Page 32 of A Bond in Blood

Maybe he had planned this along. Maybe he’d only allowed me to see this door countless times because only he knew where it led.

“Run little beast,” his voice bellowed—too close for my comfort. “Because I will destroy you when I catch you.”

I rounded another corner, letting out a sob of relief when my eyes spotted a door at the end of the long hallway. My logic tried to warn me I was running right into a trap, but I didn’t care. The door was a light at the end of the darkness encroaching around me and I needed an escape.

My legs moved faster while my back grew slick, with either my sweat or blood from my lashes, I wasn’t sure.

My hands connected with the door, and I shoved as hard as my body physically could. I stumbled through the threshold where screams and grunts of surprise welcomed me.

I glanced back, watching the darkness grow closer before turning my attention to the occupants of the room I’d barged through.

“What the fuck, princess?” Olen’s voice yelled out.

I blinked, focusing on a fully naked Olen with a woman beside him. Not any woman I realized, it was the woman Ulrich had sent away days before. And she was staring at me with pure hate in her eyes.

“I—” I began, then paused when the hairs on my body rose. Ulrich was approaching, just beyond the door.

Olen’s eyes snapped to the threshold then the woman beside him.

“Leave,” he ordered.

She let out an offended scoff but didn’t protest. With the blanket still wrapped around her, she ran out the doors on the other side of the room.

“Come here,” Olen said briskly, pointing beside him.

My eyes widened, landing on his muscled naked body.

“I’m alright.”

His white teeth shone through the candle-lit room. “Come here, princess. My king is about to enter this room, and you will be completely defenseless in the dark. Unless this is a game you’re playing, being chased until you’re alone with two men.”

I couldn’t argue when the door shook behind me. I clambered to my feet, running to Olen and landing on the bed next to him, curling around myself.

The lights in the room went out the moment my chin touched my knees. The mattress shifted with Olen’s weight and his voice echoed in the dark.

“Your grace.”

Ulrich’s power permeated the space with a frigid, burning cold. Searching for life.

Searching for me.

The king didn’t speak while his presence took over. I could hear it though—the rage in his breaths. The determination topunishme.

“She attacked me—again,” Ulrich spoke, addressing Olen.

Olen laughed. “Gods, I bury myself in one woman and you two can’t stop your fighting long enough for me to finish.”

My mouth opened to counter, but I slammed my lips shut. It wasn’t the time to provide the beast-man with a quip. It was the time to pay attention and save my own foolish hide.

“Based on the way your heart is beating and the stench of her bleeding wounds, I’m going to assume something happened, more than her attacking you,” Olen continued.

Both Ulrich and I were silent. My hand rose, touching the wet nightgown and I brought my slick finger back to my nose.

Blood—definitely blood.

“He’s mad I didn’t ride him in the tub.” The words left my lips, and my eyes widened in the dark.

Olen’s laugh boomed throughout the room. “Fuck the Gods. Really, Ulrich?”

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