The image of that possessive glare Fedron had given Diamond had sent a wave of rage bubbling through his blood. And then there was Attion. Hugo snarled, thinking about his underling. So the abused became the abuser; it was sickening to think of that cycle happening over and over in this tower, of the many hundreds of young guards subjected to unspeakable horrors at the hands of males like Ream. Hugo swallowed the bile in his throat.
First he would deal with Attion and the boy, then he would think about Fedron. Hugo had met fae like him before. Primal and debase. They were always masters of manipulation and lies, hiding their true selves to fit into society, often exploiting unwary females to get what they wanted.
The fact he had hidden his true nature enough to become one of Commander Riddeon’s men showed what a good actor the bastard was. Unless….
Hugo frowned, wondering if the master commander had realised what a monster Fedron could become and was keeping him close. Fedron had been there in the forest, only obedient enough not to challenge Elexon’s leadership, but not completely loyal either. Maybe Hugo would seek out Elexon and warn him about Fedron. The master commander’s son struck Hugo as a solid capable warrior, he would listen—or not.
Hugo ground his teeth. Fedron had marked Diamond’s scent and would come for her eventually. A wicked grin twisted his scar at the prospect of taking down a male who would threaten his mate. He sucked air in through his clenched teeth.
Hugo tossed his blade in the air, caught the bone hilt and threw it with such force the wooden doorframe split. He watched the blade wobble from side to side. That damned girl had turned his life upside down. His head was constantly filled with her. Even with that spark of spirit and defiance, that challenged him at every turn, he did not for one second believe that Diamond would be able to fight with enough skill to survive Ragor. Not after only a few weeks of training. She may not even survive the Queen’s chosen test.
As for Diamond’s necklace, the Queen had an ulterior motive for taking it. He had seen the greed in her eyes when she had spotted it through that ridiculous see-through blouse.
Hugo gave a frustrated growl and looked at the moon out of his small tower window. His fingers curled into the bedclothes. Every day brought him closer to the thing he dreaded most about being an elite guard: winter solstice and the Queen’s bite. Hugo closed his eyes and groaned with dread, remembering the way she had run her hands down his body. He had a fool’s hope she would remain satisfied with one of the other guards, but deep down he knew she would not.
No. For reasons he didn’t understand she had left him alone all these years; but without a doubt, his luck had run out.
Hugo’s skin crawled at the thought of letting her do to him what he had done to Diamond. Only now he wasn’t sure her venom would work. His throat ached as he swallowed. He could not wipe the taste of Diamond from his mind or erase the feeling of her blood and magic raging through his body. For the first time in his life Hugo found himself uncertain how to handle the situation he was in.
Hugo dropped his head and studied the bare wooden floorboards. If he wanted to help Diamond, he had to make her into a decent fighter. Hugo needed to know she could protect herself, even if she ultimately had to protect herself against him.
The ice moon moved slowly through the glittering night. Eventually Hugo got up, yanked the knife from the door frame and studied it. Before he could attempt to get Diamond out of the city, he had to convince her and everyone else he did not care about her, not one little bit. He could not risk the Queen suspecting he had such deep feelings for another woman. The threat of her biting him before winter solstice was too high.
Hugo smiled grimly. After yesterday, making Diamond hate him enough to fight unreservedly was going to be easy. She needed to loath everything about him or she would always hold back. He swore to his empty room.
By the goddess, training her was going to test his nerves and his resolve. Hugo rubbed his hands over his face, already weary from his tumultuous thoughts. First, though, he had a debt to pay.
***
Attion stirred. Something had disturbed him, bringing him back from the nightmares that plagued his slumber. The exposed damp skin of his chest prickled with goose bumps. Slowly the guard turned his head, his hand sliding under his pillow to grasp the dagger he always kept there. His breathing became shallow and quiet as he listened. It had been years since the Lord Commander had visited his bed at night, but still Attion began to sweat fearfully.
Cracking his eyelids a fraction, he scanned the shadows cast by the light of Tu Lanah.
Nothing. No movement or threat. He loosed a big relieved breath and threw an arm across his face. He was being ridiculous. There was a chair wedged under the door handle; besides Ream preferred boys, not grown men.
“I can smell your fear,” said a familiar voice. “Did you know you whimper for mercy in your sleep?”
Attion bolted upright, his dagger clasped in his hand. It couldn’t be possible! His door was still locked, the chair still there. Unnerved, he scanned the shadows.
“If you fear your abuser so, if what he did to you disgusts you so, why did you lay your filthy hands on her?”
Before he could speak, Attion’s jaw exploded in pain. His head snapped back and his lip exploded against his teeth. He hit the floor next to the bed with a resounding smack.
