The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,126

laughed. “What do you think of my Vrees, Leena? I only just acquired him. I’d been tracking him for years, and finally, he showed himself.” Her smile turned feral. “Run all you want. Wherever his mist reaches, his lightning can strike.”

And it was everywhere. The perfect conductor for the spark angrily brewing inside of his ribs. Swallowing hard, my gaze swiveled back to Noc. He parried left and right, all the while wearing a smile so unnerving that my blood ran cold. Oz’s face was a bloodied mess covered in gashes and weeping wounds. Swollen flesh threatened to cover one of his eyes, but he placed a well-planted kick in the square of Noc’s chest, and he went flying back.

Calem lunged forward, long gashes trailing his arms and chest, and took Noc’s primary focus. Noc dodged Calem’s assault and stole a murderous glance my direction. Had the oath finally claimed him? Was he beyond my reach?

No. I would always find a way to reach him. I’d promised.

Gritting my teeth, I turned back to Gaige. “We’ll lose if we keep running. I need something to distract the Vrees while I take care of Yazmin.”

Another crack of lightning, and we scattered. Gaige’s knees buckled, and he clutched his stomach. From the red blooming along his tunic, it appeared as though his stitches had split. Kost’s torn gaze flickered between us and his brothers. Losing. We were losing.

The suffocating mist stretched further, and the wetness of it slicked against me and pressed damp clothing to my skin. If only we could blow it away or evaporate it with heat.

Heat. My eyes flew to Jax. He’d extended his neck fully and was constantly swiveling his head from left to right, searching for threats. He couldn’t summon fires, but his mother could. Extending my hand, I channeled my power and the beast door groaned open. Brilliant rosewood light battled against the fog, and Lola emerged. Her gaze first targeted her son, then the Vrees. In the span of a breath, she’d determined him to be the threat and charged. Thick claws scraped against the stone floor, and she stood tall before him. Gleaming red scales rimmed in gold glistened beneath the mist. Pupil-less white eyes burned with the intensity of the sun, and she let out a grating war cry that made her headdress of bone spikes tremble.

“Kost.” I reached out my hand.

“On it.” He gripped my wrist tight and looped Gaige’s shoulder over his, and then enveloped us in shadows. Safely out of Lola’s radius, we reappeared on the lip of the entrance to the throne room where grass met stone.

Our disappearance was the only signal Lola needed. The moment we were out of range, she kicked on her power and cooked the air. A heat wave rushed outward, and the mist began to evaporate. The stone beneath her feet glowed a fiery orange, and she inched forward. The Vrees shook its massive head and bared its teeth. Yazmin leapt back toward the dais, avoiding the skin-melting heat of the Laharock.

More mist sizzled, and the Vrees stepped back. Lightning sparked in his core, and he targeted Lola with terrifying certainty. With him distracted, I could take out Yazmin. And I had just the hunter to do it. One Yazmin hadn’t counted on me taming.

Thrusting my hand forward, rosewood light exploded from my symbol, and I summoned Reine. She bled into life in a smearing of nightly colors. Hackles already on end and endless eyes locked on the Vrees, she positioned herself in front of me.

“Not that.” I pointed toward Yazmin. “Her. Go.”

Part of me hated to do it. Hated to order a beast to kill like I’d done with Onyx. But this was so different from before. I’d been under Wynn’s control, and in a sense, so had the Council. They had mowed down assassins under the false pretense of defending their home, thanks to him and Yazmin. My actions now would protect the lives of those I loved. Even of those I didn’t know, like the Charmers hiding in their homes and the beasts they held dear.

I would fight for them. Just like Reine had fought for me against the Sentinels. She hadn’t needed to—I’d yet to tame her. But she’d chosen me. Deemed me part of her family and acted to save my life.

Realization settled deep within me. Reine wasn’t so different from us Charmers. She’d lived a life on her own, never confronting threats, only defending her territory. And yet… When