The Last Warrior (Shifters Unbound #13) - Jennifer Ashley Page 0,88
hell,” and other negations from Carly, the goblin brothers, and Kim who’d tensely joined them.
“Rhianne, love, if you go to him, he’ll squelch you,” Ben snapped. “Or imprison you, and then I’ll have to rescue you again. It was no cake walk the first time.”
“Cake walk?” Even in the midst of terror, Ben could befuddle her.
“I mean it wasn’t easy. A shitload of trouble. Not doing it again, because you’re not going anywhere. You’re my mate, remember?”
Rhianne stilled as joy eased through her cold and fear. Ben’s denial of what was between them had evaporated.
She smiled widely. “I remember.”
Ben’s face went scarlet as he realized what he’d said. “We can argue about that later. This argument is an extension of the first one. You are not going anywhere near that asshole Ivor. He’ll either kill you or use you, and you know it.”
“And if I don’t go?” Rhianne planted her hands on her hips. “You’ll let him destroy good Shifters like Tiger? What about all the cubs sitting here, vulnerable? What about Tiger-girl and Connor?”
Both Tiger-girl and Connor had been stopped outside the circle of trees by Liam, who’d become a giant lion, his black mane full. Between himself, Sean, and Pierce, the two older cubs and Andrea were not getting through.
“I didn’t say I’d let the dickhead wreak havoc,” Ben said. “I’m going to go all goblin on his ass.”
“Sweet!” Darren shouted, and Cyril high-fived him. “We’re with you. Millie? You in?”
“Of course I am.” Millie opened her handbag. She carefully took off her glasses, folded them, tucked them into a glasses case, and set the glasses case back into her purse. “I will happily join you boys in kicking Fae butt.”
Darren and Cyril high-fived each other again and laughed.
“Meanwhile, my mate is the Goddess knows where.” Carly bounced on her toes, barely containing herself. Rhianne had to admire her self-restraint. “Dylan?”
“Working on it, lass.” Dylan had his cell phone in hand and started punching in numbers. He lifted it to his ear as someone on the other end answered. “Kendrick? You busy? Good. We have ourselves a little situation.”
Once upon a time, Ben had been dragged from his workshop by Fae soldiers using spells, ropes, bronze chains, shackles, and anything else the hoch alfar bastards could put their hands on in order to capture Ben. They’d taken him to a hill and tied him to a post, hoisting him up to hang from the chains and observe their savagery.
The hoch alfar had proceeded to put to death hundreds of goblin warriors, using explosives and magic. The goblins had fought valiantly to the last, but they’d not been able to save themselves.
The hoch alfar had then rounded up the survivors—women, children, and men too feeble to have joined the battle, and marched them through a ley line gate to the human world.
As the procession had faded through the tear in the sky, the hoch alfar had taken Ben from the pole and sent him through the gap, the last of his kind to go. All others were dead.
“This is what being friend to the dokk alfar has gained you,” the hoch alfar general had sneered, and then he’d shut the gate behind Ben forever.
The hoch alfar sorcerers had cast spells on the gates and the ley lines, barring Ben from ever entering Faerie again.
The small group of goblins in this world that he’d found and joined hadn’t castigated him, though they, like Millie, blamed him. At the time, they were too busy trying to stay alive to do much arguing.
Monsters, the humans who saw the goblin refugees in their true forms called them. Devils from hell, come to devour their children. Goblins were hunted and slain.
Ben and the others soon learned to change their appearance, but even this was not enough. Most human communities at the time were small and close-knit, everyone knowing everyone. Strangers were unwelcome unless affiliated with someone familiar.
So, the goblins scattered, searching for larger cities where they might fade into the crowd.
Ben had become a master of dissembling, inventing connections and plausible stories about where he came from to relax the humans frightened of the unknown. They had reason to fear, as a thousand years ago, bandits and raiders cut swaths across countrysides, killing indiscriminately. Humans had been very much like the hoch alfar in that respect.
Ben had soon lost track of all other goblins. He’d done his best to hide and