Chapter 44 Untitled Chapter
LYON
Lyon had been expecting a lot of things when he and his men got through the wily, drunk men at the front of the bar who had turned out to be possessed by some strange dark power.
He’d been certain that when he entered the tavern, he would find Rina in some kind of danger. But surveying the scene before him, it seemed like the only persons in danger was anyone that wasn’t Rina.
He watched, awestruck, as Rina dropped the woman she’d just killed, effortlessly and without a twinge of conscience, to the floor. Then cocking her head, she slowly glided over to him until they were face to face.
Lyon tensed, knowing that this wasn’t just Rina with him now. There was something more with them in the room, something in Rina that was more powerful than anything he could have ever imagined.
Her eyes burned silver-red, so unlike Rina’s violet blue eyes, it made her seem like someone else altogether.
One of her hands drifted up, caressing the curve of Lyon’s jaw and coasted to his lips. The mate bond sparked off between them in earnest and though Lyon was aware that this was Rina’s hybrid power in control, he felt just as drawn to her.
Her eyes sparked with curiosity and something else, something hot and intense.
“My mate.”
The words were a claim, a stamp of possession, as her eyes drifted to Lyon’s lips in vivid desire. The other Rina would have been shy to reveal her desire but it seemed that this Rina was unfettered.
And Lyon could feel his beast rising, in response to that call.
A thunder bold boomed across the sky just as Rina slammed Lyon’s lips to hers. It was raw, dark and pure carnal passion. When Rina and Lyon finally collided, it was with the force of a thousand storms.
Lyon wrapped his arms around her waist, setting her more firmly against him. He admired the way her body softened into the contours of his even as he devoured her with his mouth.
And Rina was no different, clinging to Lyon with surprising tenacity, her claws digging into his hair, causing pain but deepening the pleasure.
Neither noticed as the building continued to fall apart, the air filling with smoke as the world burned around them.
That was exactly how Cain saw them when he came inside to check on what was keeping Lyon so long. Locked in each other's embrace without a thought to anything else outside them.
Cain almost turned away at the sight but aware of the danger of the situation, he knew he had to interrupt them and get them away from the building and fast.
Ignoring the clenching of his heart at the sight, he called out in a deep timber, “Prince Lyon, we need to vacate the building. Now! It won’t hold on for much longer!”
As if on cue, one beam fell from the ceiling with a loud bang.
Called back to earth, the two separated, reluctantly and Rina sagged against Lyon’s chest, her eyes closing slowly.
Lyon, cursing himself for losing his head in such a dangerous place, he covered Rina’s burnt dress with his cloak, noting that all of her bruises and burns were already healed.
He swung her off the ground and walked briskly to the door where Cain still stood.
“Here, take her outside where it’s safe. I need to check for survivors here.” He handed over Rina to Cain, despite the deafening protest of his beast.
Seeing the danger Rina had just been in, his wolf felt overprotective and didn't like the sight of any full blooded male, even if it was a friend, next to her. But Lyon knew he could trust Cain with Rina.
Cain took her and nodded once, before leaving.
Lyon signaled two of his warriors and they went inside to rescue the remaining people in the burning building.
The foundation of the house was quickly crumbling and was becoming treacherous for any one to be in, even werewolves. Lyon had to locate the women and fast, before the house fell down around them.
Locating the witch first, he could see that she was badly burned. Her breath came out im small wheezes, it was a miracle she was even still alive. He carried her, making sure not to jostle her and handed her over to two males.
“I’m going in to get Elder Helga’s daughter. Take the witch and leave, I’ll meet you outside.”
But his warriors stopped him, saying through the thick smoke, “Your highness, let us go in instead of you. This house is about to collapse and we don’t want your highness to be caught in the fire.”
Lyon narrowed his eyes, giving them a hard eyed stare that made them quake in their boots.
“Did I not just give an order? Instead of twittering about, do as you’re told!”
“Yes sir!” The men said quickly and ran, doing as they were told.
Lyon understood their concern but what kind of commander would he be if he left the hard, dangerous jobs to his men while he stood watching and safe?
Another creaking sound echoed as one side of the roof came down. Time was of the essence now, Lyon knew. Putting an arm to his nose, trying to peer through the thick smoke, he shouted Kai’s name.
At first, there was no response then suddenly, to his right he heard a small groaning.
“Kai? Can you hear me?”
There was another moan.
Using his superior hearing, he followed the sound until he got to the source, seeing Kai lying down half under a plank of wood, her white hair barely visible under all the ash.
Quickly, he pushed it off her and covered her nose with his tunic so she wouldn’t inhale more of the toxic fumes but when he tried to lift her up, to his surprise, she squirmed, fighting him.
“Kai, It’s Lyon. I'm here to rescue you but I can’t do that if you keep on fighting me.”
But she just fought harder.
“Need… get Rina… my fault…” she squirmed again
She wasn’t making any sense but Lyon could catch the thread of her disjointed talks.
“Rina is safe, okay? Do you hear me, she’s safe. She's just outside and waiting for you to join her.”
“Noooo… my fault… the parchment… shouldn’t have come… leave me to die.”
It was obvious that Kai wouldn’t stop fighting until she said her piece. Lyon looked up. Any minute now, the roof would cave in. Grounding his teeth, he tried to reason with her once more.
“Kai, we need to leave now. The roof is about to fall and your mother and my mate will never forgive him if I left you here to die.”
Suddenly, her eyes flared open, wild with desperation, grasping his tunic with sudden force.
“It was all my fault. Tabitha had given Rina the location of her whereabouts so Rina could come to see her when she could leave the palace undetected. But then Rina decided not to go. It made me so mad, I don’t even know why now, but I really wanted to meet the witch. So I took the parchment and came here. Rina decided to come after me. And all this happened. And I hurt everyone. It was me, I hurt them. I’m at fault.”
Sobbing hard now, her body went limp and pliant as Lyon scooped her up and carried her out of the building, his heart thudding with the information he’d just heard.
Rina had known. All this while as he had been looking for Tabitha, she had known and had kept it from him.
He looked up just as the tavern fell with a mighty roar to the ground, and his eyes met Rina’s. And he knew that all of Kai’s ramblings were true.
The one person he’d trusted the most had betrayed him.