AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The warning from Ana rings through my head, and I’ll forever be grateful to her. If she hadn’t told me while we were in England, I would have insisted on storming the beach and throwing my power and men around. Despite knowing I have a role to play, I hate myself for standing back, unable to do anything but buy time.
Fucking hell, what good is it to be the Ruler when I have to watch my nereid suffer? I shake my head, banishing the thoughts that won’t do me any good.
“No!” Nereid’s soul-piercing scream has me whirling around.
I look at the screen that shows Liam just fell over a tripwire, only to have his foot pierced by a spike that was hidden underneath branches and leaves.
“Get up. Fight it.” She keeps screaming to him like he’s right here.
Lupa and Mordred come into the picture, both running straight for Liam and helping him up. They wrap his arms around their shoulders, supporting him as they forge ahead.
As I turn my back on the screen again, my eyes are immediately drawn to Nereid. Her eyes are closed and her lips are moving like she’s chanting something to herself.
“Will this go on much longer?” I say, forcing my tone to sound bored and unimpressed.
The Tribunal all looks at me with annoyance, like I’m disturbing their favorite pastime.
Not taking my eyes off my wife, I notice the slight telling tic in her jaw as she wraps her hands around Andreas’ wrist. Before he can say anything, she strikes, turning her head and biting into his hand. The pussy howls out in pain and pushes her away from him, which seems to be what she wanted. As soon as he’s no longer holding her in place, she leaps onto the dais and quickly jumps down the edge.
Andreas shouts for the guards to stop her, but when I cough and shake my head, they stay in place. Most of them do, anyway. Two fuckers reach for her. Luckily, they’re too slow, barely grazing her arm before she’s past them. They give up pursuit when she dives headfirst into the maze, disappearing behind the hedges.
“Cia!” Gus roars, fighting the guy who has his meaty hand on his shoulder.
No longer able to ignore the screen, I turn and watch Nereid dive, jump, and skid through the maze. She moves with practiced lithe and muscle memory that proves this isn’t her first time.
Fuck me.
I knew the Drákons were rumored to have the most ruthless training, and, yeah, I’ve heard Cia, Liam, and Gus talk about it. I even ran their training maze the night before we got married. But this… this is something else entirely.
My breath hitches and my heart beats wildly in my chest as I watch my wife take a wrong turn. An arrow flies past her shoulder, narrowly missing her, as she continues down a blind road.
I can’t decide if it’s worse or better that we have a full view of the maze on half the screen, making it possible to know which route they should be taking. What’s even worse, is that the cameras showing the people in the maze seem to be wired to change view when someone is close to a trap. So even though I should be happy my wife isn’t on the TV, I’m anything but.
The current view is of Isolde, who’s already bleeding heavily from her shoulder where an arrow is embedded. Fuck, it looks nasty as hell. These people aren’t just sick, they’re beyond redemption, every last one of them—Ana included.
I watch as Isolde falls over a branch, and before her head hits the ground, more spikes protrude from the dirt. She doesn’t even make a sound as they pierce her head, her blood painting the ground around her in a deep, dark red.
“What the fuck is this?” Arthur roars, and I turn my head just in time to see him getting to his feet. “Is this how you psychos get your rocks off? Murder porn?”
He fumbles with his robe, searching for weapons I’m sure they’ve already taken. Anger and pain dance in his blue eyes, his face contorted in a grimace that makes his scar look even more prominent.
“Arthur!”
At my voice he snaps his head in my direction, so I gesture for him and Remus to come to my side. They immediately obey, and luckily no one tries to stop them. Just as they reach me, my phone buzzes twice, and I sigh with relief. Two out of four areas are clear.
Pitching my voice low, I quickly ask, “Can you fight?”
Both of them nod eagerly.
Chapter 26
Cia
Ifinallycatchupwith Lupa, Mordred, and Liam. All three of them look a lot worse for wear.
“Left,” I scream, just as it looks like they’re about to turn right.
“Cia—”
