Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,87

and he’d done it less and less. At least not right in front of their open window, where Mama could look out and see.

The vibrating tension in Papa’s body made Titi afraid, so she wound her arms tightly around his neck, squeezing him close.

He seemed riveted by one of the other riders. Also dressed all in black. Titi could see that it was a female, her long, dark hair cascading in waves down her back.

She was turned toward them. Piercing them with glowing, amber eyes.

No, not them. She was only looking at Papa.

Titi put her hand on Papa’s jaw to turn his face away from the frighteningly beautiful female.

Don’t look at her, Titi wanted to say. She’s bad.

Suddenly, the procession stopped altogether. Right in front of Titi’s home. The four warriors in the front of the line dismounted and came toward them like menacing shadows. Two of them unsheathed gleaming swords. The other two just kept on advancing as if nothing could stand in their way.

Titi held onto Papa tighter, well and truly terrified by now.

Before she could comprehend what happened, one of them pulled her forcibly away from Papa.

She kicked and screamed and beat her fists and tried to bite her captor.

All the while, Papa only stood there, staring at her struggles with fury and despair blazing in his eyes. The edges of his body shimmered with the magic of his shift, but the powerful leopard never took hold. For some reason, he was suppressing his beast.

Suddenly, Mama was there too, held captive by another soldier, her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out.

Titi didn’t stop fighting, despite the thick, muscular arms that tightened around her chest, squeezing the air out of her body. She thrashed and wriggled, able to knock a small fist into her captor’s jugular.

He lost his patience then and caught her spindly arm in his iron grip, squeezing brutally until her bone snapped like a twig.

Titi couldn’t even shout at the blinding pain, merely huffing a whimper as grape-sized tears of terror and frustration plopped down her cheeks.

Papa bared his teeth at the soldier who trapped her, a ferocious growl rumbling through his chest.

It all happened so quickly. No more than the blink of an eye.

The black-robed woman spoke to Papa in low tones, so quietly, Titi couldn’t hear. But Papa could. He was a leopard, after all. His senses were far keener than hers and Mama’s.

He forced his gaze away from Titi and Mama to stare back at the woman who seemed to hold their fates in the palm of her hand. He listened in silence. Chest heaving, hairs bristling.

Mama stared at their exchange in awe-filled horror, mouth slack, eyes round and pitch black.

And then, the worst thing happened.

Papa went away.

He strode toward the caravan and swung atop the woman’s horse, right behind her. He didn’t look at Mama and Titi again. Nor did the woman. In fact, she hadn’t looked at them even once the entire time.

She only had eyes for Papa.

Without another word, the woman spurred her steed into a gallop, riding away with Papa in the direction of the Ivory Palace.

What happened after that was a blur. Titi didn’t really recall.

She just knew that it would be the last time she ever saw her beloved Papa.

*** *** *** ***

“Weak…so weak…”

Mama was mumbling to herself again, making Titi worried.

It had been a fortnight since Papa was…taken away.

In that time, Mama hadn’t slept, had barely eaten, no matter what Titi tried to do to shake her loose of the debilitating gloom.

Titi’s arm had healed by now, thankfully straight, though Titi had to wrap it herself, trying to recall what Mama did whenever she set broken bones. Pure Ones healed many times faster than humans, a source of their immortality. But bones could still grow back crooked; skin and flesh could still scar if not treated properly. And, of course, there were some mortal wounds that even fast healing couldn’t recover from.

At least Titi only had a broken arm. She was as good as new now, even if she was perpetually hungry, since Mama didn’t bother to cook any more.

Shouldn’t they be making plans to get Papa back?

It looked like the strangers had gone in the direction of the Ivory Palace. Perhaps they could beseech the Dark Queen Ashlu for help.

Even though Titi was a youngling still, she knew enough to comprehend the indisputable dominance of Dark Ones who ruled over this empire. Mama, Papa, and Titi too, belonged to one of