The Troll?King’s gaze hardened.“Do not mistake my patience for permission.”
Kara whipped her head around with a raised brow.“Do not mistake my hesitation for stupidity.”
Behind her, Nick’s low rumble rose again, the sound more felt than heard, an unfinished snarl of approval and warning combined.The air itself vibrated with it.
The king’s upper lip curved just slightly, and then the earth shifted beneath them.A deep crack split the stone floor, echoing through the cavern.The jolt forced Kara forward; one hand shot to the cage door while the other clutched her middle on pure instinct.
The hum she’d felt earlier surged back, no longer subtle but pulsing like a heartbeat under her feet.It climbed through her body and hit with the force of something alive.Her breath stuttered.This time it didn’t just surround her, itstruck.
And it struckbothof them.A flash of protective instinct ignited so fiercely it stole the air from her lungs.Every sense she owned sharpened.Nothing,nothing, was touching what was hers.
Her magic reacted before she could shape the thought.The witch blood tore open inside her, sudden and cold and violent, racing through her veins like winter wildfire.It recognized a threat and responded in kind.
The Troll?King’s eyes lit with eerie interest.“There,” he said softly.“Again.”
Of course he’d notice.Wonderful.
Kara straightened, forcing composure she didn’t feel.Her heartbeat thundered for two.“Again what?My sparkling personality?Because I feel like you’re really fixating.”
“Step forward.”It wasn’t a request.
She glanced toward Nick, and instantly wished she hadn’t.His face had gone beyond fury.What burned in his eyes now was fear: raw, undisguised terror that carved through every layer of composure.Protective instinct reigned supreme in wolves, and when she saw it aimed wholly at her, at them, it nearly broke her resolve.
Her throat tightened.She gave a small shake of her head.“I’ve got this.”
Nick’s hands curved white-knuckled around the bars, iron groaning under his grip.Kara could feel the wolf in him and he wanted blood, wanted escape, but he held.The effort it cost him was visible everywhere, from the rigid line of his back to the tremor that ran through his jaw.Trust.Dangerous, sacred trust.
Kara drew a breath and stepped out of the cage.
The instant her foot touched the cavern floor, the magic erupted.The hum became a roar that filled her skull.Power surged out of the rock and struck like lightning, crawling up her legs, wrapping her spine, then spearing inward.
Her gasp echoed.One hand flew again to her stomach.No.No, no, no?—
The force wasn’t content to touch; it pressed.Probing.Testing.Searching for something it had no right to find.Pain and panic braided together, stealing vision, warping sound until the world narrowed to heartbeat and heat and the unmistakable knowledge that something hadrecognizedher.
Recognizedthem.
Her knees buckled, but she refused to fall.
Not here.Not now.
The witch blood stormed to the surface, dark as midnight, furious as a warrior running into battle.It lashed outward, instinct meeting instinct, shielding rather than attacking.Every particle of magic she held drew a barrier between what was hers and what was not.
The reaction was instantaneous.
The cavern shuddered.Flame from the torches snapped sideways, turning the chamber into a flickering storm of shadows.Trolls shifted uneasily, claws scraping stone, as invisible pressure rolled outward in a pulse strong enough to bend breath.
Even the Troll? King halted.
Kara locked her jaw, struggling to keep her balance and her control.“Back off,” she ground out, not to the trolls, but to the thing that pulsed below this place.
And for a terrible second, it did more than listen.It was like it looked back.
She felt it touch the edge of her consciousness, something vast and ancient, consuming the space around her.It wasn’t curious.It wasn’t wary.It washungry.And now it was aware of her and the life she carried.
Kara’s heart slammed.It didn’t like her.But at the same time it wanted tounderstandher.
Every survival instinct she owned roared awake.She shoved back, healer and witch, all colliding into one unyielding command: protect.