“Get up,” ordered the disembodied voice laced with such wrath even Attion hastened to comply.
Standing naked, his mouth gaped open as Hugo materialised out of the shadows. The commander grinned at Attion’s fearful expression. The scar on his face twisted and morphed until he became a demon of shadow.
“You and I have much to discuss, Attion, but I think we will not do it with words. Sometimes actions are far more eloquent—don’t you think?” asked the shadow demon before he moved so quickly Attion didn’t have time to formulate an answer.
Diamond awoke with a start, her heart racing and her legs entangled in the bedclothes. Loud impatient banging resounded on her door, vibrating the walls and floor. Hugo’s furious voice boomed through the thick wood. Catapulting herself out of bed, her hair in disarray and her heart banging painfully against her ribs, she ran to the door, unlocking it just as he threatened to bash it down.
Hugo barged in, his face enraged, his eyes glittering like molten silver. He slammed the door shut, rattling the walls enough to shake dust into the air.
“What the hell are you still doing in bed!” he roared at her.
Speechless with fright, Diamond ran away from him, tripping over the bedclothes that were now draped on the floor.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well…” she stammered, her face flaming with stress and embarrassment as she regained her balance.
His eyes dropped to her bare feet, then travelled slowly, deliberately, up over her bare thighs, grazing over every curve accentuated by her too short silk nightie. She felt every inch of her skin burn where his eyes rested. Magic scorched her, hitting her in an intense wave that blasted through to her bones. Immediately and against her will, her body responded, heat pulsing through her core and pooling between her legs.
Confusion rooted her to the spot. Fear told her to run from his anger, but that blast of pure lust made her want to claw every bit of clothing from that coiled muscled body.
His nostrils flared as he inhaled. For a fraction of a second his dark eyes gleamed with a feral hunger. Her breath hitched as he took one step forwards, clenching his fists. Then he stopped dead, as if hitting an invisible wall. A slow cruel smile stretched his lips and the overwhelming feeling of want receded. She released a shaky breath as he crossed his large arms over his chest and stared pointedly at the flimsy silk.
“Oh? So you’ve decided to entertain the troops, have you?” he drawled, his eyes resting on her bare thighs. “Nice.”
The blood drained from her face, and she backed away from him.
“You wouldn’t?” she whispered crossing her arms over her chest, horror dr
iving away any remaining lust.
His footsteps thumped as he strode over the floor, shoving his face into hers. “Get. Dressed. Now!” he roared.
She jumped, shrieked and grabbed her clothes off the chair, running on fatigue-heavy limbs into the bathing room. Less than two minutes later she emerged, her heart banging hard in her chest. Hastily she grabbed a tunic.
“Come on!” he barked without even looking at her.
Diamond just had time to snatch a band so she could braid her hair away from her face before he was striding down the corridor to the nearest exit. Struggling to keep up with his long stride, Diamond pushed thoughts of what she had done, of the murderer she had become, deep into the recesses of her mind and locked it away. The feeling of hot sticky blood still lay heavy on her hands; rubbing them on her thighs did nothing to erase that memory.
Swearing at Hugo’s back helped distract her. As soon as they were outside, without warning, he grabbed her around the waist.
Her body hit his hard, and she was forced to grab onto his armour-clad shoulders as he launched himself into the misty dawn air. She shivered as the cold penetrated her thin cotton shirt. With no time to throw it on, she was still clutching her tunic in her hands. Hugo soared gracefully through the air, his hands holding her tightly against him. If she hadn’t been so terrified of what he was going to do and hadn’t gripped him so tightly, it would be easy to be entranced by the glorious morning sun glinting on the silver rivulets of his armoured sapphire wings.
But she was terrified of Hugo, of what was going to happen today, of the nightmare in which she drowned in the general’s blood—of the words of an imprisoned goddess—of so many things….
The palace towers fell away beneath them and the cityscape came in to view. Beyond it, the vista of the beautiful valley and the ancient wall were bathed in rose gold sunbeams. Diamond gritted her teeth, ignoring the shift of muscles under her fingers and the warmth of Hugo’s body against hers. Hugo thought her incapable of becoming a warrior. Dream-like images burned her mind, and she defiantly lifted her chin.
He had no idea what she was capable of. Determination lit a fire through her blood. If the goddess herself believed Diamond could fight through her grief and shadows to triumph against a dark lord, then Diamond would do whatever it took to bring that belief to reality. Whatever was thrown at her, she would not cry and she would not complain, but she would master her magic and learn how to fight back. Never again would she be weak or helpless. Pushing against Hugo’s grip, Diamond twisted her body. Defiance radiated from her as she faced forwards and readied herself to meet her future head on.
