Page 379 of Primal Bonds

Inside, his cat crouched, a concentrated ball of rage. Aching to sink its teeth into Luc’s throat, to drench the earth with his blood.

Easy. We need to find out what he knows.

“Why?” he ground out. “Why would the prince want Rosana?”

“He’s a fae.” The wolf shrugged a shoulder. “Since when do they need a reason to be S.O.B.s?”

It wasn’t a lie, but Adric recognized evasion when he heard it. He scraped a hand over his spiky hair. Luc wasn’t telling him everything, but maybe he couldn’t.

“You say Lady B wants to join the New Moon court?”

A shrug. “She can’t return to Iceland—the ice fae king banished her from his court for a fae year-and-a-day.”

Adric nodded. “Jani told me.”

“The night fae are her mother’s people, but they don’t want her, either. They pawned her off on the ice fae when she was still a kid.”

“Figures.” Adric snorted. The night fae would devour their own young if they didn’t need them to pass on their precious bloodlines. “But that doesn’t explain why the prince would want Rosana. Me, I can understand. Take me, and Jani will come running.”

Their eyes met. They both knew the prince would do just about anything to get his hands on Marjani.

“But Rosana?” Adric shook his head. “He must know it will bring Rock Run down on him. They’re a powerful clan, and everyone knows the sun fae queen has a soft spot for Rosana.”

Luc gave a noncommittal grunt. He seemed distracted. A drop of sweat trickled down his face. At his sides, his fingers twitched.

Suddenly, he lunged. Adric flung himself to the side, but Luc’s fingers closed on his quartz.

Adric jerked. It was like Luc had plunged his hand into his chest and wrapped his fingers around his beating heart. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, his whole being consumed with a deep, visceral agony.

He shoved at Luc, but the other man held on grimly.

“Sorry.” His old friend’s face was a stony mask. “She gave me a direct order. I can’t disobey.” He gave the quartz a hard squeeze.

Adric bit down on a scream as more pain jolted through him. His eyes locked on Luc’s own quartz, just inches from his face.

He scrabbled for it, missed. Tried again.

Claws slid out on Luc’s free hand. He slashed at Adric’s forearm, ripping him to the bone, but Adric was in too much pain to register it.

There.

His fingers closed on Luc’s quartz. He glared into the wolf’s eyes, using all the dominance at his command. Praying it would be enough to overcome the geas, at least temporarily.

“Release my quartz. Now.”

Luc shuddered. Sweat poured down his face. But he gripped the pendant even tighter.

Pain lashed at Adric like a fiery whip. Scorching through his veins in an unending shriek of agony.

His body jerked, but he kept up the pressure. “Let. It. Go.”

Luc’s gaze slid sideways—and then he released the pendant and stumbled back.

The absence of pain was stunning. Adric sucked in a breath. Another breath, and then he realized he’d let go of Luc’s quartz.

Fortunately, the other man was in no shape to fight. He bent forward, hands on his thighs, chest heaving.

Adric didn’t wait for him to recover. Jerking his dagger from its sheath, he slammed Luc to the forest floor. Straddling his abdomen, he touched the sharp iron edge to the soft place beneath the jaw where Luc’s right carotid pulsed.

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