Free Blood Bond by Kit Tunstall Page B

plunged it down with all her might.
    Starr gasped when the dagger penetrated the
heart of the queen, tethered to the bed, as was Demi. This time, she could see
faint bands of purple energy holding Anca and the king in place and recognized
it as true magic—not like the form practiced by their people, which relied
heavily on natural herbs, tradition, and ceremony.
    A cloud shadowing the moon shifted,
illuminating the window near the bed. The attacker’s face almost came into view
as she turned to advance on Demi, who struggled to cry out, but couldn’t get
his voice to cooperate. She shouted a cry of warning when the woman raised the
dagger higher, but could effect no change on the outcome of the vision. She
watched helplessly as the attacker dispatched Demi with equal ruthlessness.
    She jerked with surprise when someone
called her name with desperation. At first, she thought it was someone entering
the queen’s bedchamber, and braced herself for attack. The voices became
distinguishable, and she recognized Sorin and Lucian calling to her.
Immediately, she realized she was in a vision. She struggled to open her eyes,
to return to reality. With one last look at the bloody dagger the woman was
wiping on Anca’s white robe, she wrenched her eyelids up and returned to the
cabin.
    Sorin and Lucian hovered over her, both
wearing identical expressions of concern. She blinked and struggled to remember
what had happened. They seemed to sense her confusion, because they began
speaking in a rush, talking over each other.
    “You passed out—“
    “—couldn’t wake you—“
    “—are you all right, Starr?” Sorin asked.
    Slowly, she nodded, almost surprised to
find her body responded to her brain’s command. She still felt sluggish and
disoriented. She attempted to sit up, and they both supported her. She touched
a hand to her pounding head. “I…I passed out?” she asked in a husky voice.
    “Right when you came. You scared the hell out
of us,” Sorin said with anger, but with an underlying thread of concern he
couldn’t mask.
    “Your eyes rolled back, you started
shaking, and we couldn’t rouse you,” Lucian added, sounding slightly calmer now
than he had seconds ago.
    “I was having a vision.” Her brow furrowed.
“I was seeing the future, but I can’t say when. It could be tonight or next
week.” Starr’s eyes widened. “We have to return to the castle.”
    Sorin nodded. “You need a healer—“
    “No,” she said, cutting him off, “I must
warn the queen that she is in danger. In my vision, a woman murdered Anca and
Demi. I didn’t see her face, but she seemed familiar….” A sense of urgency
seized her. “We must go now.”
    “Now?” Lucian sounded doubtful. “It’s only
about midnight. Surely, we have time…” He trailed off at Starr’s vigorous head
shaking.
    “I’m sorry, but we have to return to the
castle. I can feel it.” The sense of urgency had increased. She couldn’t be
certain, but Starr thought the queen was in pressing danger. Tonight felt like
the night the Protector would come under attack.
    Sorin sighed. “If you think it is
necessary, we will return, dragostia .”
    She could see their disappointment, and it
mirrored her own, but Starr couldn’t remain in the cabin, indulging her every
sensual whim, while their Protector’s life was at risk. As she rose from the
bed and washed, she tried to console herself with the thought that surely the
queen or king had foreseen the danger. It brought little solace, because she
knew Ylenia had often had visions long before anyone else.
    She should have known about this threat
weeks ago. If only her own wants hadn’t so consumed her, she would have known
about the assassin’s plan and could have warned everyone, so they could
formulate a plan. What if the queen died because she had been here with Sorin
and Lucian?
    Starr paused in the process of transforming
to wolf-form. The realization came to her that making love with Sorin