Page 46 of Saved By The King's Gamma

A sudden racket of gunshots and chaos erupts, tearing through the air like thunder. Liam’s body shifts in a blur of motion as he fights against an overwhelming number of guards. But my attention is torn away from the unfolding battle as Clarice grabs my arm, pulling me desperately up the stairs to safety amidst the confusion.

The sound of gunfire and screams reverberates through the castle, haunting my every step. Panic courses through my veins as Clarice and I race away, searching for a hiding place. My heart pounds in my chest, my breaths coming in ragged gasps as I struggle to comprehend the magnitude of the situation.

“Kyson!” I scream through the link, my voice filled with desperation and terror.

“An hour out, fucking pull over!” Kyson’s voice crackles through the link. “Hide. I will find you,” he promises. I feel him shift through the bond just as Clarice stuffs me into an unfamiliar room. She glances around, and so do I as I hear footsteps. My entire body shakes, and I find myself in the forbidden room across from Kyson’s old quarters.

“Stay here. I will lead them away,” Clarice whispers urgently.

“Lock the door,” she says, cracking the door open and peering out. I move to go after her when she slips out and shuts the door. I quickly lock the door and glance around toward the window. Hundreds of people stand out front the gates, and I step back so they won’t see me.

“Where are you?” Kyson says through the link.

“The room across from your old quarters,” I tell him, watching in horror as I see Dustin lying unconscious on the cobble driveway along with a heap of guards. Men are handcuffing their hands behind their back, all of them unconscious with darts sticking out of them. I hear a barrage of yelling, without being able to clearly make out what they’re hearing. Liam is being dragged out, fighting against his restraints, his body twisting and arching as he’s forced to shift back.

Multiple darts are in his back, legs, and neck when a guard wearing black camo lifts his gun and shoots him in the chest three times with more darts. His legs go out from under him and drench his entire body in blood. Just then, I hear a shrill scream; a female’s scream.

I watch petrified as Clarice is dragged out kicking and screaming with the two boys she has taken in. Denali wipes his face with a handkerchief as he walks out toward the gates when I spot her. It’s her… the woman who stood watching after Kade was killed.

She is attractive but haughty and menacing. Denali talks to her through the gate, though I can’t make out what he’s saying. Three other men also stand off to the side, watching him before he turns around. The man with the missing eye wipes the blood off his face before snarling and kicking Liam in the stomach. My hands cover my mouth, and I am so consumed with fear I’ve forgotten Kyson is still talking to me through the link.

“Azalea!” he snaps. Denali turns around before reaching for a microphone from one of his guards. He turns to face the castle, bringing the microphone to his mouth.

“Queen Azalea, you have been summoned by the council, so you need to step outside,” he says slowly. He looks up at the windows, and I remain back out of his line of vision.

“You have two minutes to step out, or we will use deadly force, beginning with…” he looks around before one of the guards grabs Oliver.

At this, Clarice loses it. She writhes free and lunges toward the guard when Mr. Crux punches her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground.

“Two minutes or the rogue boy dies.”

“Azalea!” Kyson snaps at me.

“They’re going to kill them if I don’t,” I whimper.

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

“They have Oliver.”

“Azalea, I am not far out. Remain where you are,” Kyson says as I watch in horror as they push tiny Oliver to the ground on his knees. Mr. Crux pulls a pistol from inside his jacket and presses it to his head.

“Two minutes, Queen Azalea, I cannot kill any Lycan here but a rogue, even a child I have the authority to.”

“I have to go,” I tell Kyson.

“No, remain where you are,” he orders and I grit my teeth.

“How far out?”

“20 minutes.”

“It’s too long,” I say, forcing his command off.

“One minute,” Denali calls over the microphone, and Oliver cringes away from the gun held to his head.

“Azalea?” Kyson says, his panic smashing into me.

Mr. Crux presses the gun to Oliver’s temple, and I rush toward the window, throwing it open.

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