Page 26 of Conquering the King of Storms

Fuck fuck fuck.

It was close. Really fucking close.

I grabbed Sirus’s face and planted my lips on his, shoving my tongue into his mouth. There was no time for pleasantries, or enjoyment, or—

He started responding, and I ripped my mouth away. His eyes were still glowing slightly, but he was sane enough. He had to be.

Another roar sounded, and my head jerked to the side.

Horror clutched my chest as I finally saw the thing that had been trying to lure me in.

It had thick legs that resembled tree trunks, connected to an unnaturally-thin torso and head, and some kind of sludge was dripping slowly off its… skin?

I couldn’t see well enough to tell.

And it was coming right at us.

It lunged toward us.

A massive blast of wind crashed into me, knocking me backward just as Sirus threw himself at the nasty fucker.

The king’s massive body collided with the monster’s.

The wind slammed me into the wall that Sirus had been leaning against. There was no pain as I crashed into it, and I realized there was a thick cushion of air behind my back too.

I expected Sirus to create another one of his trademark funnel clouds to take care of this dude. Instead, a sharp gust of wind so thick and dense that it became visible to me cut through the air—and straight through the monster’s body.

Nauseous shock flooded my throat as I watched both halves of the monster land on the hard stone floor with a nasty thump.

Bile flooded the back of my throat, and I turned to my side as I gagged. My sushi dinner threatened to come back up, but a soft breeze blew against my skin, calming me slightly. A warm hand landed gently on the back of my neck as I lowered my face to the stone floor in an attempt to center myself.

The fact that the king had gone from literally ripping a monster in half to touching me so softly didn’t pass my notice, and it was kind of a mind-fuck.

“What happened?” Sirus’s voice was gentle, despite all that had just occurred.

My eyes were closed, and I tried to ignore the clammy sweat on my forehead. “There was crying. It sounded like a baby. I didn’t go after it, because you said not to. Didn’t realize it was coming toward us so fast. Your magic was in control when I woke you up.”

There was a long pause. Too long.

But I waited.

“You did well, Sway. I should have taken my magic into account before allowing myself to rest,” the king finally murmured.

My forehead wrinkled against the stone.

Was he… blaming himself?

He totally was.

I was used to Steven blaming me for shit that obviously wasn’t my fault. In this case, itwasmy fault, yet Sirus was taking the fall for it.

That was different.

“No, I should’ve woken you up as soon as I heard the first cry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” I whispered.

“You were thinking you’re in an underground cave in which you can’t see a damn thing, in a magical world where you don’t yet possess magic, and you heard what sounded like a baby crying. This is a new situation for you. I should be considering your needs first.” Sirus removed his hand from the back of my neck, and I felt the loss of his touch so strongly that I had to suck in a breath.

Why did he affect me so much?

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