Page 53 of Protected By the Fae King

I blushed. “You’re going to make me nervous.”

“I can attack you if you want,” he teased, coming at me.

“You wouldn’t dare!” I challenged, dancing back in my leggings and tank top to extend my hands.

“Wouldn’t I?” he replied, stalking at me, his dark eyes flashing impishly. “What’s the fun in doing this if you don’t have opposition?”

I didn’t have a chance to answer him, to tell him that I wasn’t skilled enough to fight anyone, because he pounced on me, and I squeaked, dodging him and rolling out of the way.

“Oh, come on,” he teased. “You can do better than that.”

Blinking, I realized he expected me to shoot fireballs at him, and I shook my head. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

Without waiting for me to reply, he morphed in front of me, stealing my breath at the transformation. I’d never seen him do this before, his clothing ripping away beneath his animalistic muscles, fur tufting around his elongating black snout.

For a moment, I could only gawk at his full transformation, the beast before me resembling nothing of the alpha king I had only just seen.

Jace fell back on his haunches and waited for my attack. Licking my lips, I created a tentative fireball in my palms and playfully tossed it toward him, like a child playing a game. His massive paw swatted it aside like it was an annoying gnat.

Emboldened by his cockiness, my next creation was bigger, and I grinned, dancing forward to throw it harder. He lungedtoward me this time, and I squealed with laughter, dodging out of the way to avoid his pounce, rolling to my side.

For several minutes, we went on like this, me tossing fiery creations his way, his tail or paws missing them, and I whirled around to tell him that I needed to take a break when he froze. His eyes went strangely blank, his head swiveling toward the doorway. Before I could ask him what was going on, the door to the gym flew open, and a hooded figure rushed through.

Dumbfounded, I merely stared as the newcomer headed directly toward Jace, a spiked dagger raised to stab. Behind him, two Royal Guards sprinted in, and Jace growled menacingly, understanding the threat even before I realized what I was doing.

Without thinking or considering the consequences, I conjured a fireball as the would-be assailant thrust the blade downward, but Jace jumped into the plunge, fury in his eyes.

“STOP!” a guard shouted, although I wasn’t sure if he was yelling at me or the attacker. The fireball shot from my hand, spiraling outward from my wrist as I realized too late where it was going to land.

“NO!” I screamed, dread sucking my breath away. “JACE!”

The impact hit, throwing the unwelcome guest clear into the air and against the wall. His neck cracked with a sickening thud, his lifeless body crumpling smoldering to the ground.

“ALPHA!” Llyodiver howled, shooting me a wary look as he rushed to Jace’s side. The king’s wolf form faded away as he lay unconscious, my fireball harming him, too.

“Oh, gods,” Llyodiver hissed. “What did you do?!”

I could only fall to my knees and cradle Jace’s limp head, shaking my own.

“I-I’m sorry!” I gasped, willing him to open his eyes. But my apologies meant nothing to the guards as I was pushed aside and Jace was lifted away.

I had hurt the king.

What had I done indeed?

Chapter 17

Jace

Swimming. I was swimming.

That’s why my head felt like it was under, drowning…

But that was ridiculous. I had just been in the gym with Elix, sparring playfully. I struggled to regain my composure, to find my mind and understand where I was. My eyes remained glued closed, my brain attempting to make the connections.

Fireballs.

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