“I don’t know.” The man gasped and dug his fingers into Bale’s arm as he pressed deeper into his neck.
His powers sensed the truth, but that didn’t mean this human didn’t know vital information. He twisted the blade, neatly slicing into soft tissue. A sharp stab of agony traveled from the human to Bale, who soaked up the pain-laced adrenaline like a much-needed jolt of reality. “What do you know?”
Sweat beaded on his brow and dripped into frightened blue eyes. “She told me an enemy of her father’s may be after her and she was going to lie low. She refused to tell me where she was going so that I couldn’t be used against her.”
He grunted in reply. So the princess knew she was being hunted. How? “Smart girl. Did she leave on her own?”
A pause. “Yes.”
Lie. “Who did she go with?”
“I don’t know.”
Bale lifted the blade. With his eyes locked on the human’s, he licked at the blood coating the metal. The man chocked on a gurgling whimper and trembled violently. “Do I need to repeat the question?”
“There was a man here the other night. Big. Dark. Like you. She might have gone with him.”
Lucian? Could it be? Had his former mentor continued with his duty of protecting royalty, even after being publicly denounced by their king? The man had always been a self-righteous prat who never budged from the rules. How thoughtful of his old friend to make Bale’s mission easier by staying with his target.
Bale released his hold, but only by a little. He narrowed his gaze and whispered, “If I were you, I would do all I could to contact Amaryllis. Tell her that an admirer is looking for her, and if she wants to see her dear friend again, she will meet me here, and bring her protector with her. If she refuses, then I will slaughter every person under this roof. Starting with you.”
He backed away, turning as his informant slid down the wall. The trap was baited, all there was to do was wait.
Escape from this rotting hell-hole was his next priority. These humans were like parasites, digging into the psyche to leach his blood and lay eggs of depravity to fester in his mind.
Shouts of indignation rippled behind him as he stumbled through the club, knocking into revelers and other heathens in his search for the nearest exit. The blessed rain slapped him in the face as he burst out onto the street, but the sting wasn’t nearly enough. So he ran, and ran, deeper into the city where few dared to tread on their own, to where the stench of sex turned into the stench of human decay and hopelessness.
His skin cooled, but his blood still thundered in his ears. Above the mad rush in his head came the sound of a pleading cry and the sensation of fire ants crawling over his skin. A presence of malice.
Around the corner Bale spotted a cluster of men. They surrounded two others, one who lay on the ground and another who stood defiantly. Such courage called to him like a beacon in the dark.
As Bale approached, he heard their conversation, and the lust for flesh turned into the lust for blood. Now this he was familiar with.
“Stay away from my brother,” the defiant one shouted, revealing her to be female, to Bale’s surprise. “He told you we don’t have any money.”
“Too bad, bitch,” the ringleader replied. “His big mouth got Tony busted, and now I’m out of a sale. He owes me. Kick him again,” he ordered one of his men.
“No!” The girl jumped on top of her brother, shielding him with her tiny body.
“If you don’t have my money, then I’m taking it out of his ass, and yours too, baby.” The leader laughed, rubbing at his crotch with one hand while grabbing the girl by the hair with the other.
“Enough,” Bale commanded. “Let her go.”
The entire group froze as his voice echoed down the alley. The leader gave him a visual once-over. A sliver of terror widened his eyes as he took in Bale’s size, but he quickly recovered and sneered, “Stay out of this, old man. This ain’t none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. Let her go.”
“Yeah?” the leader asked, all balls and bravado. He pulled an object from his waistband and aimed it as Bale’s chest. From the shape it reminded Bale of his blaster, probably functioned the same way too. “Well I say it ain’t.”
That’s right. Give me a reason. Bale drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with the anticipation of battle. He withdrew his short-sword from the scabbard strapped to his back, which for some reason sent a ripple of amused laughter through the group of thugs.
“Nice sword, geek boy. Gonna try to go medieval on me, uh? Are you faster than a speeding bullet?”
