Page 8 of Renegade Kings

“So, you moved in? And you! You knew about this?” My attention darted to Fizzle as he sat himself on the ground and groomed through his soggy feathers.

“Nymeria had a way to provide.”

“Nymeria! Are you fucking kidding me, Fizzle? Nymeria stood by and let Arik take control of its creatures to tear the people we loved apart! You saw it. I know you did because you were standing right next to me. And you have the balls to think that Nymeria gives a shit about any of us. You stand there, offering up this cursed place as a way to…”

“To what?” The smugness in Rhidian’s voice was more than I could bear and I bared my teeth at my old friend, considering, even for a fraction of a second, to let the magic that simmered inside me free. “You want to protect them from the ghosts that live here? It’s just a place, Alyssa. A place where something terrible happened, but a place nonetheless. These people needed shelter. They needed a safe harbour where they could recover from the things they’d had no choice but to suffer. They can do that here.”

I wanted to deny it. I wanted to scream and rage that nothing good could come from a place like this.

But that wasn’t true.

There was happiness here once. It had been my home, and I’d loved the life I had here until it was taken from me.

“Even if it’s just because I got you out of Nymeria when you needed me to, I need you to trust me now,” Fizzle cut in, looking between the two groups. “Everything is not as it seems and I need you to believe that we only have your best interests in mind.”

If that didn’t sound like the precursor to a death sentence, I didn’t know what would.

But this was Fizzle. And he was right. He saved me when I couldn’t save myself. Back then, seeing what I saw broke a piece of me. If he hadn’t dragged me out of the palace, I’d have stood there waiting for the infernal hounds to kill me next. I didn’t even have the wherewithal to run. My body locked down in fear, and it was almost like I completely forgot the magic I possessed to protect myself.

Or maybe I just didn’t want them to leave me behind.

My confusion over what to do was evidence of how exhausted I was right now. I knew the guys were waiting for my cue about how to proceed. That alone was comforting enough to have my head slowly nodding in agreement.

Except I didn’t really know what I was agreeing to.

Rhidian stepped forward and the men he’d brought with him surrounded our group. “I’m going to need your weapons, Alyssa.”

I smirked as I pulled my sword free, passing it to him by the handle. If he thought disarming me would make me any less dangerous, he was hugely mistaken. I may have been absent from Nymeria for decades, I may not be as proficient with my magic as I knew I should be, but I could still slaughter them all where they stood before they had a chance of closing the distance between us.

My magic felt like it growled in agreement as my gaze moved around my mates, begrudgingly giving up the weapons none of them really knew how to use. I got it, though. There was comfort in feeling like you had something to protect yourself with.

But they did.

They had more than they should have. An animal… and a power that shouldn’t exist. Because the more that I thought about it, the more convinced I was that they’d all have it. It couldn’t be an isolated incident. I didn’t see any reason why it could be. Or maybe it was wishful thinking on my part.

Because there was hope in them having this magic.

Hope that I wasn’t alone. And maybe finally, there’d be someone out there who understood what it meant to feel so alone, so isolated, even when you were standing in a crowded room.

Chapter 4

Dean

The brush of Alyssa’s back against my chest was the only thing that kept the building rage under control. I couldn’t even argue that it wasn’t my own. I couldn’t blame the wolf that was slowly waking up inside of me.

Because I felt it too.

I watched Rhidian’s men surround our group as he took the sword from Alyssa’s hand. And I wanted to kill them all.

I doubted I’d even feel guilty about it. As far as the wolf and I were concerned, they deserved it. Not just because they posed a danger to her. In fact, I doubted they really were.

The woman standing in front of me was strong. Stronger than everyone else here. She could crush them all if she wanted to. Alyssa didn’t need us to stand and fight for her. She fought for herself, but that didn’t mean she should have to.

The man beside me reached for my sword and my top lip pulled up in a snarl before I’d even realised what I was doing.

“Easy. It’s just for now,” he said, holding up his hands as he backed up a step. “No one here is going to hurt anyone.”

“That’s easy to say when you hold all the weapons.”