Denial roared through him for he did not see in her mind and heart a plan to return to Amagarie after she reclaimed her throne. She envisioned a solitary life, standing beside her sister as they ruled their people with love and fair justice. He hadn’t dreamed of a mate, but now that he’d found her, it was impossible to imagine enduring living without her warmth, the light that shone from her, her taste, and her scent.
“I will do what I should have done,” she continued softly. “I will find my Barons, those loyal to me, and take back my kingdom with as little bloodshed as possible. I did not give my people or my supporters a chance to stand with me, and for me. I made fear rule my actions, and I acted without thought, running and hiding away, relying not on my strength and capabilities but on others. I’ve forgotten the teachings of my forefathers, and it shames me. I must reclaim honor for our house and do it without costing my people any more anguish. I am their crown princess, and though I was not trained for the role like many before me, I must show them I am more than capable of protecting them and ruling our kingdom.”
He sensed the tears in her mind, and the terror in her soul, for she could feel the harsh and ruthless resolve forming in him to never let her go, that he would not stay at a distance and do nothing as she stepped into danger. She lurched to her feet and stumbled a few paces away. Gentle slopes gave way to steep ridges, deep ravines cutting through the forest and she headed in that direction.
It struck him with the force of a hammer, it was for this reason she feared being with him so much. Reading her thoughts, feeling her pain, she believed with her entire heart that should he know that her people harmed her, he would slaughter them. And she was right.
He moved with the shadows to stand beside her. “I will trust in your skills and determination. I will not send Darkans to your world.” At this time, he couldn’t promise he would not come should she have need of him, and he ruthlessly kept the thought from spilling to her.
She whirled to face him. Pleasure lit in the fractured depth of her eyes, and she rushed over to him with such speed she was a blur. His blood was already changing her physiology, making her faster, her bones denser, her body less susceptible to bruises. His little mate did not perhaps realize how fast she moved, for she only flung herself into his arms, tipped on her toes, and pressed her mouth to his with the sweetest of heat. “Thank you, Lachlan.”
Using the pad of his thumb, he traced a slow line from her collarbone to the tip of her breast. With a shaky laugh, she pulled away, her newly enhanced strength and speed taking her several steps from him.
Her eyes were luminous with arousal. “You are dangerous to my willpower.” With a frown she glanced at the distance between them, and then her eyes widened, her shock burning along their link.
“I…what?”
“Your strength and speed now rival most Amagarians with superior chakra control.”
“This is not possible,” she breathed, pushing tendrils of her hair away from her enchanting face. “I know you said my speed would increase but I never imagined with such proportions.” Then as if to test it herself, she flashed toward him and slammed into his body. “I am fast. Let us race!”
Then she took off deep into the forest, running with such speed she covered miles within a minute. “This is incredible. I can feel that I am stronger.”
She glanced at his side where he easily kept pace. “Will I ever get as fast as you?”
“No.”
Her joy and fascination pulled a smile to his lips. Her reaction was far different from Princess Saieke when she’d learned of the changes to her body from mating Drac. Even now the princess searched their tomes and great archives, trying to understand the full effects of the extraordinary changes. While Serangites’ mental capacity was superior to several species, they had a similar physical construct to humans, and Lachlan’s princess seemed of a mind to revel in the newfound freedom of moving with such speed and stamina.
They covered several hundred miles, before she faltered, panting. “I should be worried, shouldn’t I?” Then she laughed, enchanting him. With a flash she was before him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
He absorbed her happiness into his being. He allowed himself the luxury of getting lost in the sensations of her taste, drunk on the heady scent of her. He wanted her so much he could barely breathe. She moved away with a burst of speed, and with a sensual, tempting smile, toed off her delicate slippers.
Her eyes glittered with wicked, playful promise, and his heart warmed in a manner he’d never experienced before. The sweet, spicy scent of her arousal rode the air, and he smiled at her bewitching boldness.
“My senses are getting even stronger than earlier. I can hear the sound of water miles away, the scuttling of small animals and insects. I can hear—”
Shilah’s pained scream pierced the air.
Lachlan swirled with the shadows, but his mate’s body was already flung into the sky by a spiral of sands, with a speed that rivaled how he wielded the shadows. Roots burst through the vegetation, streaking through the air to wrap around her throat and tangle around her body, before slamming her against a massive tree in the forest. The hold was merciless, and she screamed as the pressure cracked her ribs. His mate’s precious blood dripped onto the ground, and onto the branches which had been formed into the spears used to crucify her body to the tree. The thick, twisted root coiled and stabbed inside her chest with wicked precision.
He felt the impact like an arrow through his heart.
Blood spurted from his mate’s chest, and her cry of agony echoed to his very bones. For a second, his sanity vanished. An enraged, primal sound tore from his throat as his heart and soul cracked.
18
The demon on Lachlan’s skin hissed, the sound a dark promise of retribution.
“We want no war with you, Darkan. We’re only here for Princess Shilah of Symonrah,” the Arian said, the earth parting as he rose from it, and stood with his feet braced deep into the soil, as he tethered his connection to his element. “We were given permission by the true king to hunt in the Dark lands.”
Lachlan showed no reaction that others already gave allegiance to the man who was supposed to take the place of Gidon after his assassination.
“Something is crawling toward my heart,” his mate gasped, her fear and pain bitter, tugging at the darkness within him. “I can see it, root like tentacles digging deep into my flesh.”
“He is an assassin from Aria— the kingdom of Earth and Sands. Arians with great chakra control command anything of the earth. The minerals and iron found within it, the rocks, the dirt, the sand. This display of power indicates an elder from their kingdom, those with immense strength is rumored to control anything that has its origin from the earth’s crust, even the trees, and lava.”
With calm deliberateness, Lachlan closed their telepathic link, not wanting to subject her to the remorseless violence surging through him.