“Yes.”
Swoosh. The soft slice of a quick blade was drowned out by hysterical screaming as the leader dropped to his knees, clutching the stump where his hand was once attached to his arm.
The girl shrieked, scrambling back like a crab while dragging the semiconscious body of her brother with her across the asphalt. “Don’t kill me. Please, don’t kill me.”
“Run,” Bale growled. “You’ve been traumatized enough without having to witness what I’m about to do. Run!”
Once the girl and her brother were safely away, Bale turned to bask in the chaos he set in motion. Without their commander, the felons didn’t know which way to piss. A few withdrew their own guns and held them in trembling grips while some were frozen in horrified shock. Another was a quarter-mile down the road in the fastest sprint he probably ever ran in his young life. But Bale was faster.
Three more feet was all the man traveled before Bale had him by the arm and dragged him back to his mates.
Tossing the crying man to the ground, Bale spat at his feet. “I do not like you. You are like the foulest of gutter beasts and have no worth on this or any other planet. It is my honor to rid the universe of the likes of you.”
Bullets flew yet none found their target as Bale swirled and dodged with his sword flying in graceful arcs. Blood splattered across his face and coated his hands while the terrified shouts of the damned rang in his ears like a beautiful symphony.
Now this was his element. Death was the lover he was most attuned with. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.
“Halt! In the name of Queen Moira Eleanna Rosenorn, I command you to stop and put down the weapons.”
Bale wiped at the blood dripping in his eyes and peered into the shadows. “Show yourself, you coward.”
A black-hooded figure shimmered under the lone lamp illuminating the street. To the untrained eye, a Llanos guard appeared interchangeable from the next. The uniform was designed to prevent the enemy from knowing who exactly they were engaging. But like a mother able to tell her newborn twins apart, Bale knew who approached by the tilt of his head, the high grip on the pommel of his sword and how he led with his right foot.
“Kristos, the failure. How kind of you to respond to my message so quickly, although I was hoping your brother would attend as well.”
“Let’s go meet him now. Drop the sword and come quietly.”
“I will never go quietly. Come and get me.”
One second Kristos was across the street and in the next he was in front of Bale, connecting a right hook to his jaw that sent him flying into a nearby street lamp.
Super powers gained by entering Earth’s atmosphere. Confirmed. Higher ability to withstand pain. Negative.
Bale rolled to the right, narrowly missing the edge of Kristos’ blade. Sparks struck where the metal met the pavement. With the gun out of reach, he sprang to his feet and withdrew a dagger from his waist. The Llanos had the advantage of the local’s weaponry yet he did not use it. Idiot.
Blade clanged against blade in a musical cacophony that resembled wind chimes caught in a storm. Kristos attacked with the grace of his training, but the years of inaction showed as Bale caught him with a strike against his ribs he was slow to recover from.
“Lie down and die with what little dignity you have left, Kristos.”
“I’m not nearly done,” he shouted and turned to run,
racing right up the side of a building to tuck into a back flip and land behind Bale.
“Dude, did you see that?”
More shouts and exclamations followed, bringing Bale’s attention to outside the battle arena. Drawn by the sound of combat, the humans had come out of their apartments and nearby taverns to stand on the sidewalks and shimmy up drain pipes to watch the embattled warriors. Unsure of what they were witnessing or who to root for, the crowd watched with an abundance of emotions that ranged from terror at the use of their deadly skill to being awestruck at their speed and talent. With his emotional barrier already weak, each additional response created a tumultuous cloud that covered Bale and rained down in broken glasslike shards that ripped his control to shreds.
Kristos landed a kick to the head, followed by a punch to the kidneys that had Bale coughing up blood. Between the physical and mental bombardment, he was losing focus. He was failing.
The wail of sirens brought both men up short and made Bale shield his eyes as vehicles came screaming around the corner to surround him with bright lights flashing. Doors popped open as more humans dressed in military-style uniforms drew their blasters and pointed them at the two men.
