Page 20 of Great Falls Protector
Even as Tye waited to savor Lera’s failure, he couldn’t look away from her. Couldn’t stop himself from watching each and every one of her movements. The nervousness with which she’d chosen her ticket had given way to a relief that had made Tye growl unhappily—until the anxiety returned and all was well with the world. Lera deserved the coming humiliation and failure for betraying his trust, for forcing her way onto a team she felt no loyalty to. She—
A shiver raced down Tye’s spine as the breeze carrying the girl’s scent suddenly became heavy, laden with a terror that was absent only moments ago. On the stage before him, Lera was backing away, her eyes wide and heart beating so quickly that Tye could see it pulsing on the side of her neck.
Twisting around, he followed Lera’s gaze toward one of the arena’s exits, where a large mustached man spoke with a pair of serving maids. Wiry brown hair, a scar down his face, and a familiar cruel set to his shoulders. Even without being able to place the man, Tye knew he wanted to kill him.
No, hurt him first, then kill him. Because… A small burning along his chest and neck disrupted his thoughts. Tye was a cadet and a competitor in the Prowess Trials. He wasn’t here to start fights with strangers.
That man hurt Tiga.The ridiculous thought fought its way through the burning, filling Tye’s being with a protective instinct that made him want to tear the world to pieces. Except the notion was absurd. How could Tye think that bastard had hurt Tiga if he didn’t know who the man was at all?
The man shifted his weight slightly, and Lera’s fear morphed to a primal terror that punched Tye’s chest.
Lera was cowering away from the dais now, clamping her hands over her face as if trying to keep her breakfast contained. Except she wasn’t. She was running for her life.
“Where are you going?” Katita’s hand closed on Tye’s wrist, her gaze a mix of annoyance and genuine concern. Which made Tye realize that he was on his feet, his hands clenched into fists.
Katita pouted at him. The princess was pretty, but her looks did nothing for Tye. Never had. Just as her touch meant nothing now.
“Sit down,” Katita hissed, her grip on him tightening. “The schedule is shifting. They can call your name any time, Tye, and if you aren’t here, your scores will be forfeited.”
Tye yanked away his hand, the exchange with the princess having cost him the sight of the man and Lera both. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t have cared less about the Prowess Trials.
18
Lera
Rushing out of the arena, I see the keep rising before me and set a course for the grand structure, its thick stone walls beckoning with the promise of safety. My heart races, the courtyard streaking by in blurs of color. If Zake sees me, he’ll hurt me. He’ll hurt my males. Somewhere around me, a bell is tolling the time while a flock of birds exchanges news across the sky. But all I truly hear is my own panting breath, the soft pounding of my boots on the grassy earth.
The library door swings open with a familiar ring of bells that sounds too loud as I rush by the bookcases, barely registering Gavriel’s surprised frown before I’m out the back door. Into the next corridor, then another. Not stopping until I’m in the wide hallway somewhere deep within the keep, only torchlight lighting the carpeted floor. My heaving shoulders press against the stone wall. As I catch my breath, my gaze lands on the slightly open door of a large utility closet. Even better. Slipping into the shelf-lined darkness, I finally sink to the floor amid buckets and brooms and stacks of candles and cradle my head in my arms, the scent of dust and wax filling my nose.
My body trembles, the mere memory of Zake’s image having the power to reduce me to a shaking puddle.
Safe. You are safe.
Forcing my breath to slow, I push what wits I still have to focus. To catalog the facts and dangers. Somehow, Zake is here, posing as a head servant. And while he may have failed to recognize River, whom he only met briefly, and wouldn’t mark Shade, whom he only met in wolf form, Tye and Coal he’d remember.
Tye, whom I left sitting there on the front bench of the arena.
Looking around at the brooms and shelves and candlesticks, I curse myself. At the very least, I should have stayed in the library with Gavriel and worked out a way to get messages to Coal and Arisha. To find a way to protect Tye.
And instead, I fell right into the trap Coal warned me about, my terrified mind making all the wrong choices. Which I need to start correcting quickly. I try to swallow, though my mouth is too dry for it, my heart pounding against my ribs.
Get up. Do something, you coward.
Forcing my legs to move, I climb to my feet. Grip the door handle. Take another breath. Finally, and much too slowly, I ease open the closet door, the headmasters of old watching me from their portraits along the candlelit corridor.
“Pity the fae gave you immortality instead of brains.” Zake’s rough voice grabs me by the throat.
Striding down the long hallway, the man looks as big as a mountain, his dark hair and weather-beaten face surreally familiar this close. Thetap tap tapof his boots on the stone floor echoes through the hall, paralyzing my body and mind. A nightmare. Maybe this is a nightmare.
But no—that scent of hay and acrid sweat, sharper now through my immortal senses, is too real. Unable to move, I shrink against the wall, my breath coming quickly enough to make me dizzy.
“Did you imagine you could outrun me, Leralynn?” Zake demands, the high-necked brown servant’s uniform on him at utter odds with his commanding swagger. “Did you think there would be no price to pay for your betrayal?”
“Touch me, and I’ll scream,” I whisper into the thick air. “I can yell loudly enough to summon the guards.”
“Oh, I’m certain you can.” Zake’s lips pull back, showing yellow teeth. “You’ve always had a decent set of lungs on you. But you’ll call no one, lest I tell the blind idiots here they have a fae in their midst.Several,in fact.”
Ice slides down my spine.Several.So Zake’s marked at least one of the males as well. And the lack of surprise on his face now, the casual satisfaction…Stars.The bastard didn’t just recognize me at the arena—he knows I’ve been at the Academy for some time now. Knows and has kept it quiet. Waiting for his chance to strike at me when I’m alone—and I just gave it to him on a platter.
