Page 131 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

“You hear that?” Thalon was still grinning as he angled his head toward Garrik. “One night in a Kadamarian bed and it broke him.” He chuckled and pointed his gaze down, addressingtheir sea captain skeptically. “Done with bedroom proclivities.You.Really?”

Mischief cloaked Aiden’s answering grin.

“And while you interpret that…” Garrik rubbed his chin, covering his grin, and walked to the door.

Thalon was quick to follow. “Where are you going?”

Garrik sent a withering glare over his shoulder, smirked, and said, “I have a princeling tonot-kill.”

Alora didn’t doubtthat look in Jade’s eye. Not for a second.

Peering over her shoulder with delight, a silent understanding coursed between them. It was the same look Jade had worn in the tavern in Alynthia. Ravenous hunger. Only this time, it wasn’t a reckless bar fight. They weren’t holding broken table legs or forks. And these males weren’t drunken fools.

Just … fools.

Behind her, Jade swung her sword overhead, blocking the male who jumped from the crowd and showering sparks on them both. In four perfect thrusts and cuts, the male blocked her blade with his gloved hand—just as she’d intended. A move Alora recognized from their personal training sessions.

Jade flicked a throwing dagger from the sheath at her thigh and whipped it to his balls as she leaned in close and snarled, “Yield. Or the family bloodline ends here.”

Six, Jade. Four, Alora.

She needed to catch up.

When he didn’t move, from foolish male pride, arrogance, or simply sheer stupidity, Jade stepped backward and kicked him in the gut, launching him into the dirt on his ass.

From the dumbfounded look of the male, Alora couldn’t contain the laugh. It roared from her belly and bounced off the crowd and stones around them, mixing with displeased growls and murmurs. She cupped Jade’s shoulder and squeezed, meeting those green eyes full of exhilaration and a hint of cruel amusement.

Thiswas where Jade thrived. Her love for the blade, the fire inside her, and the passionate will of a fighter. The thrill of the win. The kill. Jade’s eyes danced with a wickedness Alora only glimpsed around pompous males, and she wasn’t afraid to admit she’d adopted a hint of that same contempt. Especially againstthesemales?—

Jade’s eyes widened only seconds before Alora comprehended why.

The slice of a blade split the air behind her.

Alora whirled on her heel, sword an extension of her arm, prepared to block the incoming blow.

Then, from within the crowd, cold iron swung and stopped the blade from embedding in her back.

Her swing stopped short inches from meeting flesh. Pressed to the neck of the fighter, who leapt from the crowd and now stood as a darkened form between the guardsmen and her.

Perhaps she should’ve been grateful. As they stood there, two blades crossed, and another held to flesh. She should’ve looked whoever had aided her fight in the eye with something like gratefulness. But in that moment, only annoyance remained.

“I don’t need your chivalry,” declaring up to the silhouette blocking out the sunlight. “Unlike your comrades, I can take care of myself.” Alora withdrew her sword and spun around dismissively. She stalked away and met Jade’s eyes with a curtnod before Jade sheathed her sword and found Deimon in the crowd.

Alora only made it four steps when a voice, as intense as sunstorms, called from behind, “So full of fire, aren’t you?”

It felt as if she’d smacked into a wall. Her fist tightened around the hilt of her sword as she willed embers to remain dormant in her eyes.Pompous male.Deciding not to stroke his ego further, Alora stepped away.

But the asshole dared to speak again. “Come now. Undoubtedly you aren’t angry that I saved you?”

That did it. Alora suppressed the overwhelming urge to scorch his pristine attire and spun on him. A singe or two would be perfect. But not here. Not when Mystics were outlaws and this kingdom collected them for Magnelis.

“If you speak again, you’ll find my blade somewhere unpleasant. As my sister threatened … your family bloodline will end here.” With the tip of her blade, Alora gestured below his belt. It was only then she noticed …

That soldier had moved toward her, dressed unlike the others.

Those weren’t Ladomyr’s colors or metal armor on that carved body…

A snow-white tunic tickled against his sculpted torso from the mountain breeze. In the morning light, the strands of his sun-colored hair beamed as russet eyes settled their full attention on her. And unlike the night before, there were no circlets or jewels in his blond hair.

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