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“That motherfucker.”
Declan instantly took off from the palace. Hanna ran toward him, but there was no time. “I know where she is,” was all he yelled as his speed picked up.
He needed to get to Taryn and fast. Time was running out.
TWENTY-SEVEN
TARYN
Taryn’s eyes fluttered open. Her eyelids were heavy, crusted with sleep. That was when she was flooded with multiple sensations.
I’m lying on a cool, damp floor.
My muscles ache.
God, my head is killing me.
After lying there for a few minutes, Taryn tried to sit up.
She winced as she did so and lifted a hand to massage her throbbing head.
Where the hell am I?Taryn thought as she looked around her. She drank in her surroundings, and as all her faculties switched on, she realized she was no longer in the palace.
Her body went into defense mode. Her muscles tensed even as they continued aching, and her nostrils flared, her pupils dilating as she examined the surroundings.
I’m definitely not in the palace any longer.
Wherever she was, the place was a mess. The floor was dirty, grimy, and the place reeked of piss. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness slowly as she rose to her feet, and she grabbed hold of something metal.
Metal particles were stuck on her palm as she let go of the metal.
Rust,Taryn thought as metal flakes dissolved to nothingness in her hands.
Her memory returned to her then in a wave of images and emotions.
She glanced down at her body and saw she wore only her panties and one of Declan’s oversized T-shirts. Besides being naked, that was her general attire when sleeping with her husband-to-be.
She kept herself steady, remembering what had happened, information smacking into her as hard as the back of her head had been struck.
Taryn had woken up in the palace. She remembered because she was naked; she had made love to Declan before sleeping, and knew they would do it again, so there was no real point in clothing herself.
Sometimes he would wake her in the morning with a hand circling around to her clit, rubbing expertly, summoning feverish lovemaking at dawn.
What had awoken her was not Declan’s warm hands trailing down between her legs.
She had heard something. At first, she thought it might be a figment of her imagination or, at the very least, a product of her dreams. She tried to fall back asleep, but she heard another sound again. It was like muffled growling, followed by a clamor in their private kitchen.
Taryn was a brave woman and also a stubborn one. She thought about waking Declan, especially with the issue of Phillip still a problem to be dealt with. But he was sleeping so soundly. His chest muscles were as hard as stone, rising and falling with each soft breath.
She’d climbed out of bed and put on one of his shirts and her panties. She considered putting on pants for the sake of the guards but then thought otherwise. Declan often dismissed them once the both of them were home for the evening … in case the mood for experimental sex struck. The thought made Taryn bite her lip as she trailed down the corridors toward the kitchen.
She pushed the door open without a hint of fear. She noticed that her heart rate had increased, more out of curiosity, she supposed. She padded around the cold floors and found nothing but the shadows of expensive kitchenware.
Taryn had left the kitchen, no longer hearing the disruptive sound, then something … or someone … had struck her from behind.
Her vision had sharpened, and her heart fluttered in her chest. A lingering scent of wet dog remained tingling in her nose, and she instantly knew what had happened.
Despite the thundering sensation at the back of her skull, Taryn was on the move. Regardless of being contained in a dungeon-like setting, she wasn’t locked in. Or, at least, not very well. With her vision still slightly blurred, Taryn used her senses as she played with the lock. It was ancient, and Taryn still possessed shifter strength despite her inability to shift.
