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He stilled at my hostility.
Larisa kept her eyes on me. “We’re on the same team, Kingsnake.”
“No, we aren’t,” I snapped. “The only reason I’m here is for you. I don’t give a fuck what happens to this prick.”
King Elias should cower away, but he remained. “Have I done something to offend you—”
“You fucked my wife.”
Larisa closed her eyes, cringing at my outburst. “Kingsnake…”
“And you hurt her.” My eyes were reserved for the asshole who was so thin he looked like a little boy. “Yes, you offend me. Your goddamn face offends me. I’m saving your ass when it should be six feet under—”
“Stop it.” Larisa grabbed my arm to pull me back to my center. “Werewolves approach the gate, and this is all you care about?”
I turned my gaze on her. “Yes, you’re all I care about. No surprise there.”
“I care about this village. I care about the people who have suffered while the cure remained at the bottom of my pack. I should have come sooner, and the guilt is suffocating. So, if you care about me, then you’ll care about Raventower too. It’s the place where I grew up, it’s the place where the Golden Serpent bit me in the fields…and brought me to you.”
I felt my rage dim slightly.
“So please help me.” She pleaded with her eyes, and that was like a hook in my heart. “I need my king…”
“You know you always have my sword, sweetheart.” I stared into the eyes of the woman I loved with my whole heart.
And she stared back.
One of the guards shouted from the ramparts. “They’re here.”
The moment was shattered, and we looked over the edge, seeing the ordinary men approach the gate with the slow gait of arrogance. The previous werewolves had been burned in a fire, and now that was just soot, but the stench of flesh and fur was still in the air. Their leader spotted the campsite and stared, and it seemed to take only a few seconds before he understood what had transpired.
His eyes shifted back to us. “So you’ve chosen death.”
King Elias opened his mouth to speak, but I knew he would only show weakness, so I spoke before he had the opportunity. “As have you—if you don’t abandon this crusade.”
The werewolf looked at me next, just a glimmer of light still in the sky. “An alliance between men and vampires… This world really is going to shit.”
“Leave this village and never return, or suffer the sharpness of my blade.”
“You aren’t the only ones who need to feed, Kingsnake.”
“This isn’t about feeding,” I said. “This is about power—and don’t pretend otherwise.”
He showed a smile. “We made a deal with Raventower. They give us humans—or we kill them all. And we keep our word.”
“Then keep your word. And I’ll keep mine.”
The werewolf took a quick look around. “You have no army. A king without an army is just a man. And a single man is no threat to us.”
“Just because you can’t see an army doesn’t mean it’s not there. Return with your army and see for yourself.”
“I will.” That smile remained. “See you soon.”
* * *
“How much time do we have?” Larisa asked.
“A few hours, at most,” Cobra said. “I think their den is close.”
