Page 60 of Mated to the Enemy
Muttered words greeted him from the score of shifters lounging about the area. Klaue knew it wasn’t the uniform they were discussing, but him personally. That didn’t bother him, because frankly, most of the shifters associated with the two Title Holders that hung out there weren’t worth the shine he used on his boots. The only ones who had a modicum of his respect were the pair of Asps, the men trained to assist Kvoss in taking down rogue mages.
He nodded to them, but received nothing but cold stares in return.
“How’s everybody doing in here today?” he asked with false sincerity.
“Wewerefine,” one of them muttered under his breath, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. There were chuckles from the audience.
“Uh oh. Got a tummy-ache? Better go see the doc for that,” Klaue said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m sure the nurse will kiss it better and give oo a wowlly-pop.”
The shifter in question, clearly still young because of his smooth baby-face, snarled impotently at Klaue but didn’t do anything.
I thought so.
He turned to leave the room, wondering if he would miss dealing with this bullshit if he won the position of Champion? The only Title Holder that still performed regular duties as a guard was Captain, and that was Kirell’s position.IfKlaue won, his duties would extend to the entire House. He would be responsible for the training programs that all shifters went through once they turned eighteen, among other things.
Hey, maybe I’ll get to beat the arrogance out of the shits like this one. They could use a bit more authority in their lives.
Now, there was an upside he hadn’t considered. He still had to beat this Korpez first, of course, but even just the thought of it was enough to put a smile on his face as he walked through the room toward the hallway entrance on the far side, ignoring most of the comments directed his way.
“You boys and girls behave, okay?” he said as he reached the far side, knowing that treating them like children would irritate them all. “I don’t want to have to get your mommy involved, you understand? So, be good.”
“Wearegood,” one of the Asps snapped. “Not that you’d know what that is anymore, now you’re screwing that Canim slut.”
Klaue turned and kicked the couch closest to him right at the offending shifter. Two other bodies on the couch shouted out in surprise as they were tossed wildly, the couch flipping.
He didn’t give the Asp time to recover, charging straight through the path of destruction carved by the couch. Other shifters dove for cover, none of them wanting to tangle with Klaue on their best day. Now, they took one look at his face and scattered.
“You,” Klaue said, grabbing the stunned shifter and tossing him across the room where he slammed into the baby-faced Ursa from earlier.
He ran after him, picked him up by his neck and his pants, lifted him high, and chucked the Asp straight back down. “Need.” Kick. “To learn. Manners.” He punctuated each word with another kick.
On the third one, the Asp grabbed Klaue’s other leg and pulled it out from under him. They went down in a heap, wrestling for control. Klaue took a knee to the jaw and reeled, but recovered quickly enough and wrenched the Asp’s arm around behind him until his shoulder popped.
The man screamed, and Klaue chuckled an evil laugh as he got to his feet, dodging another blow. He ducked low, hit the shifter once, twice, three times in quick succession in the gut. The rapid blows to the stomach triggered an instinctive response and Klaue stepped aside as the Asp vomited profusely.
“Next time,” he said, hammering a fist into the man’s temple. “Watch your tongue. Otherwise I’ll rip it out for you and—Ack!”
Klaue flew back as something grabbed him from behind and tossed him. Furious, he got to his feet but froze as a black blade swept from its sheath and came to rest less than a foot from his neck. Even at this distance, he could feel the radiation from the uranium-enriched blade reacting with his shifter DNA. The skin on his neck would be turning black in moments.
“Korve,” he snarled, backing down from the Queen’s Guard.
“That is enough.”
Technically, neither one was in each other’s chain of command, but when a uranium blade was ready to slice open your throat and prevent the wound from healing while you bled out on the floor if you tried to fight, it was prudent to be respectful. So, instead of saying anything, he just remained silent, though he did stand. Slowly.
Korve looked at him, then—with a nod—put the blade away.
“Go find something useful to do,” the Queen’s guardsman snapped at the other shifters in the room.
In seconds, it was empty.
“Dude,” Korve said, fury still in his voice. “That was dumb.”
“No it wasn’t,” he said calmly. “It was going to happen sooner or later. I just…shouldn’t have overdone it,” he admitted.
“Don’t tell me,” Korve said with a pitying smile. “Tell her. She wants to see you.”
“Shit.”
There was only oneshethat Korve would be speaking about, and she wasn’t going to go lightly on Klaue, that was for sure. If he escaped with his body in one piece, that would probably be considered a victory. Mentally preparing himself for the onslaught, he nodded at Korve and strode from the room.
It was time to see the Queen.