“Drop your weapons,” one of the newcomers shouted.
Ah, so that is where Kristos learned that ridiculous command.
“Death first,” he bellowed and turned. If Kristos could climb walls, so could he.
He ran full steam toward the side of a brick building and scaled the side in seconds. Once on the roof he turned to look down at the gathering masses and pointed to Kristos who remained illuminated in the vehicle’s headlights.
“We are not finished, Kristos. My family demands the blood of you and your kin. Take heed, citizens. This man’s blood is mine and any who attempt to stop me will die with him. I will have my revenge!”
To retreat made his stomach churn and the bile rise in his throat, but better to regroup and fight another day. By right or by might, he would not fail. His family would be avenged. If that meant destroying the entire planet to achieve that, so be it.
Chapter Eight
“How is she?” Lucian asked his cousin the moment he appeared in his car’s headlights.
Dhavin widened his stance and folded his arms over his chest. “Amaryllis is being Amaryllis. She’s wearing a brave face, but I know inside she’s weeping. She’s too proud to let rejection from her mate keep her down.”
“I didn’t reject her. Is that what she thinks?” Lucian barked then snapped his mouth shut. He wiped his hand over his face. The only person he had to convince of his sincerity was Amaryllis, any other arguing was wasted energy. “Where is she? Or is the only reason you brought me one hundred fifty miles from Cedar to berate me?”
He narrowed his eyes and swept a considering gaze over Lucian. “I wanted to see your face, feel you, if you tried to deny your bond.”
“I’m not denying it. Just trying to understand it myself.”
“And what do you propose to do about it?”
Lucian met his cousin’s stare. “I’m claiming my woman, if she’ll have me.”
Dhavin nodded. “A half mile down the road. Cottage 57. Belongs to a girlfriend of hers who’s out of the country, so you won’t be disturbed. I’ll keep an eye out for our friend.”
“Thank you, cousin.”
“Make her happy.”
Lucian held out his hand, palm up, fingers curled. Dhavin wrapped his fingers around Lucian’s, creating the circle shape. They slid their palms down and grasped each other around the forearm and bent at the waist in a warrior’s bow.
The gesture was a sign of respect, a far different emotion than the sheer terror and unadulterated fury Lucian had felt when he discovered his mate and his cousin had disappeared from right under his nose. Anger and wounded pride had quickly given way to panic and fear, which had increased the longer he spent searching the countryside for the pair. The only thing that barely tempered his anxiety was the knowledge that Dhavin would lay down his life for the princess. And hell yes, was Lucian ever jealous of the connection they shared.
An Amaryllis-sized hole had exploded in his chest when he realized she’d rather face a deadly assassin than her bonded mate. The hole festered with a silent burn, reminding him of what he stood to lose.
Once he regained her forgiveness and earned her love, then he would take great pleasure in reminding her that as her mate, it was his honor to be everything for her.
Lucian got into his car and took off down the street, counting the house numbers as he passed. As he approached 57 he felt the urge to smile for the first time in days. Leave it to Amaryllis to find a round house in a community of square cottages to reside in. He parked the car in the driveway and strode up the front porch, using the key Dhavin slipped him to unlock the door that was far too flimsy for his preference.
“What did you bring back? I’m starving.” Amaryllis strolled in from the bath and stopped short when she saw him. Her eyes narrowed and her hands fell to her hips. “Go away.”
Lucian stifled a sigh. Ya, she wasn’t going to make this easy. “I’m sorry I hurt you this morning. I would have never done anything to disrespect the Sacred Vows you spoke.”
She gasped with outrage before schooling her expression into a cool mask. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And even if I did, I would never speak the Sacred Vows and most certainly not to you!”
He gestured to his face. “I may look it, but I’m not blind. We’re bonded.”
“Keep dreaming, soldier. I show no signs of any bond. Leave now.”
He frowned as he inspected the damp strands of her hair held off the back of her neck in a loose knot. Not a single black strand was visible in the upswept hairstyle.
