The king kicked Noble and then stepped over his body as he stalked toward my mate. “Because you’re the strongest of my kin, I chooseyouto impregnate my concubines. You’ll give me a new set of heirs.”
At the wordimpregnate, I nearly fainted.
“I will havetheirloyalty—theirfidelity. I’ll no longer have heirs who betray me as you have,” the alpha king growled.
Whoa. Whoa. Wait … could he—?
“Are you insane!?” Rage shouted. “There’s no way—”
The king moved so fast that I only saw a blur as he backhanded Rage. The crack of his hand against my mate’s face slammed into me, making my ears ring.
Howdarehe?
I lurched forward, intending to rip his head off, but Kaja held me back.
“Careful, honey.” Surlama drew the blade against Justice’s neck, and a fresh trail of crimson rivulets ran down past his collar bone.
What do we do?Think, think, think.
That’s when I felt it, across our bond which seemed to be growing stronger every day, frustratedacceptance.
My gaze flew to Rage; fiery indignation filled me as he lowered his head. In shame. Defeat.
‘Trust me,’he whispered into my mind.
“I’ll do it,” Rage muttered to the king and then swallowed hard. “But only if you let my brothers, Nai, my mom, and everyone else here go.”
‘No!’
The king glanced at me, curling his upper lip. Then, he looked at Surlama. “Can you break the shield bonds and then bind Courage to me with an oath?”
Surlama nodded, and my stomach dropped.
No, no, no.No way would I let Rage go like that.
We needed to do something. My mind calculated our threats—lots—and options—few—in seconds. Surlama had the knife to Justice’s throat, so I’d need to take her out first, but before the king could kill Rage, who would no doubt try to save me anddefinitelybefore the guards could kill Kaja and the rest of us. Maybe if I tried to boil her blood … but she’d probably notice and—
A battle cry came from the doorway, drawing our attention, and then Fiona, Nell, and Elaine burst into the room, guns blazing.
Legit guns.
Fiona held a sleek handgun like the one Rage had used when he and his brothers had picked me up from Montana. She raised it into the air and pulled the trigger. The loud bang cut through the small space, making my ears whine. I shook my head and seized my opportunity, launching for Surlama.
The dark mage’s hesitation at the gunfire allowed me to wrench her arm away from Justice’s neck a mere second before I crashed into her and we fell to the ground. She hit first, and the satisfying crack of her skull on the stone filled me with untold gratification. I tugged at the knife, desperate to wrest it from her grip as we rolled, gasping.
As soon as I had the hilt, I popped up to my feet, ready to kick her face into the ground, but she flung her hand out, and her magic lashed into me. Agony raced along my nerve endings as a green mist settled over my skin. I screamed as pain tore through me, absolute anguish poured from my mouth. I fell and writhed on the ground.
I had a brief respite from the pain, and I gasped as the tortured cries of my shields harrowed my soul. Noble, then Justice, and finally Rage bellowed. Their pain filled the air.
Damn that shield spell!
‘Nai!’Rage screamed at me in panic as he collapsed into a ball before the king.
I glanced across the room and knew no extra help was coming.
Nell, Kaja, Fiona, the two selkies, and the queen were taking on everyone else. Six against twenty. No bueno.
Fire lashed across the room, water flooded the ground, and the earth shook as my friends tried with all their might to use their elemental powers to hold off the men trying to kill them.
