didn’t go, she would wait for him all night. So he had gone, and he was glad when she just cleaned his wounds and provided him comfort, but didn’t ask for details.
If she had asked, he didn’t know what he would have told her. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he couldn’t tell her the truth either.
Feeling guilty, he tried to keep his distance the next day. What that meant was that he spent all of his time as near to her as he could, but he held back the desire flooding his senses and didn’t kiss her again.
Confused and bothered, Devon stepped into the alley where he usually met with one of the warriors.
Ryder crossed his arms. “What’s new?”
“Nothing,” he lied. “Nothing happened. Everything is as quiet as it can be.”
Ryder frowned. “That can’t be.”
“Why not?” Devon asked, ready to argue if necessary.
“It has been a while now,” Ryder said, dropped his arms to his sides. “The gods wouldn’t have sent you here for nothing.”
If only he knew …
“I’m afraid everything is calm. Too calm even.”
It was like the heavens had heard him. The moment the words left his mouth, the air thickened and wavered. It wasn’t darkness per se, but something familiar with it.
“You feel that?” Ryder asked, alarmed.
“I do.” Devon closed my eyes and tried to sense it. He followed the disturbance. It went out of the village, down the road to the farm. His eyes shot open. “I’ve got to go.”
He spun on his heels and ran.
“Devon, wait!” Ryder called, but Devon didn’t stop. He didn’t slow. In fact, once he ran out of the village, he used his warrior’s powers to increase his speed.
In a flash, he found the source of the disturbance. A carriage and four riders behind it—he just knew Kianna was inside the carriage.
Red anger filled his veins.
Devon halted in the carriage’s way.
The coach pulled on the reins, making the carriage stop. “Get out of the way,” he yelled.
The carriage’s door opened, and Lord Cooper stepped out of it. “What’s going on?”
“This man won’t move out of the way,” the coach said, pointing to Devon.
Lord Cooper shrugged as if bored. “Run him over.” He made to enter the carriage again.
Devon remembered him from the ball. He had glanced at Kianna and Ophelia one too many times, in ways that made Devon’s stomach knot in disgust.
“You’ve got something that is mine,” Devon said, his voice hard.
“Devon?” Kianna cried from inside the carriage. “Help!”
“Quiet, you wench.” The man kicked inside the carriage and Kianna yelped.
Oh, the bastard.
Devon took a step forward, intent on squeezing the life out of this useless man, but he tried to control his urge. Killing them all in front of Kianna wouldn’t gain him any points.
“Let her go,” Devon warned.
The riders dismounted at once and drew their swords. He suppressed an amused chuckle. If only they knew who they would be fighting against.
“Why should I listen to you?” Lord Cooper asked.
“Because she’s mine.”
A loud laughter bubbled out of Lord Cooper’s throat. “No, she’s mine.”
Devon was losing his patience. “How so?”
The man glanced Devon up and down, as if judging if he was worth his time. Finally, he sighed. “Her family owes me a lot of money. Since they don’t have any money anymore, I’m taking her as payment.”
This was barbaric. Slavery was ridiculous, and taking a lady from a family like that was even worse.
All Devon wanted was to run his sword through this man. He was sure that if he did that, his riders would be on top of him in five seconds flat—and Devon would be done with them all in two more.
But he couldn’t kill them around Kianna. What would he tell her?
He was sure there was no way for him to reason with this man either. He would never let Kianna go out of the goodness of his heart.
There was only one thing he could do.
“How much is the debt?” Devon asked.
The man narrowed his eyes before rattling an absurdly high amount of gold. Devon reached behind his back and conjured a pouch full of gold—taken from his personal savings. This was a small dip in his fortune and he was more than glad to pay it and have this problem done with.
“Here.” Devon offered the heavy leather pouch to the man. “There’s an extra ten percent in here, so you’ll keep your mouth shut and never bother this family again.”
The man snatched the pouch from his hand and checked the contents. He turned