Page 34 of Fate and Flame
“Could it be? Did you find yourself a mate, Temir? It would explain your strong will against me.” He laughed, the dangerous sound growing and echoing through the cold room. He stepped so close I could feel his breath on my face. “You have no idea what you’ve just given me. My spies tell me I’ll need to break a mating bond in the near future. Now I have the perfect candidate.”
I felt Nadra’s hatred and then panic as the king crossed the room to stand next to the door. Nadra must have been on the back side of the massive table behind an alcove, and I was grateful.
“You may only move your hands, Temir.” His magic struck me with a renewed force as he opened the door, gestured, and walked back in with the two females from before.
“Undress,” he commanded.They did as they were told. I tried to look away, but I was unable to move. “Seduce him,” the king grinned.
They crossed the room and reached for me. Nadra’s fury burrowed into me as they moved their hands all over my naked body.
“Look at them, Temir,” he ordered.
My eyes were forced to watch as they moved their hands over me and then each other. I kept my face dull as they touched their breasts and kissed each other. I felt sorry for them. The king hadn’t enchanted them, only ordered. But their disgust was written across their faces all the same. Autus had no idea though. He was blind to anything but adoration.
“Tell me where Nadra is,” he said, again using his magic.
It was less difficult than the first time to ignore him. My basic instincts told me to protect her, and I would until my dying breath. I watched the females move their bodies against me as I waited for the king to realize his plan would not work.
Instead, he crossed the floor, reached for one of them, and touched her, still forcing me to watch his perversion. He’d fuck her right there on the table and not think twice about it.
I swallowed the rising bile in my throat as the other female reached between my legs.
A growl came from the corner, and I masked it with my own as she tried and failed to induce a physical reaction from me. I would grow hard for one female only.
“Sever your mating bond,” Autus said, though he was distracted by the female practically climbing him, much happier to be touching a king.
I didn’t move, still saying nothing.
“Damn you, fucking lesser,” the king roared, realizing he could not command away a mating bond. He grabbed both naked females and moved to the door. “Don’t move until I return. I’m not done with you yet.”He stormed out, causing a raucous on the other side of the door.
Several moments passed until Nadra spoke, her voice unwavering. “I’m going to slide this ring over your finger. There’s a chance I might touch you. Are you ready?”
“Wait. Listen through the door. Make sure the hall is empty first.”
“There’s at least one, maybe two,” she whispered several moments later.
“This is probably the only chance we are ever going to have to escape. There’s a route really close to this room, but I’m going to have to use a type of magic I’m not proud of.”
“Do whatever you have to do, Temir. You are safe with me.”
I felt the cold bite of the ring against my skin and my rigid body dropped, no longer enchanted to stand still. I wasn’t sure it would work, given a physical order rather than a mental one. I didn’t take the time to consider the science behind it, instead I did a sweep of the room. Nadra remained hidden behind her mother’s magic as I placed an ear to the door. “If there are two guards, stay inside until I come for you.”
I yanked the door open, and a single guard stood stunned, staring at my naked body. I slammed my death magic into him, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged his fallen body into the room. Relieving him of his clothes, I rushed into his guard uniform, haphazardly buttoning but refusing to stop to explain to Nadra what she had just witnessed.
She was the only person in my life to have ever seen it happen.
The clothing was snug, but nothing would draw attention to me quicker than running bare through the halls. “If we can get out of this hall without being seen, we have a real chance. We have to get out of here and get to the compound as fast as we can if we want a chance of saving anyone.”
“I’m ready when you are.”
I longed to see her face. To take this single moment and hold her. But she was safest unseen. I took a few solid, deep breaths to steady myself before I opened the door.
The hall was fortunately empty.
“Keep your pace slow,” I warned her, turning the corner sharply, then walking a straight line toward the tree nursery that would lead us to the only open tunnel. Rounding another corner, I stopped and casually redirected to go the other way as I realized several guards stood outside the doors we would need to use. Once I was alone, I whispered, “We’re going to have to go out the front doors.”
Nadra sucked in a sharp breath. “It’s too dangerous. Why not the kitchens?”
It was a brilliant idea. The staff in the kitchens who recognized me would likely say nothing to alert the others, and, dressed as a guard, it wouldn’t be uncommon that I would leave the castle that way. We would still have to get through the gates though.
