Page 61 of Forbid Me

"Best thing I ever did. Though I don't recommend it for you. King Dion is a good man."

"King Dion? My mate is Oz."

Dani's brows went up in surprise and then lowered in confusion. "I thought Dion sent Oz to the Crossroads to fetch his fated mate for him?"

I went stock still. Even my heart stopped beating. I should've laughed. I should've found those words amusing. But they rang with a truth so loud that my entire world tilted.

My brain was like one of those media players that was able to rewind video or audio. There was a whirring sound in my head as I turned back everything that had happened to me over the past few days, everything that Oz had said and done. His reluctance. His denial.

"Would you excuse me for a moment, Dani? I forgot something in the Jeep."

I turned on my heel and headed back down the hall. Backthrough that grand entryway. Back toward those massive doors. But I didn't need to go any farther. Oz and Dion were just outside.

"What did I tell you about Stella?" King Dion's words were like a thunderclap, echoing into the house.

Oz's voice was subdued, tinged with regret. "You told me to take care of her."

"Is this what you call taking care of her?"

"Sorry, sire."

"I trusted you with her."

The words struck a chord in me, resonating with its haunting familiarity. I'd dreamed this. Then seen it play out between Ken and Uziah. Then dreamed it again. This could not be happening to me again. I could not have fallen for the same game twice in one lifetime. Hell, twice in the same week.

"Stella is too important." There was a low growl in Dion's voice.

"I know I screwed up," Oz admitted, his voice a tortured whisper.

I didn't need to hear any more. I knew how this ended.

CHAPTER 42

Oz

“Iknow I screwed up."

"Is that what you dragged me out here for? An apology?"

As I stood before King Dion, a sense of unease gnawed at me, twisting my gut into knots. In my mind, all I saw was Stella as she'd stepped out of the train and the king had gotten his first look at her. She'd been battered and bruised, all marks that announced my failures over the past few days. I'd been responsible for her condition, for the dirt on her perfect skin and the rags covering her body.

Had I really thought myself worthy of such a prize?

The weight of my failures hung heavy on my shoulders, a burden I couldn't shake no matter how hard I tried. How could I have allowed her to come to harm, to face danger after danger? She deserved so much better than this, so much more than what I had been able to give her.

In that last battle, I'd been outmatched, outnumbered, and onthe verge of defeat when Dion had intervened, saving us both from certain death. Without his interference, I would have been nothing more than a casualty of war. I pulled my shoulders back and waited for the killing strike.

I knew he sensed what was between me and Stella. If he hadn't paid heed to the way she'd leaned against me, the way she'd defended me, cupped my cheek and kissed it, I knew he'd heard the warning growl I couldn't hold in when he'd touched her.

He'd seen it. The grin on his face told me he found it amusing. A lowly foot soldier with blood on his hands in love with a goddess, his future queen.

I'd promised Stella that my life was hers. She’d needed to get off this planet, needed to get to the safety of Panthera. If my life was what my king would demand as the price, then I'd pay it. Anything to keep her safe.

There was a thundering blow to my back. Yet somehow I was still standing upright. Dion's massive paw squeezed my shoulder. His grin was wide and predatory, like he was eying a juicy steak.

"Mission accomplished."

I blinked. And blinked again. "Mission?"

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