That made no sense. They were bonded just as sure as he was standing before her. The humiliation she suffered earlier was like a sticky web that clung as if freshly spun, entwining around him as if it were his own. Only as her bonded mate would he be able to feel the indecision tearing her in two so succinctly. Part of her wanted to run into his arms while the other wanted to drive her nails into his eyes.
Hopefully he’d be able to convince her his arms were a better choice. “That royal wave isn’t going to make me leave.”
She backed to the other side of the room as he stalked her. “I command you to leave now.”
“Not until you hear me,” he yelled when she dodged left around his outstretched hand. Catching the back of her shirt, he tackled her around the waist and fell to his knees so he didn’t threaten her with his size.
“Let go of me.”
“I love you.”
That stopped her as effectively as a two-by-four to the head. Her eyes grew as large as dinner plates as she trembled in his arms. “You lie.”
“No, Amaryllis. Feel me. Feel the truth in my words.”
“Why? What do you hope to gain by speaking such lies?” The tears gathering in her eyes crushed him.
“Please. Two minutes. That’s all I ask is two minutes.”
He pressed his forehead against her sternum and took a moment to choose his words with care. So far he’d done nothing but put his foot in his mouth every time they had a conversation. Pretty speeches were not his forte, and now was not the time to be fancy. All he could give her was what was in his heart and pray it was enough.
“Amaryllis, you are a gift and everything a man could ever want. You are light. You are life. You are love. I lost it all once and the thought of losing you, it rips, it—” He stopped to swallow hard. “You were right to call me a coward. I was afraid to go after what I wanted, so I pushed you away. But life without you isn’t a life at all. Please, give me another chance, Amaryllis.” He stood and cupped her cheeks in his palms, his thumbs brushed at the tears clinging to her lashes. “I’m ready to be the man you need.”
“You don’t know what I need.”
A chuckle welled in his throat. “I know exactly what you need.”
Dhavin had told hi
m. She herself told him many times. He had heard but he hadn’t listened until he recognized that same need within himself. Amaryllis longed to belong. If she gave him her trust, she would never again doubt whom she belonged to.
The tremble shaking her shoulders turned into a full-out shudder as he leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. Her eyes remained open, fixed on him in a combination of wonder and confusion. Never before had he experienced such softness, such an intoxicating blend of vulnerability and confidence that made him hunger to experience more.
The bitter taste of her fear rode the edge of hope as he continued to drop butterfly kisses on her lips. He swept his tongue along the seam and pressed his advantage when she gasped with surprise. The night before he had been driven by the need to gorge himself on her taste. Tonight he intended to savor the sweetness of his princess.
He scooped her up in his arms and took the stairs to the loft bedroom two at a time. Amaryllis had a personality so large, he forgot just how small she was until he held her cradled to his chest.
“My akita,” he breathed. His little one. “You are so precious to me.”
“Lucian, this is insane. You hate me.” She hiccupped softly.
“No. No, love, I’ve never hated you. Do you drive me crazy? Absolutely, but never have I hated you. Let me show you how much you mean to me.” He set her on her feet then let out a low whistle as he took stock of his surroundings.
The bedroom was created for pleasures of the flesh, complete with a padded table, an array of whips and a complicated-looking swing. Thank the Gods Amaryllis’ friend was female. As it was his mind was racing with fantasies he didn’t want to think about her engaging in with anyone but him.
One thing was clear, his Amaryllis was an adventurous girl. If he pushed, she’d shove back with a rebel yell. Tonight he was going to give her exactly what she needed.
Using his super speed, he stripped the shirt and bra from her body, but slowed to release the clip from her hair and smooth the soft strands over her breasts.
Above their heads hung a metal bar trimmed with fur-lined cuffs. He kissed her palm then lifted her arm to strap her wrist in place and encouraged her fingers to wrap around the bar. Once her other wrist was secured, he quickly searched the nearby dresser and closet and gathered items that inspired his imagination.
HeroUnleased Page 11