Page 32 of Wings of Snow
Her lower lip began to tremble, and she clasped her hands. “I’m sorry, my prince. I mean, I don’t?—”
“Let me help you out here, love,” Sandus cut in. “His mate’s scent is all over you, even I can smell it, and he’s a fully mated Solis male. He also carries more magic and power than anyone in this village. I would advise you to answer truthfully and quickly before he levels this entire mountaintop in a single blow of power.”
“Tell him, Sabreeny!” a female hissed behind her.
My attention stayed fixated on the scantily clad female quaking before me.
Sabreeny licked her full lips, eyeing Sandus again, before blurting out, “She and her sister came here asking for safe haven. They left this morning with my king.” Another scent joined the others wafting around her—jealousy.
The spicy fragrance with a bitter aftertaste made my muscles flex at what that emotional scent implied.
“Nori, keep it under control,” Haxil said again. “We don’t know what happened.”
Fuck. I was losing it.
I directed a burst of my power downward, needing to release something,anythingto keep from imploding. The mountain rumbled again, and a sharp cry of fear rose from several citizens, but Mother Below, I needed to keep releasing the magic heating up inside me, or I was going to level this entire damned city.
Clenching my teeth, I asked, “Why do you smell of her?”
The female raised her chin. “She spent the night in my home, I mean, Drachu’s home.”
I arched an eyebrow, my tone deadly quiet. “Explain.”
“She and her sister came here looking for my king. Drachu knew she was coming, so he was waiting for her, and I...” She twisted her hands, which got a scathing look from Nish.
“Ock, out with it.Allof it.” Nish seethed.
“He invited her to stay in his home, which was also my home as his salivar.” She raised her chin higher, her eyes flashing. “I did not care to have other females in my house, especially when I saw the way my king was looking at her.”
Somehow I managed to keep breathing as images of Drachu trying to seduce Ilara barreled to the front of my thoughts.
“Did he touch her?” A huge gush of magic flew from me, rattling the windowpanes nearest us. Screams rose from the crowd again.
“Of course not,” Sabreeny said in a scathing tone. “I took his cock three times last night and sucked him within an inch of his life this morning. I had him begging for me and not that cunt of a?—”
My hand was around her throat before she knew what hit her. “Speak very,verycarefully. That’s my mate you’re disrespecting.”
The bob of her throat rolled in my palm. I didn’t increase my pressure, but I would if she continued. By the gods, it wasn’t below me to hurt a female if it involved Ilara. I would break my code of no violence against females if my mate had been assaulted.
A brush of my death affinity wrapped around Sabreeny’s soul. Her eyes bulged, and she wisely said in a more controlled tone, “Drachu didn’t touch her. He was too enamored with me.”
No deceit coated her scent, so I released her throat, and she hastily took a step back.
“And why isn’t she here now? Where did Drachu take her?”
Sabreeny shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Nishtsked. “You sure about that?”
She bared her sharp canines at him as her breasts heaved with each breath. “He didn’t tell me his plans. The king answers to no one. Not even you,” she spat.
She eyed me boldly, and I couldn’t decide if she was the stupidest female to ever live or the bravest.
I curled my lip in disgust, then addressed the entire city. “Does anyone know where Drachu took my mate?”
They shared confused looks, then glanced back at the king’s house, the largest one in the city that was covered with purple shells and stones. It was covered so thickly with items from the sea that I knew it was channeling the power of the ocean.
I prowled toward it and placed my hand along the exterior, running my fingers down it until one of the shells pried loose in my grip.