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Maia got to her feet, not liking him looming over her. Not liking the eyes of the entire damn dining hall on them either, but there was little to be done for that.
"Hey, buddy, how about you stop being a rude bastard and answer my mate," she said, not even trying to be nice. He'd started it, with his bullshit stare.
When he spoke, his voice was exactly as Maia expected: gravelly and grunting and full of dominance. A ripple moved over Maia's skin. She'd never felt dominance that affected her like this before. And her mates were Az, Kheir, and Ark, the most dominant, growly, protective fuckers in the Saintlands. Where the hell had they found this guy?
"I found where they've taken him, but there's no way into the town," he muttered, attention swinging between her and Jaro.
Her sweet kitty was growling low in his throat, given over to instinct, and Maia couldn't stop the slow smile of satisfaction it gave her.
"Where and who?" Maia pressed when Jaro's growl seemed to have swallowed his ability to speak. She rounded the table and caught his hand, squeezing to comfort him. She knew what it was to be at the whim of instinct, and it wasn't pleasant. Even if she loved him growling in this bastard's face more than a little.
"Vawn," Bryon replied in a gruff, throaty voice, his attention falling heavily on her. It was like a lead weight on her, that stare.
"Oh." Maia blinked. She knew one of her rescue party had gone missing. Been taken, perhaps? All she had was a vague impression of dark hair and a careless laugh. "Where did you track him to?"
At his surprised look, Maia huffed, "I'm not an idiot. You followed his scent, didn't you?" It was a guess, but a good one when his grunt confirmed it. "So where did he end up?"
Vawn could have ended up at any number of places. If he was beastkind, there were a half dozen towns where his species were used to mine stone, metal, and gemstones, plus every single settlement had beastkind indentured to work in positions of service. And that was if he hadn't struck out on his own, attempting to outrace the cuff on his ankle. It would kill him if he was gone long enough; no doubt he had an employer in Vassalaer who'd report him missing. But he wouldn't be the first beastkind to taste freedom before they were executed.
Maia was wholly unprepared for Bryon to cross his bulging arms over his and grunt, "A shithole in Venhaus near the strait."
"What's it called?" she demanded, every sense heightening. She went preternaturally still, hardly breathing.
"You won't have heard of it. It's a nowhere town."
"What. Is it. Called?" she snarled, sharp teeth bared and what pitiful dominance she possessed on display.
Jaro startled, his growl cutting off as he looked at her in surprise.
"Calvo," Bryon huffed, dark green eyes narrowed. "Why's it so important to you, princess?"
Maia tried to take a breath, but found she couldn't inhale. She turned to Jaro with a devastated look, her heart collapsing.
"Clearly, I'm missing something," Bryon muttered, his voice so deep she wouldn't have heard it without her fae hearing.
Jaro angled his head, red-purple hair sliding over his shoulder, and Maia followed him through the room. She knew she should have offered something reassuring to the people watching them leave, but she couldn't muster it.
Vawn had only been at the palace to help her mates rescue her. He'd been there because ofher, and now he'd been grabbed and taken to the dark corner of Venhaus where monsters had eaten their way through a whole village. How long until Vawn himself was slaughtered by one of those beasts?
Guilt choked off her air until she couldn't breathe.
"We have to go out there," she said when they'd left the dining hall, shooting Jaro a wrecked stare. "Jaro, if he's in Calvo, it's because of whatever's happening out there."
"Explain," Bryon grunted, looming over them with no small amount of threat.
Jaro stopped and caught her, framing her face in his hands and giving her a look full of understanding—and refusal. "If you go anywhere near Venhaus, it'll play right into your aunt's plans. Do you think it's a coincidence that he was taken and now Bryon found him in the same place monsters were seen and a village was decimated? Ismene is trying to lure you out, love."
And it was working. Because she couldn't leave someone to that kind of fate. Not because of her.
"It's my fault he's there," she said quietly.
Bryon grunted. "The lad can make his own decisions."
"You've been out there," Maia said, giving the hardened soldier her full attention as Jaro let go of her. "Did you hear about a village being destroyed, or monsters eating people?"
Bryon rolled his eyes. "Gossip from paranoid kids. I wouldn't take it seriously, princess."
Maia didn't like the way he saidprincess, like he was taunting her. "It’s more than gossip," she said coldly. She knew in her bones Nesslyn told the truth, and knew Ismene was involved with this new batch of horrors. "I'm not going to let Vawn be eaten just because he tried to help me. I'm going out there, and I'm going to find these monsters while I'm at it and burn them from the face of the earth."
