Page 128 of Flameborne: Fury
I knew Kgosi was right. Knew I’d insist to any Furyknight in the same boat that he continue on his mission. Knew it was necessary to our jobs that we become accustomed to separation—even small ones like this.
Minutes. It would be counted in minutes. And it would lead to greater freedom for us.Wouldn’t it?It better. I had a job to do. But I also had a mate.
And as I turned back to the Palace and forced my feet forward, I raised my chin and my brows drew down, because in all the panic of leaving her, I’d almost forgotten the most important detail.
Forcing myself away from Bren, the stones of the road ground under my boots with each footfall until I felt the shape of them even through the soles. Because I took each step with the same vigor and conviction with which I would avenge her.
She had been violated. By men who called themselveshonorable.By men whoshouldhave become her brothers-in-arms. By men who the world looked up to and admired.
I wanted to vomit.
I wanted to curse.
And I wanted to close my hands on one particular throat and squeeze until the light left his eyes.
She remembered the so-called friendcalling that bastard who hurt her,Talon.
Ruin.
NamedTalonby his dragon.
I ground my teeth as surely as I ground the dirt and pebbles under my feet.
She was so precious, so willing to love, she’d opened herself so fully, yet she’d held back his face and his human name. She’d tried toprotecthim from me—for my sake.
Kgosi’s remembered warning growled in my head—a mate protects a mate. Even my dragon thought I shouldn’t know. Yet, Iknewif it were possible for a dragon to be raped and violated like that, he would have burned the worlddown to avenge his.
The fire in me burned, and my mind turned to vengeance.
I’d never wanted to murder a brother before. But now that I knew what he’d done, I could figure out who had likely committed this heinous act with him.
All I wanted was revenge.
That little circle we’d sent on the mission the day Bren was Chosen—God, I should have madethatconnection the moment she said he wasn’t here—had been tight since the day they met.Six of them. All Chosen within a year. Raised within months of each other. All capable, smart, young. And allFang.
They weren’t a squad, but friends who’d walked the journey together. All of them young and cocky, but ear-marked for promotion. We’d encouraged their kinship, believing their arrogance to be nothing more than the sharp edges of youth—exactly like I’d been at that age. I’d been certain they’d be humbled by this work, by their dragons. That they’dlearn.
Instead, we’d apparently fueled a fire that told those young men they were above not only the law of Furyknight code, buthonoras men.
I wanted all of them dead.
But that fucker who’d taken the rest to her? I wanted him to hurt first. And that was a thought I needed to keep to myself, even from my dragon. Not to mention, my King.
As I walked up the road, my feet stomping a rhythm, I used the time to brace and to plan. Because we had another problem that Bren didn’t even know: The KingadoredRuin.
I’d beenorderedto take a special interest in the lad from the day of his second trial—and I’d agreed with the King’s assessment that he showed potential beyond the norm, so happily made him one of my personal projects.
But I’d had no idea what he was truly capable of. And even less idea how the King might react to this revelation.
Knowing what I’d seen, and what Diaan said of Alexi’s attitude towards women, and after listening to his thoughts when the others had tried to sabotage Bren, I didn’t have great confidence in the King’s ability to see this clearly.
Which left me with a choice.
Oh, I’d still tell Alexi about Bren and our bond. I hadn’t lied to her about that. It was needed, and Ididbelieve I could convince him to keep it secret.
But the truth about Ruin?
Ruin betrayed, harmed, and discarded another Furyknight. For a moment, I relived her deeply rooted sense the inadequacy when she stood next to the man who she’d seen possess suchpower.
