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

chose
to rebuild. They all moved away. So, the Kings had taken special care to buy up
all the land and have a very special magical acquaintance of theirs place a
barrier around the two-hundred-and-fifty-acre area that made any humans who
entered feel uneasy and the immediate need to leave.
    So why take Cynthia there? Why take her at all? If whoever had
done this was as close to him as he suspected, then that person would know that
he would die before he let anything happen to the keeper of his heart. They
would also know that without her, his days were numbered. The time of his
three-thousandth year was less than twelve months away and without the love and
bond of his mate, Roman Marinos would cease to exist. If their end goal was to
kill him, then why not just come after him? Why Cynthia and why now?
    The sound of his cell phone ringing through the blue tooth in his
vehicle pulled the General from his thoughts. Hitting the button on his
steering wheel, he answered, “Marinos.”
    “And a fine howdy doo to you, too, General,” Lee, otherwise known
as Achilles and unfortunately the comedian of the group, chimed though the
speakers of his SUV.
    “What now, Lee?” Roman tried not to growl but his temper came
closer to exploding with every second it took him to reach Cynthia.
    “Nik and I are here but we’re the only ones. You sure you didn’t
get your wires crossed?”
    “Yes, I’m sure. Look again,” he ordered, turning into the factory
parking lot on two wheels, narrowly missing the ten-foot chain link gate his
brothers left open. “Where are you? I’m coming up on the far east side.”
    “Look to the left.”
    Slamming on the brakes as he saw his friend waving, Roman threw
his vehicle into park, kicked open the door, and was racing into the building
without a second thought about his brothers or his SUV. All that mattered was
finding Cynthia.
    Following her scent through the musty darkness, he ran down a
flight of crumbling wooden stairs, through a thick oak door, and straight into
the room from Cynthia’s memories. Stopping dead in his tracks as the sounds of
his brothers’ footsteps followed closely behind, Roman took in the scene before
him. He saw the rickety chair where she’d been sitting. Knelt down and touched
the chains he knew had been wrapped around the delicate skin of her ankles.
    Slowly moving to the rusty cot with its moldy mattress, her scent
filled his senses. This was where they’d laid her when she was unconscious.
Where she’d awakened angry and afraid without him to comfort her or worse
yet…save her.
    White, hot rage burnt through his system as he glimpsed a two-foot
piece of rope that had been discarded behind the chair occupying the center of
room. Picking up the jute as his brothers’ questions echoed from somewhere
behind him, visions of the rough material abrading the tender flesh of
Cynthia’s wrists burst through his mind. He knew it was a rebound memory from
the connection he’d formed with her, but he still used it to try to locate her.
    To his surprise, Cynthia was awake but somehow blocking him from
reestablishing their link. No matter what he tried, Roman could not get back
inside her mind. Nothing he’d ever been taught concerning the bond between a
King and the keeper of his heart had prepared him for this. After all, he’d
known the moment of her birth. Had experienced all the milestones of her life
from the far hidden corners of her mind, as Zeus had decreed it to happen; all
in preparation for the day they would be together and secure their bond of
eternity. Never once in all those years had he not been able to touch her
thoughts or at least know what she was feeling, but now, somehow, everything
had changed.
    Spinning around as Nik, also known as Nikos, one of the younger
Kings, tapped him on the shoulder, Roman roared, “What?”
    Holding up his free hand in a sign of surrender, Nik handed him a
large leather bound photo album and said, “I think you better