“I guess sheisa pretty little thing…” Leon hummed. It was like this man had one single brain cell, and all it knew how to do was agree with whatever his authority figures said. I pressed my lips together, staying as quiet as I could. Leon’s gaze traveled down most of my body, and an appreciative expression coated his features as he took in my position on my knees.
“It might be beneficial to know what it’s like sharing a bed with a human.”
I couldn’t help it. I snorted. Leon flinched from the sound.
“Is something amusing?” He pressed the blade closer to my throat, emphasizing the threat he held over me. It wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but I was a petty woman. Without much thought, I let my lips pull back in a grin.
“The idea of ever spreading my legs for you is funny, yes.” Leon ground his teeth together and drew his hand back. The slap across my face knocked me to my side. A ringing echoed in my ears, and my skin stung from the sharp contact. Audrey shouted, and it quickly became muffled.
But then a low growl echoed in the clearing from above, followed by a pained, gargling sound. I forced myself to sit up, my hand to my cheek, just in time to open my eyes and see Drustan yank Leon’s throat out with his bare hand. I gasped, my eyes wide as I watched Leon drop to his knees after being released from the prince’s hold. His hand cupped his neck as if he could put his throat back inside of it. His eyes were wide, and blood gushed from his mouth and the hole in his neck as Drustan gripped a handful of Leon’s hair and sharply twisted.
Within one swift movement, Leon’s head was snapped off his body.
Hush was already pinning her soldier’s body to the ground with her boot and a sword when Drustan chuckled and shook some excess blood off his fingertips. Audrey was sitting on her ass, frozen in shock at the morbid image of Leon’s demise.
The other soldiers and I sat there silently. Their weapons raised.
“Well then,” Drustan grinned with his words.
“You—” another soldier stuttered. “You just killed one of the king’s generals.”
Drustan lifted an eyebrow at him, bored, “I did.”
“It’s treason,” another whispered. The soldier pinned underneath Hush groaned, trying to fight her off, but she held him firm.
“And?” Drustan flicked more blood off his fingertips while nudging Leon’s head off to the side with his foot. Slowly, cautiously, the rest of the soldiers raised their weapons higher. I was panting, unable to control my breathing at all, as I struggled to get to my feet. The ringing in my ears was still present, and my cheek was throbbing, but I was determined to focus on getting out of this alive.
“I’d drop those if I were you,” Drustan warned the soldiers.
“Our loyalty is to the king,” one of them recited.
“And you still stand by that?” Drustan replied.
“Do you know where the females are?” One of the soldiers was getting heated, his voice was shaking as his brow morphed into anger. “You dare to hide our females from?—”
“I’d carefully consider your next words if I were you,” Drustan’s voice lowered to a register that sent a flash of ice down my spine. My chest felt tight, and fear and adrenaline drenched my muscles.
“Why are you defending this human and the halfling?”
“We need to tell the king.”
“This is treason!”
Drustan groaned, throwing his head back in annoyance. Face tilted back toward the sky, he turned toward me enough to see his pupils expand again. Fully. Taking over the entirety of his eyes, before throwing a smirk in my direction and saying, “Close your eyes and cover your ears, Vanessa.”
“Huh?”
“Do it, Van!” Hush barked.
I gasped and did what I was told. I even went as far as to crouch, because for some reason, that felt like something to do when squeezing my eyes closed and pressing my palms over my ears.
I still heard the siren’s screams, though. It couldn’t have been more than a minute of time. Wails, guttural choking, criesof pain, all of it. Suddenly, but not soon enough, the sounds stopped. I kept my position. My breathing was still uneven, but at least I was breathing.
Warm hands wrapped around my wrists to expose my ears. “I’m taking you out of here,” Hush assured me. I nodded but kept my eyes closed as she used her lyskift. After she settled me on a rock some distance away, so I could put my head between my knees, a poor attempt to catch my breath, Drustan was with us again.
Audrey whimpered, “…You killed them all.”
“Now,” Drustan’s tone wasn’t playful, but firm. “Tell me exactly why I just ended their lives for you three.” I lifted my head to stare at him. Drustan looked…terrifying. His red hair was half pulled back in his favorite style, except for a few loose strands that framed his hard face. His hands had dark red blood all over them, which he was now wiping off with a rag he pulled out of one of his pockets in his pants. Apparently, siren military uniforms also had clean-up supplies. Drustan looked mildly inconvenienced, but his eyes were pure black again. No whites, no irises.