She was the daughter of General Arades Gillon, and a living blood relative of the goddess of creation; she would not be broken by anyone, least of all the warrior who had shattered her heart.
Acknowledgements
Dear reader,
Thank you so much for reading A Bond of Venom and Magic, book one in The Goddess and the Guardians series. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with Diamond and Hugo so far (they still have such a long way to go!). It would be fantastic if you could find time to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads for ABOVAM. Reviews are so important. There are millions of books out there and getting a title noticed by the right readers is increasingly difficult. It doesn’t have to be an in depth review, just a few words can make all the difference to the book being visible to the right readers. Tell your friends, your family—in fact anyone you think might enjoy A Bond of Venom and Magic about the book, shout it from the roof tops if you feel like it!! That would be awesome! I am immensely grateful to you all for your interest and support and would love to connect with you. You can find me on:
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Or Join my mailing list for information on cover reveals, Advanced Reader Copies and news about new releases-Web site: http://karentomlinson.com
My heartfelt thanks,
For me the journey to publication for A Bond of Venom and Magic has been a huge learning curve. I have a lot of people to thank for helping me get this far, so if I miss anyone please forgive me: You are all fantastic!
Annie and Abbie: Diamond, Hugo and Jack have come a long way since they began life as a bedtime fairy story! As you have grown and changed so has this wonderful world and all the people in it. Creating characters and coming up with names for them has been so much fun, and this book would not exist without you. I love you both dearly. You inspire me (and challenge me) in so many ways. In my world you burn brighter than any shooting star. Please always be the happy, stubborn, kind, and absolutely gorgeous souls you are now. Aaron, I know you don’t understand my obsession with this book or my resolve to embark on this road to being an author, but I thank you for being patient; for all the evenings I have spent in the writing cave, and the days that you have taken the girls (and poppy) out, or gone on your travels together so that I can write… I know my stubbornness and determination to achieve my goals is not always easy to live with. I’d love to say I’m done…but I’m far from finished. I have lots of stories left to tell….
So many people read the early versions of this story. A massive thank you to you all! To Natalie Sydney and Emma Cocking: you guys rock! You got the whole 250,000 words and still managed to give me feedback! To Suze Syson: Thank you for pointing out that readers do need to take a break every now and then… Shorter chapters were definitely required! You helped me think about the book from a readers perspective and I thank you for your support and feedback. Helen Samms, Patty Darranguisse, Jo Dursely, Kate Hackney and Katie (darling!) Melan. All your comments, good and painful, helped me immensely. To Wendy Hawkins: What can I say? You are a star! When I crumbled, your support and logic grounded me and put me back on track. Your in depth feedback has been amazing and ABOVAM would not be the story it is without your input.
I am very lucky to have met many kind and generous people on the journey to publication. Cassie James, I am so pleased we met. Your generosity in helping me and your support of AVOBAM has been amazing. I hope our friendship continues.
To all the wonderful people who have joined my street team: You are awesome! Thank you so much for supporting me and ABOVAM. I am grateful that you are willing to take a chance on an unknown author.
James Robert Ainsworth, you have been a wonderful supporter of this project. Your ideas and generosity have been fantastic. Though, no matter what you teach me about Photoshop, I will always be lacking in my IT skills!
Nick Kennedy: Thank you for your patience and IT assistance at any hour of the day and night! I would not look so professional without you!
To my wonderful parents: Mum, thank you for encouraging me and reading ABOVAM despite it not being your ‘cup of tea’. Dad: You are the best. Your belief in me is overwhelming. I thank you both from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me, and Rosanne and Vivienne in every aspect of our lives; not just with this book.
Jenny Baker: You have encouraged me ever since I started this journey. I can’t thank you enough for all the times you have provided me a shoulder to cry on, for bolstering me when I felt discouraged and making me believe I could do this. I still have the card you sent me! It would have been a lonely ride without you to share this with and I could not have done it without your unconditional support. You are an awesome friend and I love you dearly.
To my gorgeous ‘little’ sis-Zanny: I still remember hiding under the duvets to read books when we should have been sleeping! Sorry if I kept you awake but I guess all this started back then! I don’t know how to thank you for reading my manuscript, with all its different titles, word counts and characters, with so much enthusiasm—so many hundreds of times! Your unwavering belief in me and ABOVAM has been amazing and your feedback invaluable. You have championed it and not let me give up on myself or my dream. You are a beautiful, kind and generous person and I love you.
Lastly than
k you to everyone who has purchased and read this book. I am immensely grateful to you all. I hope you have enjoyed it and will join Diamond and Hugo on their quest to defeat the Lord of Chaos and save Eternity….
Table of Contents
A Bond of Venom and Magic (The Goddess and the Guardians Book 1) Page 33