Page 81 of The Crimson Princess
“How did King Toren find out?”
“Toren knew the minute he met me.”
“I saw you with him tonight. The way he looks at you. You two are—”
“From different worlds,” I supply. “But he seems to feel protective of me. My mother asked him to keep an eye on me.”
Her lips quirk, eyes lighting. “There’s far more to the way he looks at you than a protector.”
“How does he look at me?”
“Like he owns you.”
Owns me. The words do funny things to my belly, but I lift a hand and wave off a concept that is oddly dangerous. “Must be a vampire king thing.”
“Maybe,” she concedes, “but every female wants a man to look at them like that.”
“I hope no one else observes the same.”
“Considering he refuses your father’s rule, we were all too shocked to see him present tonight for most to notice such things.”
“There’s a deep divide between them.”
“You clearly have both of their ears. Maybe there’s a way that you can change that.”
“I wish I thought that was true.”
“What of the rumors about the druids? And you and the prince?”
“I am not marrying Bellar, so don’t worry about that. Nor are we submitting to the druids. It’s a chess match my father is playing and I’m forced to go along with it.”
“Well just so you know, I saw how King Toren looked at Bellar when he stood next to you. Anyone who saw what I saw wouldn’t worry about you marrying Bellar.”
“What exactly did you see?”
“I saw the promise of death in Toren’s eyes.”
The promise of death. The words send a shiver down my spine.
Death is in the air and every breath we take brings us closer to that truth.
Closer to war.
Chapter thirty-three
Ispendthenightinthe forest, killing werewolves, with the anger of a scorned gale who almost died from their attacks. Killing like the princess who will not allow her gales to be victims to these monsters. Raven, Ambrose, and Idris fight by my side, clearing several villages, but a few hours into our hunt I send Raven home. She fights tomorrow in the arena.
“You need to survive and thrive,” I tell her, giving her a hug. “Go rest.”
“Be careful,” she murmurs in my ear. “Something is coming. I feel it.”
I ease back and meet her stare and realize then that she, too, can sense things. I’m not sure to what degree, but it’s there. We have always been alike, drawn together as friends, and that has not changed.
“I feel it, too,” I whisper, as Idris and Ambrose are nearby.
“I’ve got your back if you need me,” she vows.
“And I you.”
