Kess started chanting the shield prayer again as they raced down the stairs as quick as they dared. They ran down the stone worked passages, looking wildly for any sign of the shadow. After what seemed an eternity, they reached the top of the stairs to the fountain. Rhee and Evan triggered the door and they escaped into the Town Square and the blissfully sweet night air. Kess’ voice gave out just as the passageway to the sewers closed behind them.
An inhuman roar woke up the town as bright light flashed from the castle on the hill. The town watch mobilized and ran past them to aid the King. Outside the Larkspur battle cry mixed in with Ferriskeep’s as the factions demanded to be let in.
Suddenly, an unholy red light lit up the night. It was if the sky was bleeding and Kamal materialized before them. “You will not go anywhere.”
“Daddy!” Irena said happily. “You’re coming after all.”
“Sleep,” Kess said harshly, laying both her hands on Irena’s head.
The girl immediately slumped and snored lightly against Rhee.
“Never touch my daughter again!” Kamal extended his hand and Kess fell over as a loud crack filled the air with brimstone.
Time seemed to move in slow motion. The walled gate of Winterlore crumbled as the Ferriskeep’s battle mages detonated energy into it. Legions of Larkspurs and Ferriskeep warrior flooded the city.
Evan launched three daggers at Kamal. They sunk in and stuck there. Kamal sneered and pointed a finger. Evan flew backwards as a force of wind pummeled him into the fountain. He also sank, bleeding from his nose.
“I banish thee demon! Begone!” Rhee pointed her finger at Kamal, who now stood mocking her.
“I banished thee, wife and you return to steal my child.” Kamal raised his voice to attract the attention of the townspeople and guards who weren’t fending off the rush of the army.
“You are not Kamal. You killed him.”
“No one will believe you. Guards, seize the Queen. And be careful of my daughter.”
A few soldiers moved forward towards Rhee. She snapped her fingers and became invisible. Kamal snapped his and she reappeared.
“Even her magic is failing her. Grab her before she gets away.”
The guards moved in to rush her, but a shadow rose from the pavement and engulfed them.
“What! No! It can’t be.” Kamal flinched back as the shadow leapt at him. It washed over him and faded back to the pavement. In Kamal’s place was the demon in its true form. It was a twisted and ugly thing. Rhee was thankful Kess made Irena sleep through this. It picked itself off the ground. It was the color of nightmare green with thick brown armor, like pustules over its head and torso.
Rhee quickly began to cast, using the hand that wasn’t holding Irena to gesture.
“Save the Queen! Kill the beast!” Aaron shouted from the crowd, throwing a pitchfork at the demon.
It snarled and lunged for Rhee, but her spell ignited and she levitated to the top of the statue. It whirled to follow and began to scale the fountain, but by that time the crowd had closed in.
“Make way for the fighters!” Rhee shouted and the Larkspurs engaged it in battle. Rhee felt the familiar magic of Ferriskeep wash over her as a magical net of energy limited the demon’s movements. It was over quickly after that. The demon’s blood soaked into the cobblestones and stained them black with ichor.
Nigel and Guy appeared not long after, supporting Tamar between them. Guy and Rhee exchanged a long glance and he smiled wolfishly. He drew a finger across his throat and inclined his head back towards the castle.
“So Maron was dead,” Rhee thought and watched Nigel and Guy bring Tamar over to the Larkspur healers. Rhee was content to watch the chaos, until a niggling of regal duty made her come down from the fountain.
With a few commands to the guards the crowd was pushed back to give her room to come down. She found her mother in the Ferriskeep ranks and handed the still sleeping Irena to her. While she was there, Rhee commandeered a healer and brought him over to Evan and Kess, who had nearly been trampled, in the mob.
“People of Winterlore!” Rhee turned to face them. “We have triumphed over the evil that had seized our city. The demon has been destroyed. My husband, your King has been avenged. Let everything be as it once was!”
The people seemed comfortable at this and gradually drifted back to their homes. As the red dawn faded into a new day, Rhee saw the shadows of night creep away and disappear. But before one left, it swirled about her briefly and said only: Good bye.
“Well, I guess we aren’t bound for Leeds after all,” Evan said, grimacing in pain as he walked up to Rhee.
