his heavy footsteps retreated back into the hallway.
“You will be safe here,” he said quietly to me. “I promise you.”
I squeezed my fists at my sides, tensed, waiting. Then I sagged with relief once the door closed behind him…and I was left alone.
My eyes flashed up to the door and I rushed over to it, dragging the armchair the Mad Horde King had been sitting on with difficulty. I wedged it against the door though my arms shook with the effort. I knew it wouldn’t be enough to stop a Dakkari from entering, but at least it would give me time to prepare.
When I felt marginally safer, I went to sink down at the low table again, placing my back against the wall, staring at the door. My heart was still throbbing in my chest and when I placed my palm over it, it beat a frenzied rhythm against it.
Whether it was from the brew or the tingling bite on my neck—or both—I didn’t know.
There was a stranger in my skin. When I’d opened up my senses to the horde king, just moments ago, I’d felt the stinging urge of desire and arousal…but what frightened me most was that I didn’t know if it stemmed from him or from me. Or were his emotions influencing my own?
It had never happened before. When I used my gift and felt others’ emotions, there was a sense of detachment. A sense of detachment I’d relied on to protect me like a shield or else it would be too overwhelming.
But with him…
I swallowed.
With him, it was different. His emotions tore at me and I felt them deeply. His pain, his darkness…his desire. They became my own, if only briefly.
My stomach growled then, my appetite suddenly awakening. I dragged my gaze away from the door, down to the food in front of me. More food than I’d ever seen at one time.
Did it come at a price?
Everything did.
The Mad Horde King wanted me, desired me for whatever reason. I flushed, remembering how I’d shamelessly begged him for his help.
But he helped me before, I knew. He’d helped me slip away from the guards, last night on the streets of Dothik. Perhaps he would help me again.
I’d given him a truth. I would do whatever it took to help my family. They were depending on me. And if I failed, I would never see them again. Because if I failed, it meant my death.
Already, I was running out of time. I could almost feel the poison thickening my blood like a countdown.
Chapter Eight
“You are mad,” Rath Kitala hissed, “if you thought you could take her without us knowing.”
I regarded him, my arms crossed over my chest. We were all huddled in Rath Tuviri’s quarters, just down the hall from my own. With the exception of Rath Dulia, who was currently entertaining a female or two despite the fact that he had a Morakkari, a wife and queen, back at his horde, we were all meeting.
In secret, it seemed, judging from our hushed voices.
“I have met her before,” I decided to tell them.
“Neffar?” Rath Rowin asked, frowning. “When?”
“Last night,” I said, my skin itching with the proximity of the other Vorakkars. There were six of us, crammed into the small space. And we were not small males. “I discovered her in the city.”
“It was you who took her to the dungeons?” Rath Rowin asked.
“Nik,” I rasped, cutting him a glare. “I distracted the Dothikkar’s guards to help her escape. I told her to leave the city. She told me she needed to meet with the Dothikkar but vok, I did not know why she wanted to speak with him. Who would think she was a messenger for the Ghertun?”
“She was frightened when I came into your quarters,” Rath Kitala said, his tone sharp. “Or could you not see that? You may have helped her last night but she does not trust you now.”
“And even when I had her in my lap and my lips at her throat,” I grinned, cutting my gaze to him, “she asked me for my help.”
Rath Kitala’s nostrils flared. I’d seen more of the other Vorakkars in the past few moon cycles than I cared to…and tensions always ran high between us. We were kings in our right. We were used to making decisions on our own and we didn’t like to be challenged.
Rath Tuviri cut in, his golden hair shimmering with the flickering of the fire light. He said, “Try not to