Page 72 of The Lost Princess

I stared at both, then at them. I turned away.

“Won’t be so ‘igh and mighty after a few days of this. I give it two until she dies. What do you lads think?”

My shoulders tensed as they took bets on my life. Anger fueled me, and I snatched the water and food, turning my back to them. It was tempting to refuse it and die, foiling Alfred’s plan to breed me. I stared at my hands for a minute, growling as my anger and will to survive won out. This time. I quickly ate and drank, tossing the empty pack and canteen back at them. I managed to hit one of them in the back of the head.

He turned with a grunt, unsheathing his sword. Shit. I skittered to the back of the cage.

“We have orders to do whatever we want, you know,” he spat. All of the guards advanced, swords drawn. “Our orders are to make you scream. Doesn’t matter how.”

Nausea rolled in my stomach, and sweat beaded on my forehead.

No matter what happened, I wouldn’t scream. I wouldn’t call out to Nasi.

I closed my eyes.

I wouldn’t.

Hands grabbed me from outside the cage, pinning me to the bars. I should scream. The pirate man said he would help.

Just scream.

My throat tightened. I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t risk Nasi getting captured. I closed my eyes, swallowing reflexively. There was nothing I could do. It was like Peltan all over again.

A hand landed on my neck, squeezing. I tried to spit venom in his face, but another gag was shoved down my throat. I was thrown to the ground, my head banging off the bottom of the cage. My vision swam, and my head grew fuzzy.

Don’t scream.

Black curled at the edges of my consciousness.

I was too weak to protest as they hauled me up, two men holding me in a standing position, one on each arm. A third guard grabbed my legs and yanked them open, wrapping my legs around his waist. He fumbled with his breeches.

A new fear overcame me, and I didn’t think twice. Iscreamed.

Then the hands unexpectedly loosened, and the guards started yelling and pointing. I sucked in a breath, my vision clearing, and turned my head to the side. A black speck hurtled toward us from the horizon, getting closer. It bellowed a roar in fury, shaking the very foundations of the castle. My inner draken purred in response.

Mate.

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry and rage and demand he turn around and leave me to my fate. It wasn’t safe. He’d been caught as well!

But I couldn’t help the relief shooting through my veins, or the delight of my inner draken.

Nasi was coming for me.

ChapterTwenty-Three

NASI

Ikept going east, the uneasy feeling staying with me as I traveled. I knew better than to make one chance meeting with a group of women as a representative sample, but things seemed different in Dorea. The humans weren’t free like the ones on my side of the mountain were. The humans here were afraid, and wary.

The words the women had used rang something deep within my subconscious.Vampyre. Lykos. Demon. They were familiar words, but lacked context. This would make sense if I’d heard them as a child without understanding what they meant.

Not that I needed context. It was easy enough to piece it together as I hid from wandering bands of hulking black beasts, roving groups of pale-faced humans with fangs, and a company of men covered in fur. These creatures roamed Dorea, and I was mostly sure they hadn’t before.

Nevertheless, I pushed east. I moved cautiously during the day, dodging these groups of ruffians and daring to fly a bit at night. I only stopped to kill a rabbit here and there, not wanting to risk bringing down larger game again. Doing so, it only took me another day and a half to reach the coastline, just as the sun was rising above the horizon.

I paused on the edge of a sandy beach, looking outwards. My eyes closed, and I could feel it pulsing weakly in my chest.

Home.

---