Madness of the Horde King - Zoey Draven Page 0,145
with one another, that we would watch our children grow—because there would be many—and that his fears were unwarranted.
I pressed a kiss to the scar on his cheek, pressing closer, holding him tighter. He was at peace now, that was what mattered.
“I saw Hedna with your sister today,” Davik murmured after a brief, comfortable silence had passed.
“Mmm, he is hopelessly in love with her, isn’t he?” I murmured, though I felt a little solemn at the thought.
And though I thought my sister returned Hedna’s feelings to some extent, it would be quite some time before she would trust the pujerak fully. If she ever could.
Hedna was a good male. He was everything I wanted for my sister—loyal, kind, hardworking. Sometimes, he even made her laugh, a sound I hadn’t heard for over a year. He would worship the ground Viola walked on if he could. But my sister’s abuse under the Dead Mountain had changed her. There was a hardened glint in her gaze that had never been there before, though I’d been pleased to see her smiling more in the last month she’d been at the horde.
My whole family had been doing that, as if they were finally beginning to realize that this was home now. That they were safe here. They were all finding a place within the horde in their own way. My mother worked with the bikku, cooking for the horde, something that kept her away for long hours but something she enjoyed doing. Maxen worked with the weapons master, the mitri, learning how to forge Dakkari steel. Eli worked with crops and the harvesting of them.
It was Viola that had surprised us all because she’d expressed her interest in working with the pyroki. She spent her days in the enclosure with them, helping the mrikro clean and feed and train the young pyroki. It was hard, grueling work most days. I would watch her work in the enclosure and admire her determination, seeing sweat dot her brow and her arms shake as she mucked out the pen. But it was with the pyroki that I had first seen her smile and I understood why she’d chosen them.
“And maybe one day, she will decide that Hedna makes her happy. Maybe one day, she will decide to take that chance on him, to trust him,” I whispered to Davik.
“He would be good to her.”
“I think Viola knows that,” I murmured. “Deep down.”
Davik pulled me closer, pressing a kiss to my hair. The memory of my dream from last night returned to me. And I knew that it would be a good time to tell him…when he was at peace and settled against me because I wasn’t certain how he would take it.
“Davik?”
“Lysi?”
I lifted my gaze to meet his.
“I—I had a dream last night.”
He blinked at my words, his muscles tightening against me ever so slightly. It would’ve been barely noticeable had I not been pressed so close to him.
“What was it?” he asked slowly.
“I’m not entirely certain,” I said truthfully. “It was jumbled but it felt calm. I didn’t see anything. It was more like I felt the dream, like how I used to feel others’ emotions.”
“And what did you feel?”
I took a small breath in and said, “I think it was Devina.”
Davik didn’t say anything, though I knew he was holding himself very still. He still saw the shadows of beings long dead. He always had and he always would. But ever since that night after I’d woken, that night he’d told me about what happened to his twin, he had never seen Devina appear to him again. Not in shadowed form, at least.
He knew that Lokkaru had come to me in a dream. I’d told him that was how I’d known where to find the heartstone. He knew that I’d dreamed memories of his and that Devina had given me her own memories as well.
Last night had been similar and yet different. Given that I’d sworn I felt my gift sparking inside me again, I wondered if the dream was another sign that my power was beginning to flicker to life.
“I felt her, the way I had when she’d appeared here, inside the voliki. Her energy was warm and loving. Happy,” I whispered, giving him a small smile. I was nervous, I realized, telling him this.
“Did…did she say anything?”
“Not directly. I didn’t hear her voice. But when I woke…”
“Lysi?”
My eyes had already begun to shimmer with tears. “When I woke, I knew. I knew what she had told me in the dream though she hadn’t spoken a single word.”
My hand settled over his, pressing it closer to my belly.
“There isn’t just one child,” I told him. “I know that there are two. A boy and a girl. To be born together.”
His pupils dilated at my words, his breath hitching in his voice.
“Twins?” he rasped.
“Yes,” I whispered, giving him a wobbly smile. Being pregnant meant I was an endless waterfall of tears and almost all of them were happy ones. “I didn’t know how you’d feel about it.”
He’d lost his twin after all and it had nearly destroyed him. I couldn’t imagine how strong that bond must be. There was a magic in twins, a special bond that couldn’t be explained.
And our children would share that bond. Even now, they shared it.
Davik kissed me, hard and thoroughly, making relief thread through me as I clutched him closer. He tasted my tears before he kissed them away.
“I cannot wait for them to come, leikavi,” he rasped, his voice shaking from deep emotion I felt even in me. “Though I enjoy having you all to myself too.”
I grinned.
“You will be a wonderful father,” I told him. I knew that as certainly as I knew there were two lives growing inside me. I kissed him again. My tone turned teasing when I whispered, “Think of all the stories we can tell them.”
He groaned.
“The story of a Vorakkar who stole a heartstone from an ancient tree,” I whispered.
“The story of a white-haired sorceress who brought a Ghertun king to his knees,” he rasped, quirking a brow. I chuckled.
“Or my favorite one,” I said.
“Mm, which one is that?” Davik asked, his eyes bright as he looked at me.
Leaning up, I pressed a kiss to his lips, feeling his grip tighten on my hips.
Against him, I whispered, “The story of a human girl who fell in love with a Vorakkar.”
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WANT MORE SEXY, ALPHA ALIENS FROM ZOEY DRAVEN?
Warriors of Luxiria:
The Alien’s Prize
The Alien’s Mate
The Alien’s Lover
The Alien’s Touch
The Alien’s Dream
The Alien’s Obsession
The Alien’s Seduction
The Alien’s Claim
Warrior of Rozun:
Wicked Captor
Wicked Mate
The Krave of Everton:
Kraving Khiva
Prince of Firestones
Horde Kings of Dakkar:
Captive of the Horde King
Claimed by the Horde King
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Zoey
About the Author
Zoey Draven has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. Her love affair with the romance genre started with her grandmother's old Harlequin paperbacks and has continued ever since. As a Top 100 Amazon bestselling author, now she gets to write the happily-ever-afters—with a cosmic, otherworldly twist, of course! She is the author of steamy Science Fiction Romance books, such as the Warriors of Luxiria and the Horde Kings of Dakkar series.
When she's not writing about alpha alien warriors and the strong human women that bring them to their knees, she's probably drinking one too many cups of coffee, hiking in the redwoods, or spending time with her family.
Visit her at www.ZoeyDraven.com.