Free The Rising King by Shea Berkley

her lungs stalled. Her heart thudded impossibly hard and her throat ached with the need to scream he was lying. She couldn’t.
    He knew her secret. He knew she fought an avalanche of longing that twisted her perception of what was right. The only thing that kept her anger and selfish wants in check was her love for Dylan. He was all that mattered.
    As soon as she thought of Dylan, her heart calmed and she could breathe again.
    Navar was wrong. She could control the power, something Jason hadn’t been able to do. His soulless nature had something to prove. Her goal was to find justice for her people. Bring back peace. She was good, her motives pure, and if that meant mixing the magic that was in her, she would do it, and then force the bad portion back into the deep recesses where it would stay until she called on it again.
    But it was getting harder to keep the magic separate. Dylan had noticed. He’d felt her struggle. If Baun continued to make positive strides, then all too soon she would be giving him back his power.
    She ignored the pang of panic that rippled in her. His magic was hers for only a short time longer. She would give it back, she promised herself, and be thankful to be rid of it.

Nightmare Men
    All I see are droves of Rodarians pouring from the forests and no sign of Kera. Figures she’d disappear on me. Being so closely connected to her gives me the ability to know when she’s stressed or hurt or even dying, but I feel nothing, as though she’s stepped into a vacuum. She’s blocking her feelings on purpose. That scares me even more. I have to find her.
    I need to thin out my area of Rodarians. They’re like red-eyed fire ants, a never-ending colony with one goal. Attack. I dart to the right and slide, clipping the leg of the man who wears the face of Wyatt, but the red eyes of a Rodarian. I pop to my feet and end his life and end up standing in a choking cloud of his remains. The whirl of an arrow sounds. I turn and grab it just before it hits me. Flipping it over, I search for the shooter and see a Nightmare Man staring at me past his bow. He doesn’t look pleased as he grabs another arrow from the quiver on his back. I sheath my sword, take aim, and throw the arrow. It spins like a well-thrown football and strikes the Nightmare Man square in the middle of his forehead. He digs it out, looks at it, and then at me.
    Shit.
    I start running toward him. He notches it along with the one he’s holding. Both arrows fly. I meet them halfway across the distance, catch them, spin them in my fingers, and jump toward him. When I’m almost on top of him, I plunge both arrows into either side of his neck. He drops to the ground, and I land beside him, panting from the effort.
    I straighten and find myself at the edge of the fight. Rodarians are morphing into us at breakneck speed, yet they’re getting cut down just as quickly. A few yards away an image of me appears where once there was a Rodarian. His attention lands on one of the sisters. Turning, she strikes him dead. When the dust clears, her gaze finds me and she nods before dashing away. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even look for the mark.
    I go back to my search for Kera and see her backing away from a handful of Rodarians. There’s no way I can get there in time. I load up the slingshot and start spinning it. Before I let it go, one of the firsts slashes through the Rodarians and saves her. I feel a sense of relief when she smiles that gorgeous smile…and then stabs him.
    I actually stop moving, not sure what I’m seeing. He crumples to the ground, and she finishes him off. Before I can move again, Neve whirls into view and kills the imposter.
    I hate the cowardly Rodarians. How dare they come into our land and threaten us, kill us. A blind rage takes hold. I let the tiny ball within the slingshot fly. It attaches to a Rodarian and explodes, tearing a hole through him, and wounding several around him. I plow through the enemy, slashing and