Page 68 of A Kingdom of Broken Bonds

Back in the moment, I scan the area around me once more.

“Havoc,” I call, my voice carrying across the deserted space. He is here, I can feel him, but instead of facing the consequences of his actions, he is hiding like a child. “Come out, you coward!”

A flash of movement catches my eye, and I see him run into what looks like a stable block. Pushing that strange dark power into my limbs, I soar across the courtyard and am on him in an instant. It is the oddest feeling, because for a moment, I swear my feet did not touch the ground. This is not the time to be thinking about this, though, as I knock him through the stable doorway, and we go crashing down to the floor.

He cries out in alarm and tries to struggle away from me, holding his arms up in protection. I have seen him duel before, he is well trained, yet he seems to have lost all of his confidence and bravery, resulting in him being a quivering mess beneath me.

“Please, do not kill me!” he pleads. “I am a prince!”

It is my turn to look disgusted. The darkness in me wants to get this over with now and take his life, not bothering to waste a single moment more on him, but I have something I need to say first.

I dig my claws into his shoulder and neck, watching thin trickles of blood form where they puncture his skin. Good. Leaning closer so our faces almost touch, I lift my top lip and growl, enjoying the sensation of him shaking beneath me.

“You are a scumbag who was happy to sacrifice his people over a superstition,” I growl, allowing the dark part of me to enter my voice. “You are a danger to our safety, and you will continue to be for as long as you live.”

I raise my hand above me, ready for the final blow. This is it. I do wonder how it will feel when he dies given our broken bond, but he has already killed the connection between us, so I am sure I will survive it. I am stronger now. I can do this.

I go to move, but a strange feeling in my chest makes me pause, quickly followed by a scent I know well.

He is here. He came for me.

Finnik.

“Thea, wait!” Havoc’s best friend and my mate to be calls out as he steps into the stable, his face contorted into a frown of disapproval. “Do not kill him.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Finnik!” Havoc cries, relief filling his eyes as he jerks beneath me, trying to throw me off him, but it is no use. “Brother, save me from this lunatic. She is trying to kill me!” He attempts to sound fierce, snarling up at me threateningly, but it has no effect on me. We both know that only moments ago, he was running away and begging for his life.

I shift my weight so I am still pinning Havoc to the straw-covered ground while turning to look at Fin. He is wearing hastily thrown on travelling clothes, as though he grabbed the first items of clothing he could find and rushed straight here. Perhaps that is exactly what he did after Felix told him I left for Trador. I have so many questions, but I hold my tongue.

“Fin,” I greet, and although my voice is smooth, hiding my true emotions while Havoc is listening, I use his nickname, knowing how much he enjoys hearing it from me. It will also tell him that the changes to my body and mind have not changed how I feel about him. In reality, all I want to do is race forward into his arms, hold him close, and never let go, but something in his eyes stops me. He watches me closely, taking in my burnt, bruised, and broken body, along with the changes the darkness has caused. There’s a stillness inside him and a coldness in his expression that makes my heart race. I thought he was here for me, but now my brain is processing signs I did not want to notice before—the way he holds himself back from me, the almost indifferent attitude towards me, the lack of anger at Havoc. He cannot possibly be here to help the former prince, could he? My heart is telling me to trust him, the whisper of our bond brushing against me now that I have left the bunker.

Staring at his friend, Finnik raises a brow and glances around, not moving from his spot in the doorway. “I thought you might be hiding out here.”

My head jerks around to look at him, a frown pulling at my brow. “Wait, you knew where he was this whole time? Why didn’t you tell the king? Tell me?”

I feel a little betrayed that Finnik was aware of Havoc’s location. He could have been here sooner, but he arrived after I was tortured for so long I descended into my darkness to escape. Havoc tried to kill me, sabotaging our chances at surviving and saving the whole kingdom. Finnik knew but said nothing.

Something strokes across the partial bond, like a warm, gentle breeze as he looks at me. There is a disconnect between his flat expression and the warmth he is sending me, and I find it difficult to know which one to trust.

“I did not know for sure,” Finnik begins without any emotion. “He once told me about a hideout he created in Trador years ago. When we could not find him in the city, I assumed this was where he came. I did not know where it was, only a general location. I have been searching for an entire day.”

My hurt and confusion must be on my face, because his composure shifts.

“The reason I did not tell you was…” He sighs and shakes his head, his eyes moving to take in the pinned male beneath me. “Some lingering sense of loyalty I suppose. I also hoped he would give himself up, and I was giving him the opportunity to do the right thing.”

Finnik is here for me. He came for me. He searched the land and found me. He does not spell it out for me or say it directly, but the words he uses when talking about Havoc tells me he is trying to keep his anger controlled. Why the ruse? I assume he is trying to get some information out of Havoc before I kill him. At least, I hope that is what this is, and I have not been fooled.

“You were behind the abduction, Havoc?” he asks his friend, his voice smooth once more. “You were the mastermind behind it?”

“Yes, friend. I planned with the brotherhood. We knew she would leave soon enough with everything happening with the vampires.” The words fall out of him quickly now that he believes he is about to be rescued. How he has deluded himself into thinking Finnik is going to rescue him when not a single step or action has been taken to do so, I do not know. I think he is so certain in his relationship with Finnik that he believes it will automatically override any loyalty to me, ignoring the signs.

“You attempted to kill Thea twice then?” Finnik asks slowly, his voice deadly calm.

I do not know if it is the question itself or his tone that twists his words as he speaks, but Havoc frowns, catching onto the fact his friend has not jumped to his rescue. The question could sound innocent, but the tension in the air says it is anything but.

I take the opportunity to drag Havoc to his feet and pin him against the stable wall. With my new strength, it is like dragging a rag doll. He grunts at the force and glares at me before turning his attention back to his friend.

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