Page 35 of The Lycan King's Captive

“Yes,” I said, following his gaze to the two guards. “Cyrus said that.”

“He’s not your enemy.”

That brought my gaze back to Garrick. I touched the mark on my neck. “He put this here without asking me.”

“Would you have said yes?” His eyes held more than a hint of challenge.

“I…”

“Things are rarely black and white, especially in a king’s world. Cyrus is bound by the law, and he found a way to turn it to his advantage. Foster has influential friends on the council. He also lusts for power. He would have pushed for a vote to remove you simply because it would have hurt Cyrus.”

The males began sparring again, this time executing a series of evasive maneuvers that looked designed to disable an opponent rather than take them down. One of the men grabbed the other around the neck, only to grunt and double over when the first man seized his wrist and squeezed. The second man’s hold loosened, and the first man danced away with a grin on his face. It was a move I could have used in the basement with Roman and Carl.

“I wish I knew how to do that,” I said under my breath. I never wanted to feel helpless again.

The man who had danced away looked at me. He seemed to make some kind of internal decision, because he walked over and said, “I could teach you.”

I hesitated. Could I really take him up on it? I glanced at Garrick, who gave me a mild look that seemed to say, “Why not?”

Yeah…why not? It wasn’t like I had anything else to do. I lived in a violent, unpredictable world now. Like it or not, I was probably going to end up defending myself again—and I wouldn’t always have access to a scalpel.

“All right,” I said.

The males were respectful and kind as they walked me through the defensive maneuver I’d just watched. The bigger one introduced himself as Kirnan. With his dark buzz cut and square jaw, he looked like something out of a military recruitment poster. The shorter one was Rolf.

Kirnan stood behind me and wrapped a loose arm around my waist. “Okay, you’re going to grab my wrist, but that’s just a decoy. When my attention is on my wrist, you’re gonna stomp your heel on my toes. It sounds kind of dumb but it’s actually effective because most guys are too arrogant to think a female will know how to fight.”

A grim smile spread in my mind. He was certainly right about that.

He tightened his grip around my waist. “Got it? Go.”

I squeezed his wrist as hard as I could. When he began to fight, I brought my heel down.

“Good, but don’t hold back. The goal should be broken toes.”

“You want me to break your toes for real?” I asked incredulously.

Rolf guffawed from the sidelines. “I’ll pay money to see that.”

I could almost feel Kirnan roll his eyes. “As if you have any.” In my ear, he murmured, “Don’t trust him. He still owes me twenty bucks from last week.”

My shoulders shook as I laughed.

Suddenly, the temperature in the training room plummeted. At the same moment, a tingling awareness spread through me. Behind me, Kirnan stiffened. Then he released me like I was on fire.

I looked toward the doorway, but I didn’t really need to. Because I already knew what I would find there.

Cyrus filled the space, and his face was a mask of fury.

17

CYRUS

I’d felt plenty of rage in my life—at my father, at Roman and his ilk, at Foster. But I had never felt anything like the white-hot fury that gripped me as I watched Abby laugh with Kirnan and Rolf. She seemed so free and unguarded, her beautiful green eyes alight with happiness. Then Kirnan wrapped a casual arm around her waist, and I saw red.

Garrick had said nothing when I arrived, and he stood off to the side now, his expression frozen in a mix of worry and regret.

Appropriate. I’d told him to coax Abby from her room, not throw her into the arms of my guards.

---