Dragons Among Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice) (23 page)

“Oh, why is this so hard, Will?” The horse’s ears lay back on his head and he bared his teeth at her, his treat left unfinished in her hand. Addie stepped back, suddenly frightened. “Will?”

Something metal pressed against her throat as an arm clamped around her waist.

“Make a sound, lass, and it’ll be your last.”

She bit back the scream welling in her throat and shook her head minutely. Will reared up in his stall and whinnied, the sound breaking the otherwise silent night.

“Smart girl,” her captor growled. He lifted her by the waist and hurried them toward the stable’s rear exit as though she weighed no more than a football in his arms. Addie froze in his grasp, afraid to move lest the blade at her neck slice her at the movement. Once they burst through the far doors, the man planted her feet back upon the ground.

“Not a sound,” the stranger demanded as he removed his blade from her throat. Before she had a chance to look, a dark hood came down over her head. Addie’s fight or flight instinct finally kicked in, and she bolted forward, reaching to remove the hood as she went.

But as fast as she moved, he was faster. Two hands strong as vises clamped down onto her arms as the wind around them began to swirl. She struggled to break free, but it was no use—his strength far outweighed hers. The wind spun faster and faster and suddenly the hands that restrained her were no longer hands at all but long, sharp talons.

In another heartbeat, they were airborne.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Checkmate.”

Rosalind scowled at the triumphant look in her brother’s eyes and leaned away from the small table between them. “I let you win.”

They sat alone in the spacious sitting room positioned between their royal chambers, as they had countless times growing up. It was this room she retired to when in need of comfort, made all the more so when it also contained the soothing voice of her beloved brother, though she would never admit it.

“Of course you did,” Tristan said with a wink. “Though, I must say, you seem quite distracted tonight—most games it takes twice as long to defeat you. Too busy planning world domination to focus, sister?”

She offered him a petulant smile. “No one finds your jokes as funny as you, dear brother.”

“One of my deadliest charms, I’m afraid.” He leaned back in his seat, and the look of mock arrogance faded to one of concern. “Truly, Rosalind. What plagues you this night?”

“Nothing, my lord.”

“A falsehood if ever I heard one. Is it about the wedding? Are you getting cold feet now that the date has been set?”

She barked a harsh laugh. “Cold feet? Do I strike you as the sort? No, I have been waiting far too long for the day to come.”

“Father will be relieved to hear that. The peace of our kingdom rests upon your shoulders.”

“How bloody convenient for you all.” She turned from him to stare at the fire. Its flames, which earlier had danced high in their grate, were now barely high enough to lick at the ashen logs upon which they fed.

“Do you love him?” Tristan asked quietly from his seat.

“Does it matter?”

She heard him rise, then his footsteps draw near. A gentle hand lit upon her shoulder.

“I would take this burden from you if only I could.”

Rosalind sighed and raised a hand to rest atop his. “Not a soul can save me from this royal sentence.”

“But he is a handsome man, is he not? And by all accounts, the people of Edana love their future king.”

She released his hand and rose from her chair with a snort. “Which means they will likely despise their future queen as she has stolen him from marrying one of their own.”

“On the contrary, the people from both our lands are desperate for peace. Edanites will welcome you in your new role with open arms.”

“Oh, goody for me.”

“What happened to you, Rosa? Your outlook was not always so bleak.”

“What happened?” She now turned to face him. “What happened is that I have come to see the world for what it truly is. You think life is all about love and fun and games? Our station in this life is to control the masses, our servitude forever focused on gaining and maintaining power. Anyone who cannot see that, dear brother, is a fool and as good as dead.”

Tristan’s eyes widened as his jaw fell slack.

A servant girl entered the room and offered them both a quick curtsey. “Pardon the interruption, my lord, my lady, but a scroll has arrived for the princess.”

“Thank you.” Rosalind snatched the parchment from her servant’s hands and waved the girl off. Then she peeled back the red seal and quickly skimmed its contents.

Blackstone has returned and is headed for the dungeon.

A smile crept across Rosalind’s face. She tossed her scroll into the fire, then dropped into the briefest of curtsies. “Excuse me, brother, but it seems I have some last-minute wedding plans to attend to.”

Chapter Thirty

The flight, blindfolded, had been terrifying. Several times the sheer panic of not knowing either where she was going or what the great beast had in store for her nearly drove Addie into unconsciousness. But she resisted succumbing to the darkness, focusing her attention as much as possible on what sounds she could detect.

For the most part, all she could hear was wind. Whoever this dragon was he was fast, so fast that their speed pinned her back against the great beast’s belly for much of the journey. When at last they began a descent, it was quick and nauseating. Rushing water splashed somewhere below them, and the chill of cool, damp air washed over her skin. Without warning, the talons released her, and she tumbled onto the ground.

The impact knocked the wind clean out of her. She lay on a cold, stony surface, gasping for air as her shoulder that took the brunt of the fall throbbed with pain. Her mind screamed for her to remove the hood and run, but her body refused to listen. The air around her swirled in a rush.

“Up with you,” snarled her captor, once again in human form, and tugged her to her feet.

Addie struggled in his iron grip. “Please,” she whispered. “Please, just let me go.”

“’Tis not my decision to make.”

He yanked her forward, down some steps, then thrust her against a wall. He pinned his body against hers, and Addie pushed against his naked chest with all her might. Her efforts were rewarded with a dark, amused laugh. The man pulled one of her arms to the side as though she were nothing more than a rag doll and clamped something metal around her wrist. Addie tried to strike at him as he released that hand, but the metal at her wrist wouldn’t budge.

