground and the blood staining the snow. Fear flashed across his face, quick and undeniable, but he covered itwith a laugh that cracked at the edges. His grip tightened instead of loosening.
“Don’t you dare hurt her.” He couldn’t tell if it was the same one that had struck her across the face.
Mallory whimpered and her hands twisted uselessly at his wrist.
Jakob felt it like claws raking down his spine.
“I’ll do whatever I have to,” the man choked out in a voice that shook now despite his bravado. “She’s leverage.”
Leverage. The word echoed in Jakob’s head, cold and obscene.
He took a single step forward.
Heat rolled off him in waves. The air around him shimmered, and the man’s smile faltered as instinct finally caught up with stupidity.
“You let her go,” Jakob said quietly. Deadly calm wrapped around his fury and sharpened it to a blade. “Right now. Or I swear by every god you believe in, I will make your death long and slow.”
The man swallowed. His hand twitched and indecision flickered in his expression.
Mallory suddenly pushed up with her legs into the man and knocked him off balance. His hand loosened in her hair as her knee found his groin.
“You bitc…” he screamed as he tried to regain control of her
The dragon roared and Jakob moved.
The word never finished leaving the man’s mouth before Jakob crossed the space in a blink and ripped his throat out.
Two more rushed him at once. One went down with his spine shattered against a rock. The other managed to land a blow that glanced off Jakob’s shoulder before Jakob drove his elbow into the man’s skull and dropped him where he stood.
The remainder of the Ruecrags broke then. By the time the last of them scattered into the trees, most of the group lay broken and still across the clearing. Jakob stood among them with his chest heaving.
He turned toward Mallory and then saw the woman who stood several paces away, untouched by the violence. She was composed, her posture straight, and her expression cool and assessing rather than afraid.
This was the source, their leader. She had orchestrated this and hurt Mallory.
Jakob stepped toward her, every murderous instinct roaring back to life.
“Well, well, well. The good King Jakob comes to the rescue.” The woman gestured with her hands. “My apologies to the lady. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“You’re about to not have to worry about seeing anything again.” He nodded toward the bodies. “Your men are waiting.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be able to kill me.” Her arrogance oozed sarcasm.
He stepped closer. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You hurt Mallory. I’m just the executioner.”
