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“Assuming that they’re down there.”
“They’re down there,” I said through gritted teeth.
I could feel them now that Maywin had suggested it. I didn’t know why I didn’t feel it earlier, but now, the scent of my mate flooded my nostrils, and when the heavy metal door of the dungeon creaked open, I couldn’t stop my body from shifting, even as the guards called out in protest, begging to allow themselves to go ahead of me. I ignored them, of course. If Zephy was down there, which I was sure she was, I intended to find her before anyone else and end Stralia’s reign of terror over our kingdom once and for all.
My tongue lolling from the side of my mouth, I bolted down along the stairs, tail pressed firmly between my legs as I moved, ears flat against my head. I couldn’t be sure that my shift would keep, that my wolf form would hold because of the magic blocker, but I didn’t care. I needed to go in with all the strength I had.
As I entered the bottom floor, the stale stench of the air reached my nose. My senses were far more heightened in my wolf body, my fae powers on high alert as I prepared for any attack, but the few bodies that stood around had not noticed me yet, their eyes fixated on Stralia, and as she jumped forward—toward my mate, tied to a broken chair—Zephy’s eyes squeezed shut, the glint of silver catching my eye as she waited for the point to plunge into her, but I was too fast. Springing off my rear legs, I flew through the air, hearing the gasps and shrieks of Stralia’s followers when they realized who had come to save the Queen.
I guessed my shift was holding, after all.
Through my peripheral vision, I saw Zephy thrust her head to the side as Stralia’s blade fell out of her hand, fading away into the dimness. Screams erupted in the dungeon, the noise captured in the stone walls as the remaining figures scrambled to escape the influx of guards who suddenly swarmed the underground. Zephy was knocked to her side with the impact, her hands and ankles still bound. I whipped my head toward Ryland to silently order him to release my queen from captivity.
“It’s the King! The King is here! And the Royal Guards!” someone screamed, panic lacing their tone.
Their fear pleased me, their bodies scrambling in every direction, but my focus was only on the blonde who crumbled to the ground below me. She stared up at me, her eyes innocent and pleading. While I wanted to contain the menace who had turned our lives upside down for so long, it was Zephy who was my main concern. I turned my head to look at her, knowing that she had been knocked down in the shuffle.
Zephy blinked at me from her place on the dingy, filthy floor, wrenching against her ties, but Stralia’s voice called me back to the matter at present. I had to deal with her first.
“Cade, it’s not how it seems!” she choked. “I-I never meant to keep her like this—”
My claws dug into her shoulders, and Stralia screamed, her face twisting in disbelief.
“CADE! CADE, PLEASE!” she begged. “YOU LOVE ME!”
The words infuriated me. Deeper my nails fell into her flesh, the screams of pain only fueling my rage. What about Zephy’s pain? My baby’s?
“This is your fault, too!” she sobbed, refusing to acknowledge her wrongdoing, although I would never accept her apology if she had. “If you hadn’t—”
I’d heard enough out of her, my fangs falling into her throat, paws almost melting into her chest now, puncturing the front of her work uniform and streaking the uniform to puddle crimson on the floor around her.
I could see the rest of her group had scattered, but they weren’t fast enough for my guards, who rounded them up and secured them in the ancient cells, Ryland tending to Zephyrine as I sucked the life out of her threat, her nemesis.
A fusion of sorrow and relief burned through me as Stralia’s life faded away beneath me, Ryland’s words meeting my ears when he dealt with my mate.
“Are you all right, Luna?” the head of the Royal Guards demanded, looking her over for injuries.
Zephy appeared to be in shock, her lips pressed shut, eyes still glued to the violent and savage attack on Stralia before her.
Stralia’s words had long since died out, but I didn’t remove myself from her body to be certain, even though she no longer pleaded for her life. I waited until the last of her breaths seeped from her limp body before falling back on my haunches to stare at her.
Again, I was overwhelmed with emotions.
Contempt, sadness, regret.
“Cade,” Zephy whispered, drawing my attention toward her.
Only then did I look away from the corpse toward her fully, my expression changing. Confident that Stralia wasn’t moving now, I bounded forward, my massive, furry body morphing back into my mortal form as I did.
“My love,” I murmured, reaching for Zephy’s. “Did she hurt you? Our baby?”
“No,” she promised me. “I don’t think so.”
“Send for Aradia and the pre-natal healer at once,” I ordered no one in particular, but someone called out for others to move, and several of the guards retreated up the stairs to do exactly as I asked.
My hands roamed over her body to check for cuts and bruises as tears of relief flooded my eyes when I saw that she was relatively unscathed but for the look of abject terror in her eyes.
“I should have known,” I murmured, guilt nauseating me. “I should have seen that she wouldn’t go quietly.”
