Page 62 of A Kingdom of Destruction

“Filthy mortal scum.” He bared his teeth, breath hot. “You using those runes is a travesty. Where did you learn such things?”

“Get off me.” Aven drew her knee up between his legs, and the fae caught it before she made contact.

He pushed her back again, driving her harder against the ground before his hands crept to her shoulders, her neck.

“You’ll pay,” he whispered, his eyes narrowing in manic delight. “I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to our kind. And then everyone will see how weak you really are.”

She saw stars when her lungs strained.

She had no weapons to protect her. In this position, she was little better than a dog forced on its back in a show of dominance. This was a fight she couldn’t win?—

Then she noticed him.

Roran.

He was there, and the fear in her eyes undid her. Her stomach doubled in weight and sank down. Like hell she’d let herself fall in front of him.

She dug her fist into the male’s belly, but he didn’t budge. She followed it with her elbow, digging it into his ribs, poor and ineffective attempts to stop him from strangling her to death. Her movements slowed with every passing second with no air.

“Get off of her!” Roran shouted.

The fae male finally staggered back, losing his balance and falling out of sight. She coughed and rolled to the side, sucking in deep breaths of precious oxygen into her laboring lungs. She seized, choking, until her vision finally cleared.

She blinked until the dual images of Roran fighting the fae male solidified into one. He landed a punch to the side of the man’s cheek hard enough to break bone, his teeth gritted in a savage sneer.

He made the mistake of glancing over at her, his attention fractured and his body language all wrong. He wasn’t going to continue the fight. He only wanted to get to her.

But…why?

She forced herself to stand straight.

This man attacked her out of nowhere. And she was clear-headed enough now to realize this threat needed to be eradicated.

Aven tackled the fae male a moment before he unleashed himself on Roran. They tangled together on the ground.

“I have this covered,” she told Roran breathlessly. “I don’t need your help.”

He yelled out her name as a warning, and she managed to duck and avoid a punch from the male. There was no time to think then. About how this would end or why he’d come to her rescue.

Her body understood exactly what to do.

Even when the fae shot her a horrible smile and his magic sizzled in the air between them.

Aven avoided the blast, but a hissed exhalation was her only warning before the sole of his boot collided with her hip. Roran was there in a heartbeat to catch her when she lurched sideways. The blow stunned her, but his hands were strong and sure around her waist.

“Are you going to let me help you or not?” he growled.

She twisted around to glare at him before she swung at the fae male. He would be her punching bag. He would be her target and the source of every bit of her outrage and frustration and sorrow. He met her hit for hit until she couldn’t focus. Her insides were nothing but one long, never-ending scream, as though every bit of her agony had coalesced into a single sound.

His fists buried in her cheek, and she spit out a mouthful of blood.

Roran was still there. Offering up encouragement to her when she held out a hand to keep him back. Magic became a palpable stench in the air, but the male refused to release the whole of his power with the prince there.

Good.

She took advantage of his hesitation. With a low growl, she gripped him around the midsection and brought them both to the ground. He snarled at her, his lips peeled back and much too close to her face when he snapped them. Aven shuddered and brought her face closer to his, slamming her head into his face. Again and again, until blood sprayed from his broken nose.

Ah,perfect.

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