Page 160 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

“Trust me,” Raine called. “I want nothing more. But Alarin sent my eagle back, and Loche received a note from Rioner. It’s not good.”

Lessia stiffened.

But if Alarin had been able to send an eagle back, could it be that bad?

He wasn’t imprisoned, so maybe Frelina wasn’t in Rioner’s claws.

Unless he’s killed her…

Lessia shook her head as the thought popped into her mind.

She couldn’t be dead.

There was no way.

“That fucking king,” Merrick hissed under his breath as he gently shifted Lessia onto the bed. “I swear I’m going to kill him.”

Lessia believed him when she met his eyes.

And she knew it was wicked, but another thrill whispered over her shoulders as Merrick jerkily pulled on his clothes and growled to Raine that they’d be right there.

Rioner needed to die.

And with Merrick by her side, it was more likely to happen.

ChapterForty

Low voices drifted underneath the door to Loche’s office when they reached it, and while she hadn’t been here since that horrible day, Lessia didn’t hesitate as she pushed the door open.

With Merrick’s hand in her own, she walked over the threshold, refusing to let the guilt surface when Loche’s eyes immediately flew down to their intertwined fingers from where he sat atop the desk.

She had nearly broken upon hearing how Merrick had suffered watching her with him, and she wouldn’t be the cause of another single moment of torment.

It might hurt Loche for a while, but the feelings he had right now weren’t those of heartbreak—not when she hadn’t given in to remove the hold her magic had over his memories of them.

They were only thoughts of what could have been, the what-ifs she refused to let her mind linger on.

And perhaps that made her a bad person…

But Merrick was her priority.

Mate or not, she couldn’t bear seeing the light that now burned in his eyes—even as they were forced from the bubble of his room—go out.

Raine and Kerym grinned at her, leaning against the bookshelf lining the wall to their right, but when Merrick snarled softly, they quickly averted their gazes.

Although neither could hide their smile nor how their nostrils flared as she passed them to sit in one of the chairs by the fireplace on the other side of the room.

Merrick’s snarls grew louder, possessiveness sneaking into the primal sound, and it was Lessia’s turn to bite back a smile.

They’d nearly not been able to leave the room when she’d refused to wash up, declaring that she planned to ensure his scent always cloaked her from now on.

Merrick had had to go and throw some cold water on his face, as he’d been unable to stop himself from lifting her up again, kissing her with such passion she’d nearly passed out from the lack of air.

But her smile fell when she sat down with Merrick standing behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders and fingers brushing the skin beneath her neck, and Loche unceremoniously shoved a piece of paper into her hands.

It seemed as if the person had been in a great rush—the paper wrinkled and the letters sloppy—but she’d recognize her father’s handwriting anywhere, and her blood ran cold when she read the only word he’d sent back from their warning of what had happened with Frelina:

Run.

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