Free Fervor (The Fervor Chronicles Book 1) by Lynn Carmer Page B

voice cut toward the beauty.
    “She then removed my drudge. Addy is mine. The Predominant ruined the ceremony; it may need to be postponed…” The princess sighed, allowing the smallest touch of regret in her voice.
    Nine hells, yes! She would be postponing that ceremony—permanently. She is mine.
    The king stepped forward, and Arun’s blood boiled. If he lays one hand on her—
    His eyesight blinked out for a second, then returned. Damn it! He had to learn to control this power. It sucked him dry, making him stronger in some ways but much weaker in others.
    How can I save her if I can’t see?
    “No! No, my Daughter. There will be no postponement. The ceremony must continue, especially after the initial delay. I will deal with you later,” he said to the beauty with the red scarf and turned to leave.
    “My Lord, please. That’s not true. It had nothing to do with the ceremony. She was…” The woman half crouched, begging the king to acknowledge her. Arun saw not one flicker of sympathy on her father’s face.
    Cutting her off with a wave of her hand, the princess said, “Do you question me? She is a fit Predominant, Majesty?”
    An odd tension existed between father and daughter. Both were stoic, but this was something more, a live wire of a power struggle was unfolding before his eyes, and it all seemed to center on the woman with the red scarf.
    “Perhaps she should be punished.” His mate reached out, fingering the silky material of the red scar. The look in the princess’s eyes was green fire. Finally, he saw a spark of the woman who’d worshiped him with her hands. Had she looked like that when she’d fondled him? Barely able to stifle a moan, he felt the power ratchet up.
    “While you punish her, Father, please explain to her that Addy is mine. And if she touches her, ever , for whatever reason, I will kill her.” With the last words she looked her father dead in the face. She turned and then called out. “I go now to prepare, again, for the ceremony.” Walking toward Addy without waiting to be dismissed.
    She has fire! His erection jumped in his pants.
    A great booming trumpet blasted across the courtyard. The guards. Guess he hadn’t incinerated all of them. Clenching his fists, he watched the princess cross the room, trying to protect the crying servant while the king ran for his life, leaving everyone, including his own daughter, far behind.
    Coward !
    About a dozen guards stumbled in, they must have been the least injured of the first group he’d pulverized. Weighing the position of the princess and the guards, he realized there was no way to grab her without exposing himself.
    He bellowed out a war cry, and the group of guards stopped in their tracks. The concrete jarred his frozen feet, making his teeth chatter as he flew across the courtyard. He swooped toward the princess with one hand, pulling her in close, and his heart broke at her small cry. He knew he’d hurt her, remembering the shards of glass buried in her skin, but there was no way around it.
    Barbarians. These people deserve to die.
    “No! I helped you! Don’t—”
    He shot her a look filled with all the banked fire he felt for her as he ran for the door. “We have unfinished business.”
    “Let me go. Let me go!”
    “No.”
    “I will never forgive you for this! I—”
    Muttering to himself as he shifted her weight, he said, “Yeah, well, get in line.”
    “No, wait. Addy.”
    “Princess Caprice! Oh gods, please don’t hurt her!” The small servant called from the corner.
    Arun felt the wooden bindings under her clothing; it must have been cutting into her ribs because she gasped for breath. “Just let me… Must tell… I must…”
    “Make it quick, sweetheart. You’ve got about two seconds before we hit the door out of this hellhole.”
    “Addy! Run!” Her voice wasn’t more than a whispered wheeze. “Stay away from the Pre-Dom and the king. Please…be safe.” With one last gasp she went limp, fainting