The Frozen Prince (The Beast Charmer #2) - Maxym M. Martineau Page 0,40

and gripped Calem’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring nudge. “Just be careful.”

Leena’s brow furrowed. “I just don’t understand why. Why keep the bounty active? What is Raven hoping to achieve? Everything I overheard while under Wynn’s spell is like static. It’s there, but I can’t grasp it.”

Kost pursed his lips. “There’s something bigger at work here. We just have to figure out what that is.”

“Maybe I should come with you.” I grazed Leena’s cheek with light fingers, and she smiled.

Hurried, uncareful footsteps crashed against the tile of the main hall before hitting the library’s floorboards with a definitive thud. Unease ratcheted up several notches in my throat. No assassin moved that loudly. Not unless they didn’t care about being heard. Or worse, if something was wrong.

Judging by Emelia’s frantic, wide-eyed stare, something was definitely wrong. She’d been on sentry duty since dawn and was still a few hours shy of being relieved from her post. Only intruders would cause her to come rushing back.

Perhaps Hireath wasn’t an option for me after all.

“What is it?”

Windswept hair clung to her flushed cheeks. “Darrien is coming.”

A heavy pounding started in my ears. “What?”

Emelia flinched. “It’s worse. Quintus met him at the gate. It seems he’s jumped ship.”

“I should’ve sent him back to the grave the moment he mentioned him.” I clenched my hand into a tight fist. “No matter. Darrien poses a larger threat.”

“I’ll kill him. You don’t even have to ask.” Calem brushed off Ozias’s grip. His nostrils flared wide, and the veins tracking his arms pushed against his skin. Mercury flooded his stare. “I swear to the gods, I’ll bury his ass in the ground.”

“Calem.” Kost eased toward him with his hands in the air. “Calm yourself.”

The whites of his eyes disappeared entirely as he rounded on Kost. “He’s a traitor. I don’t care if Noc gave him the option to leave. No one should abandon Cruor like that. Quintus too. Annoying prick.” His muscles quivered. Stone scales began to ripple across his flesh.

I pushed Leena behind me and planted one hand against his chest, shoving him back. “Take a breath.”

An animalistic growl split my eardrums as black talons shot out from his fingernail beds. Chest heaving, he backed into the nearest bookshelf and knocked it to the floor.

Emelia stared in horror. “What’s happening?”

The sound of the beast realm opening cut through Calem’s muffled howls, and rosewood light bloomed from Leena’s symbol. She stepped around me and thrust her hand forward. “Kels. Iky.”

The tiny rainbow bird from before appeared first, heading straight for Calem’s jugular. With one swift dive, she buried her beak in his neck. Clear, sappy liquid dribbled across a pinprick hole, and Calem smacked his hand over the opening. Scales raced across his arms, forming and disappearing as Kels’s draft once again dragged him under. Wild, confused eyes met mine for a moment before his lids slipped closed, and he crashed to the floor.

“Iky, carry him.” Leena extended her finger, and Kels perched there while Iky moved forward. Translucent limbs wrapped Calem in a makeshift cradle, and Iky pressed him flush to his chest.

“We need to get him to Hireath. Now.” Gaige’s steely gaze flickered between Calem and the door. “A Naughtbird’s draft is strong, but so is Calem’s beast. He could already be building a tolerance to it—I simply don’t know.”

Leena commanded Kels back to the beast realm. “Then let’s go.”

Threats in Hireath, threats at our front door… Even though I’d suggested Leena go, every fiber of my being screamed for her to stay. Still, I kept myself calm. Controlled. “Be careful.”

Turning to look at me, she cupped my face and placed a quick kiss on my lips. “I will, so long as you do too.” Her hand dropped to my chest where my heart thudded madly against her fingers.

“Don’t stay long.”

“I won’t.”

A glimmering yellow halo of light poured from Gaige’s hand, and a beast manifested by his feet. It was the same creature Wynn had used to take Leena. Its lizard-like head rounded on its master. Unhinging its jaw, it summoned a swirling white portal that crackled with electrical currents.

Leena hummed. “I really need to get me one of these. A Telesávra would make traveling between Hireath and Cruor a cinch.”

“Next time, I’ll join you,” I said.

She smiled. “Next time.” Offering the beast a careful pat on the head, she touched her chin to her shoulder and gave me one last parting glance. “See you soon.”

And then she stepped through the portal and winked out of