Pulling back, I saw that his eyes were blazing with an almost feral expression. His erection was an iron bar between us, and the realization chased away the last of my envy and sent a fresh bolt of desire straight to my core.
I didn’t just want a release. I wanted him inside me.
Sire bond or not, Kaden was mine. And I’d be damned if I let Semphrys have him.
But before I could speak, a scream pierced the chill of the night, and the rumble of chatter and music below ceased.
Still breathing hard, Kaden released his grip and set me on my feet.
Palming the prominent bulge in his leathers, he crossed to the window and peered outside. He hissed a low curse between his teeth, and my heart gave a jolt as he reached for his weapons.
“What is it?”
“Alfrigg’s soldiers,” Kaden growled, his rage palpable as he strapped on his blades.
“W-why are they here?” I stammered, the charred remains of Körkis flashing in my mind.
Darkness flickered in Kaden’s eyes, and he ground his back molars together. “I don’t know.”
My stomach churned. Alfrigg’s army washerein Klodäsch, and the princess was just downstairs.
Plucking my rumpled clothes off the floor, I hurriedly shoved them on over my still-damp skin. I grabbed my weapons belt and headed after Kaden, buckling it as I went.
Downstairs, the brothel was in chaos. A couple of patrons who’d been ogling the performer earlier were pushing a huge piece of furniture across the room, barricading the door. The females were donning trousers and jackets over their sparkling scraps of lace, tying up their long, perfumed locks.
The plump madam whom Adriel had paid stood behind the bar, pulling short swords and daggers from beneath the floorboards. The workers passed the weapons around, and the female who’d flirted with Kaden earlier sheathed a dagger at her thigh.
I stared. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time the villagers had needed to defend themselves.
Heart pounding, I cast around for my friends and found Adriel shoving Sorsha toward the back exit.
“I will not flee like a thief in the night,” she growled, her golden braid slapping him across the face. “These are my people. Alfrigg has no right —”
“I counted five dozen soldiers out there,” Adriel snapped. “They aren’t here on patrol. If they find you —” Adriel broke off, his face paler than I’d ever seen it.
“I will cut down any soldier who raises a blade against my people.”
“Do you know what Alfriggdoesto enemies of the crown?” he shouted. “You’d be lucky if he granted you a swift death.”
Sorsha jerked her arm from his grip with an exasperated snarl, barging through the back door and letting in a gust of frigid air that tasted like smoke.
Adriel rounded on Kaden, whose own blades were already drawn. “Talk to your sister.”
“You think she listens to me?”
Outside, I heard the smash of glass, followed by a volley of screams.
Glancing outside, I saw a soldier throw a lit torch through a broken window as another beat a fae in the snow. Males in red swarmed the streets, dragging villagers from their homes and setting fire to buildings.
“We must leave,” said Adriel, gripping Kaden by the arm.
But the prince’s eyes were no longer that familiar stormy gray. His irises had gone dark, and blackness seeped into the whites, blotting out everything else.
“No,” he growled, shoving past Adriel and striding out the back door.
I followed, the cold air a shock to my lungs as I drew my own weapons. The scent of blood and smoke was heavy on the air, and snow was falling in wet flakes.
A few paces away, a soldier was dragging a female by her hair as a youngling trailed after them, tears streaming down his face.