“There’s plenty of work here,” Rhee smiled. “And since you’re so interested in the treasury, who better to be in charge of guarding it?”
“Fox and hen house,” Kess muttered as she hobbled on a makeshift crutch to where they were standing. “At least there is a temple of Dara nearby.” Evan helped her to sit gingerly on the fountain.
“I think I have seen Dara’s light,” he told her, as he slid a supporting arm around her back.
“I think we all have,” Guy said, coming up from behind them.
As the sun crept over the castle, Rhee slipped her hand into Guy’s. He blinked at her in surprise. She leaned her head against his arm, “Welcome home.”
The End
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– Jamie
Sneak Peek of The Seeker
"They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel"
—Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel
Chapter One
ROSE PUSHED ASIDE THE grimy curtain of the window and cursed. She had hoped for a few more days before the mage hunter caught up with her. Seconds later, the door to the cottage flew open from the force of the thug's boot. The big man forced his way inside, and kicked the door shut behind him.
He was tall and broad, dressed in fine clothes that were dusty from the road. Twirling his sword once over his wrist he sheathed it with a grin.
“I have you now,” he said, advancing on her.
"How did you find me?" Rose asked, flexing her fingers to will a spell into being. If she could level him with a sleep spell, she might be able to get away.
But he was too fast for her. Rose struggled when he pulled her into his arms for a brutal kiss. He smelled like the night air and tasted like spearmint. One of his hands held her squirming body close to him. The other fisted in her hair, holding her head in place.
Rose punched him in the shoulder, the spell she had been casting fizzling with the jarring impact of their bodies. He walked her back to the nearest wall and leaned his heavy weight against her. Bucking, she tried to free herself, but all she did was rub across his hardness.
Mouth still plundering hers, he cupped her breast. Rose bit his lip.
"Witch," he panted, ripping his mouth from hers. "You'll pay for that." His tongue dabbed at the spot of blood, as he glared down at her with piercing green eyes. He was a handsome devil. Too bad he was so damned irritating.
"Oh, shut up and fuck me already, Bret," Rose said, climbing up his body to wrap her legs around his waist.
"Are you wet enough?" he asked, sliding his hand up her night dress. "I was hoping to find you asleep."
She pulled his hair until he kissed her again, wiggling against his trousers until he pushed them down. Her head knocked against the wall when he slipped inside her.
"Why?" she gritted out between her teeth. The jolt of being slowly filled by him made her tremble. "So you could put me in a sack and throw me over your saddle?"
It was almost worth getting caught and sent back to her gilded cage for this.
Almost.
He let out a puff of breath as she tightened around him. "No. So I
could bury my face between your thighs and lick you awake."
His words shouldn't have sent a spark of warmth that filled her down to her toes. It would have been easier to hate him. But he was too damned good looking and more charming than a sworn enemy had a right to be.
"I'm not going back," she told him, writhing as he took his time easing in and out of her.
"Yes, you are. Your parents pay me damn good money to bring your delectable ass back to the coven."
Arching into him, she cried, "Harder."
Bret complied, slamming into her with a force that shook the walls of the cottage.
Yes.
"Of course," he grunted. "I don't have to do it right away."
"Less talking. More fucking," she demanded. The damned thing was she craved the hard pace of his body entering hers. She wanted this wild ride the bounty hunter provided when he found her. And he always did. It was like he was part blood hound.
Rose loved watching his face contort as he tried to hold himself back from coming before she did. If she could have stopped herself, she would have denied herself just to torture him. But it had been too long and she was a few strokes away from paradise. When he bent his head to nip at her throat, every muscle in her body locked and shook.
"Fuck," she groaned as pleasure flooded through her. Ecstasy winged over her as she trembled in release.
The self-satisfied smile on Bret's face would have been annoying if it wasn't wiped by the same blissful wave that had crashed over her.
"Rose," he whispered. "Beautiful Rose."
She didn't want her heart to flutter at his reverent words. She knew she wasn’t beautiful. Her mirror told her how very ordinary and plain she was. Still it tickled her belly and made her stupid heart skip a beat that he admired her.
Flopping them both down on the bed, he held her tightly. Even in the after haze of their love making, he wasn't letting down his guard.