“No!” she cried, squirming under his weight with all she had. A wasted effort, as her second wrist was also quickly bound in metal. “Please, there’s been some kind of mistake!”

“I don’t make mistakes, wench,” he said in a low voice, his body still pressed to hers.

Addie refused to give up, refused to give in to the panic nearly overwhelming her now. She bucked against him and thrust a knee toward his groin, but he dodged the blow as her knee greeted nothing but air.

“A spitfire, eh? Not Zayne’s usual choice.” He took hold of her left ankle.

“No!” she cried again, kicking out against him with what energy she had left. Again it was pointless. Soon both her legs were in shackles as well. The wall behind her began to lean backward and Addie let out a startled shriek. Chains rattled as the shackles on each limb began to pull in four different directions.

If the blindfolded flight had been terrifying, it was nothing compared to the realization that she was about to be drawn and quartered. The machine jerked to a stop, and Addie found herself tipped back at a forty-five degree angle. Metal dug into her wrists and ankles, holding her firmly in place. She began to shake uncontrollably with fear.

“Please don’t hurt me. I-I’ll do anything, just please let me go!”

“I told you, lass.” The man ran a greedy hand up her thigh, over her hip, and then up along the side of her waist. “‘Not my decision to make. Though, what I do with you while I have you alone, well, that
is
.”

Rough hands cupped her breasts, and his teeth nipped at her peaks. Addie bit back the bile rising in her throat and closed her eyes. She was helpless to resist and did the one thing she still could: pray for the nightmare to end.

“Not as much fun when I can’t see your face,” he murmured, grinding his lower body against hers. “Or the fear in your eyes.”

The hood tugged off her head. Addie clamped her eyes shut and turned her face away. She didn’t want to see the face of death, as that was what this man surely was.

“Open your eyes,
princess
, or I’ll cut the lids from them myself.”

Anger grew within her at the bully’s threats, clearing the panic from her mind. She hadn’t survived the last week only to crumble before this sadist. Zayne would come for her, she knew in her heart. Until then, she had to be strong, no matter how bleak the future might seem. And so she turned her face around toward his, tipped her chin higher, and threw her abductor a seething glare.

The man was tall, dark, and downright scary, and Addie had to work not to flinch as she took in the hunger clear in his piercing, dark eyes. His hair was cropped short, and a trim beard hugged his chin and cheeks. The dark line of his severe brows was interrupted over one eye with a long scar—a battle wound, she guessed, judging by his broad shoulders and muscular, naked chest.

Naked. She swallowed hard. Of course he hadn’t dressed after he’d transformed—clothing would have slowed his plans to restrain her. Or whatever else he now planned to do. Bile rose in her throat once more. But as her gaze left his torso and flashed back to meet his, the stranger’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Bloody hell,” he whispered as he drew back from her, a look of horror upon his formerly harsh features. “It…can’t be.”

He stumbled back a few steps, gaze still locked on hers, his face awash with disbelief. Another heartbeat later, he turned and ran for the door.

* * * * *

Zayne burst through the cottage’s front doors and dashed up the steps to Addie’s room.

Empty.

“Addie?” he called. “Adelaide?”

Fear tightened its grip around his heart. The flight back from the castle had taken too long, though he’d flown as fast as his wings would take him. With a roar, he slammed one fist into her bedside stand, splintering its wooden top. He’d been a fool to leave her and silently swore to the heavens that if he found her alive, he would never leave her side again.

Footsteps shuffled down the hallway, and Emeline appeared in the doorway, bleary-eyed but alert. “Sire?”

“Where is she?”

Emeline looked from him to the empty chambers.

“Where is she?” His voice rattled the room’s unlit oil lamps.

“I—I do not know, sire. I assumed she was here, but…”

“You.”
He stalked forward, causing Emeline to scurry backward away from his furious advance until her back met the hallway’s far wall. “You had something to do with this. You have wanted her gone since the moment she arrived. And when you did not get your way, you trumped up a fake scroll from my parents, one which you knew I would never refuse. Do you have any idea what you have done?”

“It was not me, Your Highness, I swear it!”

The air around Zayne began to stir as he struggled to control his rage. He’d trusted Emeline with every secret, every notion for as long as he could remember, and now she’d betrayed him in his darkest hour.

“’Tis true, I wanted her gone the moment you deposited her in the courtyard,” Emeline cried, her face screwed up with disapproval. “You purred at her very touch! I had hoped it was merely a case of infatuation, that when you returned her to her lands, the spell she had somehow cast upon you would be broken. But then you both reappeared the day after you had gone to return her.”

Emeline’s shoulders sank.

“Never had I seen you so taken with a woman, sire. And though I know it may well mean war for our kingdom, I could never cast out a lass who has made you so happy. ’Twas not I who conjured the scroll, Your Highness. I swear it. And—” She swallowed hard and offered him a small curtsey. “And I will do anything I can to help you find her.”

The air around them stilled. Zayne could see the raw honesty in the old woman’s eyes and, unhappy with her or not, had no reason to doubt her. “Very well, then. Wake the others and send them to search the grounds. Leave no stone unturned—”

“I saw where she went.”

Zayne whirled around to find a young servant boy standing in the hall several paces to his right. The boy squirmed under the prince’s scrutinizing stare and wrung his hands before him.

“Speak, child.”

“Miss Addie went to the stables after dinner. She…she asked me for a carrot, so she could give your horse a treat, sire.”

He offered the boy a quick word of thanks and bolted for the door. Upon entering the stables, he found Will agitated in his stall but no sign of Addie.

“Addie?”

Silence.