“We meet again.” Draego said.
“Been a while since I ate commoner flesh, brother.” The other Royal’s upper lip curled, revealing his sharp feline teeth. “Mind if I take a little bite?”
Kira turned to run. Draego appeared in front of her, grabbed her by the front of her dress and pushed her to the ground. Her tender back pressed against the hard packed dirt. She screamed with what little air she had left in her lungs.
Draego pounced on top of her, his face only inches from hers, his putrid breath rushing over her face. All she could think about was fighting back. No way would she be captured again. She grabbed at his face, digging her nails into his cheek. His only reaction a sharp breath.
“I would recognize your stench anywhere.” He smiled, once again baring his teeth. “And I will reap the bounty for taking your life.”
“What do mean? What bounty?” Her stomach rose in her throat as his blood dripped on her face and neck. Why hadn’t Luka come to get her?
“You were a bad little girl, Kira. You killed a prince. And for that, you will die.” His ferocious roar echoed through the trees. He bared his teeth and came at her in a rage. She closed her eyes, expecting to feel the sharp pain of his teeth as they punctured her skin, but instead she felt the weight of his body release her. A sudden rush of warm air washed over her and another terrifying cry rang out through the trees.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Octavion engaged in a vicious battle with Draego. She no more felt the hair on the back of her neck begin to rise than Luka had arrived and pressed the other Royal to the ground. The scene was a blur of wrestling bodies and ferocious snarling. It all happened so fast she could barely tell one from the other.
“Luka, get her out of here,” Octavion yelled.
But Luka continued fighting. When she felt another Royal about to arrive, she grabbed a rock from the ground, preparing to defend herself. She knew she would die, but she’d fight to the end.
“Kira, take my hand,” came a voice from behind her. She spun around to find Cade sitting on the ground, his hand outstretched toward her. She dropped the rock, grabbed his arm and closed her eyes.
“Go!” she screamed.
When she felt the cold stone of the courtyard beneath her, she opened her eyes again. Cade sat next to her with a satisfactory grin on his face.
“That was fun,” he said.
“Fun? Are you insane? I almost died.”
He wrinkled up his nose. “Kira put your hand in the water. It will dilute the blood. I might be a cripple, but I am still a Royal.”
She sprang to her feet and jumped into the fountain. She wasn’t sure if she’d gotten any blood on her clothes, but didn’t want to take a chance. She washed Draego’s blood off her face and hers off her hand. Then turned her attention back to Cade, who now sat on the edge of the fountain-still sporting a smile. He didn’t fool her. She could tell by the way he held himself he was still in pain from his injury.
“What are you smiling at?” she asked.
“I finally saved you-pretty impressive, considering the wound in my back isn’t fully healed and I have no legs.” He slapped his thigh.
“You have wonderful legs and you’re not a cripple,” she scolded. “And yes, you saved me.” She slipped her hand out of the water to check her wound-a tiny puncture that wasn’t even bleeding anymore. She put her thumb over the hole to put pressure on it and tried to step out of the fountain. The weight of her dress pulled her back in. Cade took her arm to steady her so she could swing her legs over the edge. She plopped down next to him, splashing him with water.
“Can you tell if they’re all right? Are they still fighting?”
He looked away, an expression of concentration on his youthful face. His happy demeanor faded away and he didn’t respond.
“Cade? Are they okay?”
He put his hand up to silence her. Another moment passed and then he smiled. “They are fine. The Royals have left and their injuries are minor.”
“Injuries? Who’s hurt?”
He fell silent again. “Luka has a gash on his arm, nothing serious. Octavion. .” He paused.
“Cade? Please. Is Octavion okay?”
“Yes, only a scratch. But he is not returning to the castle yet. He says. .” Cade smirked. “Must I repeat this?”
“Yes.”
He rolled his eyes. “Well, he apologizes and feels horrible for putting you in harms way. . and. . he says he loves you and will see you tomorrow.” The last part came out in a rush, like he couldn't wait to get it over with. Typical of a sixteen-year-old boy.
Kira sighed with relief. “Thank you. Did you at least brag to them about saving me?”
“Of course.”
“Good.” Her heart still raced from her encounter with the strange Royals. The words they’d said echoed over and over in her head. She'd almost forgotten she'd killed a prince. Shandira's prince. She looked at Cade who watched her intently.
“Are you well, Kira? Do you want to talk about what happened out there?”
She shrugged. “I don’t even know.” She told him about the cubs and how Octavion reacted when one of them bit her finger, but the rest was a blur. “They were Royals-that’s all I know.”
“Did they say anything?”
“Yeah, Draego said he'd get a bounty for killing me.”
Cade leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “He told you his name?”
“He didn't have to. When I first escaped from Shandira, I went to the place in the canyon where you battled with the two Royals. The one I hit with my arrow was dead, but the other one was still alive. Draego arrived through a strange portal, along with several others from your world. They collected their dead and wounded. He caught my scent right before someone called him and said they needed to leave. Draego looked right at me and said we'd meet again. Then they were all swept up into this whirlwind and vanished.”
“Why would they want you dead? None of us were responsible for what happened that day. The blame falls on Shandira and her men.”
Kira shrugged out from under his touch and started wringing the water from her sleeves. “Because the man I shot was a prince.”
“A prince?” He looked away and seemed to be concentrating again.
“Cade, please don’t say anything to Octavion. He has enough to worry about right now.”
He put his hand up again.
Boys!
Waiting impatiently, she began to chill. Soaked to the bone, the slight breeze swirling through the courtyard didn’t help. She gathered her skirt in her hands and wrung as much water out of her dress as she could. It wasn’t an easy task considering Cade watched her every move. She was sure it improper to expose her legs, but it couldn’t be helped. When she saw a grin creep across his face she knew he no longer communicated with his brother, but enjoyed the show.
“Getting a good eye full?” she teased.
He turned his attention to her face instead of her legs and then nervously cleared his throat. “Um. . Luka said he knows someone who may have information about this matter.” He acted prim and proper now, but the flush in his cheeks gave him away. “He agreed to keep it from Octavion until he has more information.” Then he grinned and looked back at her legs. “He also instructed me to keep an eye on you.”
She quickly dropped the soaked fabric and slapped his arm. “Well your injury certainly didn’t mess with your libido.”
He laughed.
“Do you have enough strength to take a lady to her room? No way am I dragging this heavy wet dress up those stairs.”
His forehead furrowed. “You do know it will hurt going through the walls?”
“Well, I can either suffer a little pain now, or take your mother’s scolding when she sees the mess I leave on her floor as I drip all the way to my room.”
“I would definitely take the pain.” He laughed again.