Page 112 of Stolen
Heaven help me.
But I wouldn't trade this wild, magical, chaotic life for anything.
And in that moment, I believe in Alaric. In his words. His truth.
I feel it.
Not just in the bond, but in the eyes of every person standing here. They don’t see a human woman out of place.
They see one of their own.
And I’m just me.
Wearing awesome armor, my man magicked for me. But still covered in soot and sweat. Still shaking inside from the terror and adrenaline.
I don't feel like a warrior or a ruler. Just a girl who stumbled into a fight and didn’t back down.
“I’m going to check on the children,” I murmur to Alaric.
“If you wait, I’ll come with you,” he offers, brushing a strand of hair off my face.
But he’s needed here.
“Don’t worry,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to his cheek, not because I have to, but because Ican, and Iwant to. “I’ve got Shade with me.”
Alaric’s jaw tightens. He nods, but I feel the reluctance in every inch of him as his fingers trail down my arm before he lets me go.
My body aches, bruises blooming under my skin, but my heart—gods, my heart is so full it might burst.
“My lady? You wish to check on the children?” Shade materializes at my side, quiet as a shadow, but her eyes are alert, bright.
I slip my hand into hers and give it a squeeze. “Areyouokay?”
She tilts her head, a small smirk playing on her lips. “I am a Demon, Lady Jules. Battle sings in my veins.”
And to be fair, she doesn’t look shaken at all. Even streaked with soot and blood, with a bit of someone else’s armor stuck in her braid, she radiates calm competence.
But she’s smiling. And for that, I’m grateful.
I’m still reeling, to be honest.
I mean, no one tells you that when you’re kidnapped to a new world, you’ll end up in an actual battle for your life.
I wonder for a second if those tae kwon do classes I took in grammar school helped at all. Decide probably not.
What happened today? Well, that was all instinct. Fear. Protectiveness.
Still shaking slightly, I make my way into the keep with Shade while Alaric and his boys make a plan for detoxing those bespelled by the SoulTakers.
It seems like a long and heady process, but even as I leave his side, I know he will handle it.
We head toward where I sent the children during the battle—inside the Eyrie for their protection.
I feel a twinge of comfort at the thought of those precious tiny lives—Christol with his gap-toothed grin, little Allanah who always wants to braid my hair, and tiny Thimble who’s obsessed with my Earth stories.
But the moment I open the doors and walk down the hall to the children’s reading room, the one I had set up right outside the library, that comfort dies.
Dauphiné stands in the center of the room. Her terrible beauty seems even more unhinged than it was the last time we met.
