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Because even if and when Mareina killed Zurie, there would be repercussions. Zurie had a whole court of powerful individuals who would try to seize the throne and use her army against us. Each timeolana kah'heiand I conducted a raid on one of them, it was merely a matter of days before a new one would pop up to replace them. If I had any hope of eliminating Zurie's entire courtandovercoming Zurie’s Army with the help of The Uprising… I would need it.
Preparing for our departure, my hands on Pumpkin’s saddle still as what starts out as a dull hum in the background increases until it reaches a deafening volume, and I realize it is the sound of thousands of soldiers tearing a battle cry through the air.
The vision takes over slowly. My wings pound the air above thousands of soldiers dressed in dark green and umber armor. In the present, I am silent, but in the vision, I hear the roar of my own voice crying out to them.
“They will suffer the wrath of Atratus for daring to take what is ours!”
The soldiers raise their swords as another impassioned roar rents the air.
The vision abruptly left. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Hands still frozen on where they’d gripped the buckle of Pumpkin’s saddle.
“Are you ok?” Mareina asked. I could feel her keen eyes on my back.
I cleared my throat, trying to center myself. “Yeah, sorry… Sometimes…”
I turned to where she stood behind me, waiting while I’d been preparing Pumpkin and Chihiro for our journey. Her pinched brow had me eating up what I’d been about to confess.
“Never mind.”
Since my reoccurring premonition had begun, I’d become plagued with a great many other visions. They’d never even had the courtesy to wait until I was asleep. They would overcome me at any given moment, bending my reality into something that contained both present and future, or occasionally past. I might be in mid-conversation with a stranger and suddenly double over in pain because, in my vision, I’m being stabbed on a battlefield.
That actually happened once. The female I’d been trying to charm into my bed hadn’t been terribly understanding when I’d tried to explain myself out of my sudden reaction, face contorting with anger as I growled my fury at her andnotat the male in my dreams.
Now, the concern in Mareina’s expression had shifted to wariness. She hadn’t said a word until then. Not since I’d glimpsed into her memories. Such a thing had never happened before. I could only assume it was due to the combination of both my Knowingness and the intangible tether connecting our souls.
My mother’s words and her story of Kahlohan’s origin had been set on a perpetual loop in my mind, alongside images of Mareina’s tortured past. Each pass further dissipated my anger and resentment towards her. After all, I had killed more of her comrades than I’d dared to count. And somehow, she didn’t seem to hold an ounce of animosity towards me for it. Myolana kah’heiweren’t yet aware of who exactly she was yet… Only Lokus and Rayne had fought in The Atratusian War, having both come from Selcarim as Kahlohani allies, but I imagined they would have far fewer qualms about it because it wasn’t their people that had all been exterminated, nor their land decimated.
I mounted Pumpkin, and a sharp gasp escaped her when I suddenly reached down and swung her into my arms before settling her in a side saddle position in front of me. Entirely unwilling to risk the consequences of unbinding her ankles if I were to let her ride standard.
“Why can’t I ride Chihiro?”
I chuckled dryly in an attempt to alleviate the tense silence that had hung like a dead weight between us. Cradling her between my thighs, I gripped the reins in one hand and pulled her firmly against me. My head dipped to caress her neck with my nose…
The first of many silent apologies I already knew were destined to come.
A shiver worked its way through her body before she went ramrod straight.
“Is that what you want, Mareina? For me to chase you and hunt you down like my prey?… I’m more than happy to oblige you, but I can’t promise I’ll be able to control myself when I catch you. And I know you’re not ready for what would happen next.”
She seemed to deliberate something if the feathering of her jaw was anything to go by. To my surprise, her body gradually relaxed against mine.
“And what exactly would that be?Ifyou were to catch me.”
I had to suppress my groan. My arm instinctively curled tighter around her, pressing her harder against me as I leaned into the crook of her neck, my lips grazing the sensitive skin. I’d sworn aloud mere hours ago that I wouldn’t give her the pleasure of my cock, but… My resolve in that was dissolving like sugar in boiling water.
“WhenI caught you, I’d pin you to the fucking ground and claim that needy little cunt of yours. I’d mark you in a way that would leave you branded so that everyone would know you belong to me. I’d fill you with my seed so that everyone in your vicinity would smell me on you and know to stay away lest I rip their fucking throats out.”
The idea alone had anger burning through my veins. I urged Pumpkin forward, jolting Mareina against me. Her luscious ass now firmly bouncing against my already throbbing cock just as the scent of her arousal curled through the air, making a modicum of my control snap.
My fangs lengthened, and a deep, familiar ache began to radiate from my back as my wings and tail yearned to be unfurled. She hissed, her body going rigid against me as I grazed my fangs along her neck, locking her in place.
“You mark me and swear the fuckinggodsI will slit your throat,” she hissed.
I hummed a chuckle from around my mouthful of her flesh as my Knowingness whispered to me.
I released the hold on my glamor, my wings and tail immediately bursting forth, making Mareina gasp. My tail promptly coiled itself around her waist, holding her in place as I sank my fangs into her throat. A cry tore from her throat. One of both pleasure and pain.
“I fucking hate you,”she intoned in an otherworldly voice that had my hairs rising.
