Page 9 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

And she’s incredibly stubborn and pigheaded, he thought to himself.

Hopefully, the information he did have was enough for now, but he would send his men throughout the kingdom to find any answers that may be hidden.

“King Elijah,” Liam said from behind him, drawing the king to look over his shoulder before his eyes drew back to Janelle’s.

She winked.

The nerve, he thought.

“Yes, Liam, I’m a bit busy at the moment.” His eyes never left hers.

“It’s Aiden, sir. He’s entered the gate,” he said. Elijah watched her stir at the sound of that name. He furrowed his brow, confused by her reaction, but put it aside in his mind.

Elijah straightened his tunic, willing himself to break their gaze. “Send him down.”

“He’s with the brigade, Your Highness. Do you want them all down here?”

Elijah glanced down the hall, watching the lanterns flicker as the footsteps sounded above in the ballroom.

“Fine, have the warriors stay put. I’ll be up shortly.”

Liam turned on his heel and headed back upstairs. Elijah heard a click from the steel door at the front.

He slowly turned back to the cell, his fingers linking around the iron bars once more.

“I have worked tirelessly on keeping this kingdom safe, assassin,” he said through clenched teeth. “War is of the past, and I expect to keep it that way.” He licked his bottom lip as he watched her bare her teeth. “Are you here to start a war with my people and me?”

Janelle narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, as if she struggled with her own doubts. Elijah cocked his head slightly to the right, and his lip turned up again, sinister and void of kindness. Black smoke trailed from his hand through the cell bars, climbing up her pants. She jumped back and smacked at it, but her hand only went through the dark mist.

“I will say, I do find you fascinating, Janelle,” he said. “Kind of like a new little toy of mine.” He flicked his wrist, the smoke taking hold of her, causing her knees to buckle and fall to the hard, stone floor.

Janelle’s eyes grew wide as the smoke reached her throat. He slowly squeezed his hand. Her hands gripped at the smokey fingers that latched around her neck and cut off her airway. He eased the pressure, but only enough for her to let out a heavy groan and her eyes glared into his in defiance once again.

“Under normal circumstances, I would never lay a hand on a lady.” He felt her satin-smooth skin through his magic, causing an unexpected flip in his stomach. “But you—”

“You still won’t!” Elijah heard a shout from behind—Aiden.

The black-haired elf and head of the Elven warriors stood tall, almost towering over Elijah, with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

“Aiden,” Elijah said, facing him while still holding on to his magic.

“Let her go,” Aiden said, his voice rough.

Elijah’s face grew hard. “I told you to wait in the ballroom.”

King Elijah felt the fury run through him again. His irritation at the peace in his kingdom being threatened frayed at his control. The magic only fueled his anger further, making it harder to come down from his wrath.

“You will let go of her throat,” Aiden continued. “You are hurting her!”

Elijah didn’t release his hold but instead tightened his grip. Janelle gasped, moaned in pain, and pressed her back against the brick wall.

“Well, if she would stop behaving like a petulant child, I wouldn’t have to do this.”

Aiden unsheathed his sword and quickly turned to him, holding his other hand up, but before releasing his magic, Aiden pressed the blade to the king’s throat.

Elijah’s eyes turned dark, the black smoke seeping from his other hand, reaching toward his warrior. “Aiden, be very careful about what you do next,” he warned. “This is madness!”

Aiden stepped forward, watching Elijah’s magic climb up his own body, wrap around his arm and up his neck.

“I have no intention of killing you, my friend,” Aiden exclaimed, trying to move back from the magic himself, but it hovered over his throat, threatening to squeeze. “But that girl in there cannot die.”

Elijah regarded Aiden’s pleading expression, dropped his magic, and stepped back, the sword only grazing against his throat. Janelle coughed repeatedly from behind him, but he didn’t turn toward her again.

“And why is that?” Elijah asked as the darkness within him quieted.

“Because,” Aiden said. “She is my sister.”

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