Free ROMAN: Fury of Her King (Kings of the Blood Book 2) by Julia Mills Page A

immediately heavy and his breathing sluggish
as his vision blurred in and out of focus, reliving what Cynthia had gone
through.
    He felt how hard she fought against the effects of the drug and
was once again astounded at her strength and resolve. The keeper of his heart
was amazing; a true match for him in every way. His fists clenched and his
knuckles ached as he not only watched but  felt  her beat
against the windows and yell for help. Roman literally rubbed his eyes and took
several deep breaths as Cynthia’s vision blurred to mere shadows and her
breathing became labored.
    He could see the glow of the dome light in the ceiling of the limo
and hear the door open but could only make out shadows of the person who
entered the back seat and spoke to his mate. Flashes of an old television show
he’d seen Nik and Sal watching many years back flew across Cynthia’s mind with
one character, a tall, thin, cartoonish female vampire, taking center stage.
None of it made any sense but one thing was for certain, it meant something to
his mate and was the clue he needed to find her.
    Pushing the vision he didn’t understand aside, as well as the
burning rage Cynthia was experiencing while being taunted by the distorted
voice of her captor, the General used the extraordinary senses given to him
upon his rebirth to zero in on the person who dared to threaten his mate. Brief
glimpses and tiny bits of what was being said kept surfacing, but the effects
of the drugs on Cynthia’s mind were just too strong. Soon, all he saw was
darkness and knew that just like now, his mate had succumbed to whatever
sedative she’d been given.
    Rushing ahead, he found Cynthia awake and sitting in a chair,
looking at her surroundings. He cringed at the memory of the stench she’d been
made to endure and the images of garbage and refuse left by squatters. His
anger became almost uncontrollable at her revulsion of the rats skittering in
the shadows before her.
    Following where her memories led, Roman caught sight of the pieces
of cardboard strewn about and had to pause the images flowing so freely through
his mind. Using his preternatural senses, the General zoomed in on what most
would consider trash and then on the window high on the wall that Cynthia was
wondering if she could fit through. The view he saw had the General up and running
for the door even before his eyes were all the way open.
    As he tore through the house heading for the front door, he
bellowed, “I found her!”
    “Where?” Came the voices of Viktor and Katarina, the
Commander’s  fýlakas tis kardiás mou , from the kitchen.
    Grabbing his keys off the table in the foyer and throwing the door
opened with such force he heard it hit the wall, he yelled over his shoulder,
“The abandoned factory past Bellevue. Call Nik and Lee. Tell them to meet me
there.” Jumping into the waiting SUV, he drove away without an answer, knowing
his old friend would do as he had asked.
    Driving so fast the landscape around him became a blur of brown
and green, Roman was now sure the kidnapping was perpetrated by an
acquaintance. Someone close enough to his inner circle who knew how much
Cynthia meant to him and also the location of an abandoned Katsaros Industries
factory. They also were privy to his private schedule, which narrowed the
suspects down to less than twelve people—and six of them he called brother.
    Trying to piece together the facts as he sailed over the
countryside, Roman kept coming back to the closed KI property. It was the one
thing that didn’t fit. Very rarely did the company that he and his comrades
owned close any property without repurposing it and deeding it over to the
surrounding community, but in the case of the Bellevue plant, there was no
community left to give the building and land to. A fire of unknown origin had
swept across the entire area, burning out all the residents and leaving nothing
more than a ghost town after all the insurance claims were paid. No one