“I’m your future mate, little rabbit, here to pluck you from the clutches of the weak king.”
His words had me tearing down my mental walls and screaming for the one person I needed most in this world right now.
Theo!
A scream ripped from my throat as the drackya lunged toward me, and I tried to run. My feet slipped on the floor, my entire body going down hard as he tackled me, his weight making me incapable of slipping out from under him. I tried to kick him, but being chest down, pressed against the icy floor, left me without the leverage needed to put real strength behind the move.
His musky breath surrounded me as he sniffed my hair and groaned. “Such a delectable little rabbit to feast upon. I was enjoying watching you sleep, completely vulnerable and ripe for taking.”
I threw my head back and relished in the loud crack of his nose crunching with the force of impact.
“You fucking bitch!” the drackya hissed as his hand wrapped into my hair and yanked back. Lancing pain burned across my scalp, pieces of my hair tearing free with the force the drackya used. “I hope Theo didn’t break you in yet, because I want to be the first drackya to make you grovel.”
Theo! Someone is in my?—
Before I could finish the thought, my door groaned before splitting completely in two. A snarl ripped through the air as the drackya on top of me was suddenly gone, his weight removed from my body, giving me the space to suck in a greedy breath. I scrambled to my hands and knees, crawling toward the bed as furniture crashed to the floor behind me.
I smelled Theo’s scent in the air, and tears welled in my eyes. He was here. He would protect me.
“You picked the wrong fucking woman,” Theo roared before the room went deathly quiet.
Adrenaline coursed through me, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and see what happened. If Theo was killed and the other drackya tried to claim me, I’d go down kicking and screaming, but I knew my chances.
Maybe I should have taken Theo more seriously when he offered to train me. It was too late now.
A large hand clamped down on my shoulder and I whirled, letting out a snarl as I swung my fist around. I made contact and felt all the knuckles in my hand crack. Splintering pain wrapped around them and I whimpered.
“Fuck, wench, you pack a punch.”
Theo.
My entire body collapsed with relief as I cradled my hand to my chest. Warm tears poured down my cheeks, the adrenaline still waging war in my mind. I was safe. I was okay. Now if only I could convince my wildly beating heart of that.
A sob broke free despite my best efforts to contain it, and seconds later I was wrapped tightly against his chest. I breathed him in as his arms cradled me and his hand ran through the back of my hair.
“You’re okay, wench. I’ve got you,” he murmured, the deep tones of his voice vibrating through me with how tightly he held me. “He’s dead. He won’t hurt you.”
“I couldn’t do anything,” I admitted through shaky sobs. “I wouldn’t have been able to fight him off. He would have…”
“Shh,” he answered, cutting me off. “You held him off long enough. I’m proud of you.”
I wasn’t sure how long we were on the floor with me practically sitting in his lap, wrapped around him as he rocked us back and forth. Eventually, the tears faded and my adrenaline turned to shock, and I sat completely still and silent.
“I’m going to move us to my chambers, is that okay?”
His question broke through my mind, replaying the scene from earlier on repeat and all I could do was nod against his chest. He gathered me in his arms and pushed to his feet with ease, not jostling me in the slightest. Folding into his warmth, I buried my head against his neck as his steps crossed over broken pieces of the furniture and door, the wood crunching beneath his weight.
Lucius appeared in the doorway and I felt Theo’s chest puff out from beneath me. “Get out of my sight right now if you want to keep your heart in your chest, unlike Olivander.”
He’d…ripped the heart out of that drackya?
“Understood, sir. I’ll clean up the mess.”
I was thankful they didn’t clash and that Lucius stepped to the side quickly. My mind couldn’t handle any more panic and fear, and despite how little I knew of Lucius, I didn’t want to see him harmed, especially not for my sake.
Theo’s long strides had us in his chambers within a minute, and instantly, I felt my muscles loosen at the comfort I felt within the space. Ishouldn’thave felt that way, considering how little time I’d spent here and with Theo in general, but he’d just proven that I could trust him. That I could depend on him, even if it was just for my safety.
“Hold on, beauty,” he murmured as he placed me onto the bed gently. I fought my instinct to keep my grip on him, instead loosening my arms as my shoulders curled slightly inward. My eyes locked in on his form as he crossed the room to stoke the low-burning fire in the fireplace, adding fresh wood until it roared to life once more.
