Page 60 of Married to the Beast

“Please—tell me where she is! I’ll give my life to save her if I have to!” he begged.

“She is being held in the home of her father. You must hurry if you wish to rescue her before permanent damage is done,”the Goddess told him.“Now go and do not waste this second chance I have given you!”

The crushing pressure of her presence was abruptly gone. Bear gasped in a breath. He felt light-headed from the intense encounter—like a diver coming up from the depths after almost drowning.

Sylvan was still standing in the doorway, his eyes wide. He hadn’t spoken the whole time but it was clear he had observed and understood the entire encounter.

“Do you know where Aleena’s father’s house is?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bear nodded.

“I had to go there once during our negotiations to get some paperwork. I know exactly where it is—come on!”

He was on his feet and running for the door with Sylvan right behind him. He didn’t know what kind of danger Aleena might be in—sheoughtto be safe in her father’s house. But he didn’t dare disbelieve the Goddess or ignore her warning. Indeed, everything inside him was urging him to hurry…hurry…hurry!

He just prayed that he would get to her in time.

38

ALEENA

“Say it! Renounce him! Renounce your husband!” Faleesha shoved the recording device in Aleena’s face. “Say you don’t want Ambassador Bear as your husband anymore!”

“No!”Aleena whispered and turned her head away.

“Horrible girl! Hit her again!” she heard her stepmother demand.

One of the men who had dragged her out of The Plaza moved and a heavy hand struck her face.

Aleena cried out as her lip split and her mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood. How long had this been going on? How long had she been tied up in this dark, dank space with the two of them shouting in her face and demanding she renounce Bear?

She didn’t know but her body and face ached and her wrists and ankles were chafed from the harsh ropes they had tied her with.

“You know he’s going to disavow you anyway,” Faleesha snapped, shoving her face into Aleena’s. “So you might as well renounce him first! That way he can marrymeright away!”

“Never!” Aleena spat out blood and had the minimal satisfaction of watching it splatter her half-sister’s pristine whitegown. Bear might not love her, but that didn’t meanshedidn’t lovehimanymore.

Though the big Kindred had wounded her deeply, she refused to renounce him just so Faleesha didn’t have to wait the customary three-month post-disavowment period to Join with him.

Never,she thought.If Faleesha is going to steal my husband, so be it but I won’t make it easier for her!

“Wretched, ungrateful girl! After everything we’ve done for you, how can you still refuse to do this one small thing for your sister?” her stepmother demanded, cutting into her thoughts. “Why can’t you show her even atinybit of consideration?”

“You mean the way you showedmeconsideration?” Aleena demanded, stung into speaking up at last. “The way you swore to pay my mother’s medical bills and then went back on the deal? Or the way you stole my father away and sent my mother and me to live in poverty? Or maybe I should be grateful for all the nasty things you said to me after my Joining Ceremony right in front of my husband!”

“He’s not your husband—or he won’t be for long!” Faleesha snapped. “It’smehe wants! Not you.”

Aleena laughed through her cracked and bleeding lips.

“Bear doesn’t like skinny women,” she informed her half-sister. “And he especially doesn’t likeyou.He says you’re spoiled and nasty and cruel and he’sright.”

Faleesha’s face grew red with fury and she slapped Aleena across the face. But since she wasn’t nearly as strong as the two goons she and Grindelia had hired to kidnap Aleena in the first place, it wasn’t a very painful blow—at least not compared to theirs.

“Enough of this!” her stepmother exclaimed. “I think we need stronger methods—the girl is absolutely intractable!” She looked at the two men standing on either side of where Aleenawas bound to the wooden beams. “You know what to do! Change the color of her eyes—anddon’tbe gentle about it!”

Aleena sucked in a breath—this was her greatest fear! But there was nothing she could do about it—she was bound and helpless with her arms and legs spread wide and no way to stop her attackers.

But to her surprise, Faleesha stepped between her and the men.

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