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This had the entire room up in arms once more.
Jade’s head spun. Her body quaked. She reached for Michael and he was suddenly on his feet, his hand on her arm to help steady her.
Walker and Tanner tried to control the instantly horrified crowd. Jade barely heard anything over the pounding of her pulse in her ears. And her heartbreak over losing Jinx. He’d been like a grandfather to her. A funny, carefree spirit who told zany fortunes when one felt blue and always had a smile on his face, no matter how grim things seemed.
Jade fought back her tears and tamped down her emotions, as she always did when her feelings became unbearable.
She stepped away from Michael and out into the aisle, and her voice rose again as she asked the slayers, “What did the Demon King say of this?” She couldn’t bring herself to utter the word accident. It mocked the existence of their village.
The racket tapered off as Tanner said, “He’s deeply concerned. He is the one, after all, who’s advocated so strongly for peace. He questioned the vampire who attacked Jinx and, apparently, the two had struck up an experimental relationship some time ago.”
“Really?” Jade demanded. “Jinx and a vampire?”
“He was trying his hand at predicting the future with a demon, to see if he could do it,” Walker explained.
“He was bored with us and needed a bigger challenge?” Jade asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, not believing a word of their explanation. It had to be a fabrication concocted by the Demon King to pacify the villagers.
With a sigh, Tanner said, “We can’t presume to know what Jinx was thinking, Jade. All we know is that he’d met with the demon several times before. Last night, he decided to hypnotize the vampire. It had an opposite effect than what he’d anticipated—not a look into the future, but a jolt into the past.”
Walker added, “Tapping into the vamp’s subconscious mind, Jinx inadvertently triggered memories of the wars. Though in a trance, the vampire sensed Jinx’s human presence and pounced, because he thought he was back in time, in the midst of the battles.”
Jade’s fury simmered. “And the king believed this?”
“He investigated, yes,” Walker announced. “Obviously, he’s concerned about the implication. He has no intention of letting something disrupt the law he laid down and has vowed to uphold—”
“Let me tell you about the king’s decrees,” Jade interjected, her voice suddenly much stronger as her agitation mounted. She turned to address the mass of people gathered and said, “They hold no weight. They’ve been violated. With Jinx, certainly and undisputedly. But also with me. Maybe with some of you.” Her gaze slid to Michael.
“Jade.” Tanner lunged forward and gripped her arm.
Michael leaped to his feet again.
He wasn’t the only one to come to her defense. Another man stood, in the back of the room. He was dressed all in black, his cloak covering his body, the hood pulled over his head, casting shadows across his face. All Jade could see of him was that he was a mountain of a man—possibly six-foot-five or six—broad-shouldered, with amber-colored eyes.
“Release her,” he said in a deep, authoritative tone.
Tanner’s grip loosened and Jade ripped her arm from his grasp. Her gaze locked with the stranger’s. She knew his voice and it sent a foreboding chill down her spine. And tightened her nipples. Two very contradictory and alarming sensations.
“Who are you?” she demanded, her stomach twisting in knots.
The mystery man peeled back his hood to reveal a devilishly, devastatingly handsome face. A perfectly sculpted visage. Chiseled cheeks. A hard-set jaw. Glowing eyes. Well-proportioned lips, not too thick, not too thin.
It was a face she’d never seen before, not even in her dream, because it’d been buried in the crook of her neck as his mouth and tongue had swept over her skin. But she knew the hair as well as she knew his voice. The long, obsidian strands were lush and enticing, reminding her of how she’d tangled her fingers in the luxurious locks as he’d sank into her, thrusting confidently, intimately knowing her body regardless of the fact he’d never laid a hand on her in reality.
The breath escaped her on one swift puff of air as realization dawned. A hot flash of awareness and desire made her cheeks and throat burn, but Jade stood her ground.
Her eyes still on him, she muttered, “King Darien.”
Surprise rippled through the crowd. Then the villagers slipped from their chairs and dropped to one knee to bow at his feet. Even the slayers and Michael paid homage.
Jade did not.
She was the only one to remain standing, and the flicker in the king’s hypnotic, amber eyes told her he was both impressed by her nerve, yet annoyed by her insolence.
To appease him without giving up her stance, she nodded reverently at him.
One corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk, then quickly dropped. With a gloved hand, he gestured for the congregation to return to their seats. When the commotion dimmed, he stepped out into the aisle and took three long strides toward Jade, though he was still several feet away, maintaining a respectable distance.
With a challenging look, he said, “Please, explain why you believe I’ve broken all the rules I’ve set in order to maintain peace in this region.”