"Cast at me and I'll mask you," he said lightly.
Without her sight, she wouldn't be able to target her spell. If she really pissed him off, he'd tie her hands as well. It hadn't taken Rose long to figure out that fighting Bret just made things unpleasant.
Stroking his hand over her back in long loops, he kissed the top of her head. "Why did you run this time?"
Rose combed her fingers through his short, black hair and sighed. He didn't understand why she needed freedom. He only saw that she lived in wealth and privilege, protected by her family. But she couldn't tell him the truth. The real reason she left her home.
"I wanted to go to the Temple Fair," Rose lied with the ease of long practice.
"Spoiled rotten," Bret grumbled. "Had you waited until mid summer, they would have been close enough for an outing." He tugged down on the neckline of her night dress until her breasts popped up.
Making a sound of approval, he bent his head and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking on it.
Rose’s eyes closed in bliss and she rocked against him. "Why should I wait?" she said, in between soft gasps of pleasure. Her body still tingled from his rough touch.
Had she waited until the Temple Fair was closer, more mages would have been tortured and killed.
He paused from lavishing attention on her. "Because some local moron could have mistaken you for a rogue and tried to collect the bounty."
It felt like heaven when he went back to his teasing, going from one breast to the other, pulling and nipping at her sensitive tips.
"Some moron is trying to collect the bounty," Rose said tartly, stroking the curved muscles in his arm. Bret was one of the finest swordsmen she’d ever seen. She hoped to never have to cross swords with him. He wielded his bastard sword like an artist and was faster than a man his size had a right to be.
Bret flexed for her, grinning as she rolled her eyes at him. "I have an agreement with your parents not to harm you. Other hunters could take advantage."
Rose dropped her hand to his half hard cock. "You like taking advantage of me."
"Any man would." He kissed her again, catching his breath when she gripped him. "I worry about you. Why can't you stay with your family?"
They've been through this before. She would never convince him that mages had the right to live freely and he would never convince her that mages needed to be guarded so they weren't seduced by power.
She preferred Bret sighing her name than hearing him spout off on the same old rhetoric. So, she pressed in close to whisper in his ear just what exactly she wanted to do with him before going back home, all the while stroking him to madness.
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Did you love Betrayed? Then you should read The Queen's Mystery by Jamie K. Schmidt!
In this prequel to USA Today bestselling author Jamie K. Schmidt's The Emerging Queen's series, Bianca is a human with a problem. She just landed her dream job of working as a dragon-human liaison at the Smythe Corporation, but for some reason dragon studs keep following her around. When Niall, the All Knowing, a golden Celtic dragon sends her to get a rare book written by the Order of the Dragon Slayers, Bianca is stunned by her attraction to the esoteric book store owner. Byron is a dragon who is still mourning his long lost Queen. The fact that Bianca's scent reminds him of his only love is enough to intrigue him, but when the Order of the Dragon Slayers take her aw
ay from him, it brings out the protector in him and he'll stop at nothing to get her back.
Read more at Jamie K. Schmidt’s site.
Also by Jamie K. Schmidt
Hawaii Heat
Beach Happens
Beach My Life
The Emerging Queens
The Queen's Mystery
The Truth & Lies Series
Truth Kills
Truth Reveals
Standalone
Trinity
Flash Magic
Samurai's Heart
Betrayed
Watch for more at Jamie K. Schmidt’s site.
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author, Jamie K. Schmidt, writes erotic contemporary love stories and paranormal romances. Her steamy, romantic comedy, Life’s a Beach, reached #65 on USA Today, #2 on Barnes & Noble and #9 on Amazon and iBooks. Her Club Inferno series from Random House’s Loveswept line has hit both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble top one hundred lists. The first book in the series, Heat, put her on the USA Today bestseller list for the first time, and is a #1 Amazon bestseller. Her dragon paranormal romance series has been called “fun and quirky” and “endearing.” Partnered with New York Times bestselling author and former porn actress, Jenna Jameson, Jamie’s hardcover debut, SPICE, continues Jenna’s FATE trilogy.
Read more at Jamie K. Schmidt’s site.
Betrayed: A Sexy Sword & Sorcery Short Story Page 5