Page 69 of Guarded By the Orc

So that’s his game.

He was planning on making us afraid of him. Everyone else in our clan stiffened, as if they felt the same push. We glanced at each other before nodding, knowing that it was a fear tactic. And we werenotgoing to fall for it.

I looked over at my mate, but she kept her gaze locked with Veron’s, a power struggle happening that I didn’t understand.

CHAPTER 35

Zara

“Do you really want everyone here to die?” the words were hissed in my ear, travelling on the wind, and I lifted my wand, sending a message back to him.

“The only ones who are going to die are you and your men.”

The scowl on Veron’s face filled me with pride.

I do so enjoy fucking with him.

When I’d been captured, it never took much to make him angry. His temper was volatile and explosive. After reading the tomes my mother left for me, I understood why.

Black magick tainted the soul of the user, causing the humanity to be leached from them little by little. By now, I imagined that there wasn’t an ounce left inside of Veron. He was a mindless evil beast that wanted its way, and me and my family were the only things standing between him and what he wanted.

When his eyes moved to Rudgar, I tried not to stiffen—to show my weakness—but I knew that with his curse on me, he would be able to sense the connection I had with my mate.

“I see you’re thinking of mating one of the animals,” he sneered, before looking back at me. “I’ll do you a favor and kill him first.”

I tried not to react—not to show how much the sudden rush of fear hit me like an anvil to the chest—but it was difficult. I didn’t bother to send another message, lifting my wand, an arc of magick flying through the air toward him. It was a purple rush of fury, aiming for his chest.

He lifted his staff to block it and it was as if that one attack was the bell that started the rest of the battle. The cries that left the rest of the warlocks were drowned out by the roars of the orcs as they charged.

My coven stayed close, their hands lifting in simultaneous movements that provided invisible shields for the orcs. Veron lifted his staff, a crash of lightning falling from the sky. I threw my wand up quickly but gasped, waving it in the direction of my coven, sending up a barrier between them and the blast.

It rocketed into the barrier, crashing into it with a loud noise that rang through the battlefield. My eyes narrowed at the male who was smiling with smug amusement back at me.

He’d aimed for them. The treacherous fucker had aimed for them instead of me.

The growl that left my chest would be considered animalistic by most people.

How. Dare. He.

“They’re next, you know,” the words were in the wind again, and he smirked at me as I heard his voice. “My men will need women too. After I’ve taken you, I’ll come for them. Without you, they won’t stand a chance. If you come with me willingly, I might let you convince me to leave them alone.”

He quirked a brow at me, lifting his staff as he sent another crashing lightning strike against the barrier protecting them.

“Or do you want me to continue?” his disembodied voicelaughed in my ear.

I sucked in a breath, knowing he was goading me, aware that the fury rising in my body would only make my power more erratic.

Focus, sweetheart,my mother’s voice sounded in my ear, my memory of her crystal clear.Magick is emotion-based. The more out of control you are, the more it will be.

I counted to five in my head, as Veron sent crash after crash of lightning toward my coven. They glanced up, still chanting, their hands up and aiming toward the orcs they were protecting. But they trusted me, and for the first time in my life, I trustedmyself. I wasn’t going to let him touch a hair on their heads.

That was when the sound of screams could be heard from the middle of the battlefield. I looked over in time to see warlock after warlock falling in front of my mini orc army. Rok and Dristan were at the front, leading the charge.

Dristan had a male lifted over his head, a feral grin on his face as he tossed him a dozen feet away, a battle cry leaving his chest. Rok made short work of slicing his axe through a male’s neck.

I winced, searching out Rudgar, making sure he was safe, but I shouldn’t have worried. He was right behind Dristan, his stance firm as he held a gun up with two hands, aiming for one warlock, shooting and then turning to another before the first had even fallen in a crumpled heap at their feet.

He’s glorious.

---