Free Twiceborn Endgame (The Proving Book 3) by Marina Finlayson Page B

I’d been before Leandra hitched a ride. Garth’s eyes glinted with anticipation, and I felt a thrill run through me.
    “What do you mean, you’re not going to kill the sisters?” Luce interrupted my bloody dreams of taking Thorne down, the black werewolf at my side. I noted she didn’t say “your” sisters. Luce was even less willing than me to accept the existence of these new threats. She’d rather die than admit they might have any claim on the throne we’d fought so hard for. “They’ll sure as hell be trying to kill you.”
    “I haven’t ruled out the possibility, but it’s a last resort.”
    “Don’t go soft. They’ll have been brought up to fight for the throne, just like you. You’ll never get them to sit around and sing ‘Kumbaya’ with you instead. That’s not who they are.”
    “We don’t know who they are, Luce. For crying out loud, they’re not even twenty years old. If I was their age and someone offered me a one in eight chance of survival on one hand or the chance to enjoy my full five-hundred-odd-year lifespan on the other, I might have to at least think about it.”
    She rolled her eyes. “You don’t think like a dragon any more.”
    Except that in so many ways I did. Why was my head full of Garth and blood when I was supposed to be in love with Ben? Something in the big werewolf called to me in a way Ben didn’t, and it didn’t help that everywhere I turned he was there, his intense blue-grey gaze following me.
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Maybe that’s why I’m still alive.”
    There was a short silence. Luce folded her arms and stared out the window at the long curving driveway and the terraced gardens leading down to the massive front gate. God knows what she was thinking. Probably wishing she had the real Leandra back.
    I focused on Ben, refusing to let my eyes be drawn to Garth, though I knew he was watching me.
    Ben scrubbed at his face wearily. “Was there a point three?”
    “What? Oh.” One: sisters all together. Two: kill Gideon Thorne. Three? I scrambled for some more good news. To be honest, silver linings were pretty hard to come by these days. “Point three—point three, we have Blue.”
    “He could make us a seeming.” Garth’s eyes lit with enthusiasm. “Maybe of that idiot Bear. Thorne trusts him, he might let his guard down—”
    “Don’t encourage her,” Ben snapped. “This is a really stupid idea. We’d be outnumbered and surrounded. It’s suicide.”
    “Someone’s got to encourage her.” Garth folded his arms, making his muscles bulge, and gave Ben a disdainful look. “Because she’s right. She’s not going to win this war by hiding away. She’s got to get out there and grab that bastard Thorne by the balls before he has the chance to screw us over.”
    Well, this was a turn-up for the books. Garth was usually the first one to argue when my safety was concerned. I shot him a grateful look and saw a glimmer of yellow in his eyes as he glared at Ben. His wolf wanted out.
    Ben got to his feet and returned the glare with interest. “There’s got to be a better way of doing that than turning up on his doorstep practically gift-wrapped. How’s a damned goblin seeming going to protect her?”
    “ I’ll protect her,” Garth growled.
    “I don’t need anyone’s protection. I’m a dragon, not a bloody fairy princess. And I’m going to this ball.” Enough with the male posturing! They were acting like a couple of teenagers.
    “Don’t worry, Kate, no one’s going to forget you’re a dragon.”
    The viciousness of Ben’s tone shocked me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Why even bother asking anyone’s opinion when you know you’re going to do whatever you damn well want anyway?” His brown eyes were colder than I’d ever seen them. “Typical bloody dragon.”
    Oh, God, not this again.
    “Yes, I’m a dragon, Ben.” I couldn’t bear the look in his eyes. As if he didn’t even like me, much less love