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Moments later, someone fell to his knees beside her. She knew it was the Demon King, obviously the victor as the defeated wraith on the horse rode off.
Mustering the vigor to open her eyes, though only to half-mast, she peered up at him, grateful to see him, though his tormented gaze made her heart hurt. An additional physical pain almost impossible to bear.
“Don’t move. Don’t speak.” He quickly slipped out of his cloak and draped it over her body.
Another rider joined him. Morgan said, “It was a fire wraith. You have his sword now and his horse is wounded. But he’ll come back with a new weapon and a new steed.”
“He wasn’t interested in killing her,” Darien said. “Just hurting her enough to draw me out. To…” He shook his head as rage flashed in his eyes. “Bait me.”
“Yes. He must have realized your interest in Jade when we started following her, perhaps thinking we knew he tracked her and were protecting her from the beginning.”
“Damn it!” Darien’s fist clenched, then released. He swept his fingers over Jade’s cheek where tears and melted snowflakes left it wet and frigid from the crisp air. “We have to get her to the castle.”
He gingerly rolled her onto her back and scooped her up in his arms, then stood in a fluid movement. Despite his grace, she let out another cry as heat seared her from head to toe, the pain pulsing violently through her.
“Sorry,” he whispered in a tight voice. “Just hang on.”
“Let me take her while you mount,” Morgan said.
Darien stared down at her, his eyes holding a tortured look.
She nodded, finding it difficult to speak.
He handed her over and climbed onto the Arabian’s back. Morgan carefully passed her to him and Darien was strong and big enough to whisk her upward and cradle her against his body as she huddled in his lap. His heat was a welcomed relief, though her teeth still chattered. Her breath came in shallow pants because she couldn’t slow it with the sheer agony she felt and the gripping cold.
With one arm around her and the other hand seizing the reins, he said, “Your lips are turning blue and you’re trembling. Stay conscious so you can heal.”
“Trying.”
He jerked on the reins and his Arabian took off, galloping through the snow, crossing the wooden bridge a mile down the way and then speedily navigating the woods before ascending the steep hill that led to the ridge on which the castle sat.
Jade’s lids dipped again as they passed through the enormous gates of the castle’s courtyard, though she did everything she could to keep them open. Morgan was right behind them and helped her down so Darien could dismount. Then she was in his arms again and he carried her inside, the general at his heels.
“Get the vampires out of the castle,” Darien instructed. “She’s afraid of them. And send patrols along the village perimeter in the event the fire wraith returns.”
“My Lord,” came Morgan’s clipped acquiescence.
Jade snuggled against the king’s wide chest as he took her deeper into the elaborate mansion. The pain in her hand and wrist was still raw, but her spine felt better.
Despite her being in his arms, he was able to take the staircase two steps at a time. His long stride had them crossing the landing and rushing down a wide corridor so quickly, she barely had time to take in her surroundings.
He burst into an enormous room that looked to be a study.
“My Lord?” a woman’s voice called out in surprise.
Jade flinched. He had a wife? A girlfriend? A bedmate?
“Don’t worry,” Darien said, as though he’d read her thoughts. She wondered if he had. “Sheena is my assistant. She’s a vampire, but she won’t harm you.” He turned his head and said to the woman who suddenly appeared at his side and matched his pace, “Leave the castle, Sheena.”
She sniffed, then glared at him. “You think I can’t handle myself with a human?”
“She’s bleeding. Badly. Bones protruding from the skin.”
“I’ll get water and towels.”
“Sheena,” he said in apparent warning.
“If you doubt my loyalty to you, you may as well sever my employment now.”
