Page 54 of Bite the Power
An unstoppable royal couple.The phrase resonated through him, filling the hollow spaces that seven years of solitary leadership had carved in his soul. She was right—together, theywere more than the sum of their parts. His strength and her brilliance, his protective instincts and her fierce courage.
"Ready?" he asked.
Her smile was pure defiance. "Let's go save our kingdom."
Tessa moved with lethal grace along the cliff's edge, her boots finding purchase on ice that would have sent anyone else plummeting to their deaths. She circled wide, positioning herself behind a jagged outcropping of frozen rock that jutted from the cliff face like a bear's claw.
Kaidan watched through narrowed eyes as she hefted a chunk of ice the size of a bowling ball. The woman was fearless and masterful, calculating the trajectory with the same precision she brought to her scientific research.
My queen,he thought fiercely.My unstoppable mate.
She hurled the ice with perfect aim. It crashed into the snow twenty feet from Magnus and Henrik, the explosion of white powder accompanied by a sharp crack that echoed off the cliff walls like a gunshot.
"What the hell—" Henrik spun toward the sound, his pistol swinging away from Eli.
Magnus's head snapped up, his ice-blue eyes scanning the terrain with predatory focus. "Show yourself, Kaidan! I know you're here, you coward!"
That was Kaidan's cue.
He burst from cover like a missile, his powerful legs eating up the distance between himself and Henrik in three massive strides. The traitor had just enough time to register the blur of movement before Kaidan's shoulder drove into his midsection, lifting him clean off his feet.
They crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs, the impact driving the breath from Henrik's lungs in a whoosh of expelled air. The pistol flew from nerveless fingers, spinning across the ice to land somewhere near the cliff's edge with a metallic clatter.
Shit.That wasn't part of the plan.
Henrik's face contorted with rage and desperation as he swung wildly at Kaidan's head. "You destroyed everything! The old ways, the purity of our kind?—"
Kaidan caught the fist mid-swing and drove his own into Henrik's temple. The man's eyes rolled back, and he went limp against the frozen ground.
"The old ways were built on fear and isolation," Kaidan snarled at the unconscious form. "I chose evolution."
Across the clearing, Tessa had reached Eli. Her nimble fingers worked at the straps binding the explosives to his chest while the scientist stood rigid with terror.
"Easy, Eli," she murmured, her voice steady despite the circumstances. "Just another day in paradise, right?"
"Tessa, the timer—there's a timer on the?—"
"I see it." Her hands moved with surgical precision, disconnecting wires and unstrapping the deadly payload. "Thirty seconds. No pressure at all."
Magnus watched the scene unfold with cold calculation, his pale eyes shifting between Kaidan and Tessa like a chess master contemplating his next move. The detonator remained clutched in his right hand, but something had changed in his expression—a shift from calculated malice to something darker and more personal.
"You know what the real tragedy is, Kaidan?" Magnus's voice carried across the ice with silky menace. "Your father was weak too. He could have made our people the dominant force in the Arctic, but instead he chose diplomacy and understanding."
Kaidan straightened, his muscles coiling for another attack. Magnus was thirty feet away—too far to close the distance before he could create mass destruction.
"My father chose strength through unity," Kaidan replied carefully, trying to manipulate Magnus through conversation. "Something you never understood."
"Unity?" Magnus laughed, the sound sharp enough to cut the ice cliff in half. "Is that what you call this abomination? A human queen ruling over shifters? Your father's weakness infected you too, but at least he didn't live long enough to see this disgrace to our bloodline."
The words hit like physical blows, designed to provoke and distract. But Kaidan felt something else entirely—the steady warmth of Tessa's presence, her unwavering faith in him, and her absolute certainty that they were unstoppable together.
Fifteen seconds,he heard her whisper to Eli.
Magnus's expression shifted again, his calculating gaze fixing on Tessa with sudden, terrible focus. The detonator slipped from his fingers as he reached behind his back, drawing a curved hunting knife that gleamed wickedly in the Arctic light.
"But watching you lose everything you love?" Magnus smiled, revealing teeth sharp enough to tear flesh. "That will be just as satisfying as ruling over the ashes of Frosthaven."
He moved with shocking speed for such a large man, crossing the distance to Tessa in a heartbeat. His knife soon pressed against her throat as his arm locked around her waist, hauling her back against his chest.
