Page 48 of All's Fair in Lion and War
They tormented her from sunrise to sunset. And had always kept her restrained in a way that prevented her from shifting into her beast without the possibility of permanent injury.
Food wasn’t always provided. She remembered going for days without eating sometimes. She had been so weak that often walking had been nearly impossible.
The tribe here had been kind. They’d already fed her once, but her body was so malnourished. It would likely be weeks before she even started to feel satisfied.
“I know abuse when I see it. If one of them is hurting you, I need to know.”
She shook her head. “No. They helped me. Saul helped me.”
Liam was silent for a moment, looking at her, like he was trying to decide if she was telling him the truth or not.
“That fits better in my head. They are new to the town. Whole group moved in about a year ago. But they all seemed like honorable men. Several have even married women from Mystery. They are well liked through town.”
A soft vibrating noise drew Lorelei’s attention to Liam’s pocket.
He pulled a black device out and his features hardened into a frown. “Knox says Saul and Tor are at the community center and Saul is losing his fucking mind because you’re not there.”
Lorelei’s body tensed like someone had put a noose around her neck. She studied Liam’s every move, every muscle twitch. He didn’t make a move to grab her or restrain her, but his face shouted that he was upset with her.
“What’s going on?”
She couldn’t explain. There wasn’t anything she could say that would make sense without betraying who and what she was.
“I—there are—it’s complicated.”
“But Saul didn’t hurt you?”
“No. Saul helped me. He got me away from the ones who were.” The confession came out on a whisper.
“Where are they?” Liam’s voice changed from deep and fatherly to warrior-ready-to-rip-someone’s-throat-out. If he had been Reylean, his eyes would be glowing gold and claws would be sprouting from his fingertips. “Who are they?”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The front door shook under the force of the blows. “Lorelei!” Saul’s voice was nearly a feral roar. “Liam open the door.”
“Cool yer ass,” Liam shouted back, but moved around the counter and walked to the door. He unlocked it and got shoved out of the way by Saul like he was a spindly teenage youngling instead of a massive full-grown man.
Saul’s skin glowed with thesoul callonly she could see, but his eyes shone with his lion. His beast was so close to the surface. His nail beds were black and his fangs were longer than normal and showing from beneath his top lip. Liam could definitely see all that.
“What the fuck is wrong with—”
Saul turned and faced Liam and growled. Then full on roared like a lion.
But they weren’t supposed to do that. He was showing his beast. They’d all told her that was dangerous.
Tor came through the door right after Saul. He jumped in front of Saul, grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face Lorelei again. “Go to her you asshole. I’ll talk to Liam.”
It was her fault.
He was damaging his relationship with Liam because of her.
She barely noticed Tor leading Liam through a door to her left. One moment they were there and Liam was shouting and then the next moment they weren’t and the only thing she could focus on was the male advancing on her.
“I trusted you to stay there. I trusted you would be safe.” His words came out angry and betrayed and bitter. “It was the only way I could leave you.”
“I remembered what he did. I remember so much now.” Lorelei got up from the chair to stand and face him. “I need his blood on my hands. I need to make him pay for everything he took from me. My beast demands vengeance. I am a queen. I will have it.”
He stalked up to her and stared her down. His beast rumbled in his chest. “You would die.”
