Page 68 of The Stolen Bride

Still grinning, he stopped beside the women, unfurling his massive wings behind them. His meaning was unmistakable: mine.

I shuddered at the menacing sight he presented, which only made his smile grow. Dang it, I’d let him know he’d gotten to me.

“Guess we don’t need to fight our way to the dungeon,” Bodi muttered.

Nope. The women were here. So what was Plan B? If any of us erupted, we might kill the innocents. Perhaps that was why Deco arranged this.

Viktor remained silent, fisting and relaxing his hands, shaking his head. Hearing whispers in the fog again?

I focused on Valkara. Her eyes were closed, her lips moving. Oh, yes. She was definitely talking to him. Either she sought to warn him of some hidden danger, or she wished to distract him at a dangerous time. Because why else would she do this here at such an opportune moment?

“Who’s ready for the show?” Deco called. He clapped his hands twice.

Soldier after soldier flooded into the room using every doorway, each man already partially shifted. They lined up against the walls, wing to wing, until completely surrounding us. Aggression and glee tainted the atmosphere. Next, Deco gave a quick hand motion, and the elegant guests rushed to the stage, taking up posts behind their king and his prisoners, leaving us alone on the polished parquet floor.

Well, okay then. Plan B crystalized. Fight, survive, and kill Deco. Viktor was right. The turul king had chosen his path. If it must end in his death to protect my loved ones, so be it.

Familiar heat bloomed in the center of my sternum, quickly spreading through my arms and pooling in my fingers. My nails darkened, sharpened, and extended into claws.Careful, careful. If I accidentally harmed my sister while she was helpless and bound…

“No, no, no,” Viktor muttered, his eyes squeezed shut.

Fighting for calm, I spun in front of Viktor and pressed my palm over his racing heart. “I need you to focus on me for a moment, baby, not Valkara. Okay?”

His eyes snapped open. Glowing golden rings flared in his irises, burning away the glaze of madness. “Ja?”

“Fight to kill.”

“Ja,” he repeated with determination. Between one blink and the next, his body doubled in size, pieces of hisclothing tearing. Some even fell away. Jagged flashes of lightning crackled over his skin. “Bodi,” he called.

The prince understood the unspoken request and moved behind me. He, too, had doubled in size and now wore what remained of his ripped clothing. No wonder berserkers fought naked.

Viktor stepped in front of me. Together, they formed a wall of protection around me.

“You think you’ve won, but you’re about to lose your army,” Viktor stated. “Let’s do this in the way of the ancients. Challenge me one-on-one. Winner is king of the House of Turul, berserkers and shifters alike.”

How ironic. This was what Lena had desired all along–these two men battling for both thrones and all the power that came with them—but she wasn’t here to witness the fruits of her labor.

“Ah, but I have no desire to rule your house.” Hatred iced his golden brown eyes. His voice hardened, more unbendable than steel. “I intend to destroy it, piece by piece. I’ll start with your firebrand.” His attention slid to me but only remained long enough to blow me a kiss, throwing fuel on the fires of Viktor’s burgeoning rage. “Unless you can save her.” That said, he threw back his head and released a guttural squawk.

His soldiers sprang forward. The rasp of metal sliding against leather pierced the air as Vik and Bodi drew their weapons. The shifters reached us within seconds, attacking in unison. With matching roars, my teammates burst into action. A gruesome battle ensued, the combatants moving too quickly to track. I only saw bodies and body parts toppling and piling up around us. Grunts and groans blended with pops and gurgles I hoped to never hear again.

I tried to help, I really did, but my two berserkerbodyguards worked so hard and so fast, no shifter got within striking distance of me. Except. Hmm. They were too busy to notice the newest threat headed our way. The windows above us opened, allowing additional turul-shifters to fly in from the ceiling.

“Incoming,” I shouted. Internal heat intensifying, I swung my claws at a member of the flock. Mistake! He clamped his talons onto my wrist and lifted me off my feet.

He tossed me across the room. Viktor roared a denial as I soared through the air and crashed into the floor—Ahhhh! Upon impact, a trapdoor opened, and I dropped. The heart-stopping plunge didn’t last long, but it might have been the most terrifying moments of my life. Air whooshed around me as I flailed about, unable to stop my momentum. When I hit the ground, I hit hard. Bones broke, and oxygen exploded from my lungs. Searing agony blasted through every inch of my body. Stars winked over my vision, and nausea churned in my stomach. Dust filled my next breath.

Groaning, I rolled to my side, coughing violently. Deep breath in, out. In. Out. Each inhalation was a gritty struggle. One moment. Two. Then the pain began to fade. The sharp stings diminished to a dull ache before vanishing completely as my bones healed. Thankfully, my stomach settled, and I pulled myself into an upright position.

Light flickered from a lantern, casting eerie shadows over uneven, cracked stone walls. Needing leverage, I slipped my fingers into one of those cracks. As I stood, I gasped, realization dawning. This wasn’t a stone wall but a barrier made of stacked human skulls. My thumb had passed through a hollow eye socket.

I’d fallen into some kind of catacombs. I swallowed a second wave of nausea and snapped my hand back to my side.

The scent of decay thickened cold, damp air. Water trickled from a fissure in the far wall in a persistentdrip, drip, drip. I grabbed the lantern by the handle, ready to find a way out of this death chamber. A glance up proved the trapdoor had already closed, ensuring no one could follow me down. Torchlight caught a crimson smear on the far wall, and my eyes narrowed. No, not a smear, but letters. Deco had painted a message for me.

Told you I thought of everything.

I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth. There must be an escape this place. I had only to find it.

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