Page 71 of Love in the Wild

“Er ... no.” Thorne’s solemn reply sobered Lofty up a bit, and a few more people gathered around Thorne.

“What was life really like in the jungle? How did you survive after ... after Jacob and Amelia were gone? Everyone’s been wanting to know,” Lofty whispered a little too loudly.

Thorne ignored the pain he felt at having to casually discuss this, but he had to draw attention to the plight of his jungle. The men who would burn it to the ground if it meant getting one more piece of gold. His uncle had said that these people had the power to help.

The crowd around him gathered closer as he began to tell his story. “I do not remember much, not directly. But I know this: The land where I was raised was once home to a great kingdom. Long ago that kingdom was lost, and the jungle swallowed its bones. My parents were killed by men who wished to steal those bones.”

“Grave robbers?” Lofty said. “How fiendish. Nothing worse than disturbing a grave, I say.”

Thorne’s uncle had warned him not to draw too much attention to the gold and diamonds. He’d said that the idea of stealing the past was worse to these people than stealing treasure. Thorne wasn’t sure what he meant, but he did understand the difference between treasures that were simply pretty, such as those he kept in his tree house, and ones that held meaning, such as the knife Bwanbale had given him, or his father’s ring.

“These men believed my parents would soon be rescued,” Thorne continued, “and would warn people of what they had seen.”

Everyone near Thorne was hanging on his every word now, so he continued. “My father was shot first. I saw him die. Then my mother. She stood in front of me and begged for my life, but they killed her too. I was only three at the time, but I remember.”

“How tragic,” a woman whispered from the crowd.

A man echoed her sentiment. “Yes, bloody awful business.”

“Yet you were spared. It seems your mother’s pleas worked,” another man added. His familiar voice drew Thorne’s gaze as he added, “A mother’s love—how touching.”

Thorne’s world shrank to a pinprick, and his head was suddenly full of screams. Thousands of screams receding into the darkness until he heard only his mother’s voice begging.

“Please.”

“A mother’s love—how touching.”

Thorne knew that voice. He knew. Heknew...

His muscles grew taut, and Thorne shed the vestiges of civilization and unleashed the beast within him. He launched himself at the man who had spoken those words. He would taste blood tonight. He would have vengeance.

17

Thorne tackled the man to the ground with a snarl. The tall man swung a fist, catching Thorne off guard. All around them people were shouting and moving back, and some were fleeing the room. But there was only one threat Thorne was concerned with. He roared, the sound exploding around them. The tall man’s blue eyes, cold and hard, widened with fear for just a second before he punched Thorne again.

Pain lanced through his head at the blow, but Thorne acted on instinct, the way silverbacks fought. He beat down on the man’s chest with his balled fists.

“Stop!” Cameron bellowed, but the sound didn’t reach Thorne’s rational side. It was just noise.

Stop him. End his evil ...The voices of the cave howled inside his head.

He was struck in a vulnerable spot below his ribs, and he grunted as the wind rushed out of his lungs. Then several hands grasped his arms and chest, dragging him off the man. He roared again, but the men who hauled him back did not release their hold. Through a red haze, he saw Cameron kneeling by the man he had attacked. His uncle spoke quietly to the man before offering him a hand up. The man smacked Cameron’s hand away and got to his feet without assistance.

Blood trailed down his chin and coated his teeth as he sneered in Thorne’s direction, “It seems your nephew isn’t fully house-trained, Somerset. I suggest you keep a leash on him. He’s not fit for civilized society.”

Thorne still struggled against the men who held him pinned against the wall of the ballroom.

“I’m truly sorry, Mr. Holt. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but you can be sure it won’t happen again. Let me see you out.”

“No, thank you, Somerset. I’ll show myself out.”

Only when the man was gone did the voices in Thorne’s head still and the choking rage subside. The anger slithered back beneath his skin, but it was still there, deadly but for the moment out of sight.

“Good God, my boy,” Lofty snorted at Thorne. “You even fight like your old man. Capital fellow, Jacob. A champion boxer in his day. Never had a taste for the sport, though, competitively speaking, but he was a damned good man to have watch your back.”

Cameron ignored Lofty’s ramblings as he came to Thorne and made sure they made eye contact.

“I need you to calm down, Thorne. Can you do that?”

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