Catastrophic Attraction - Eve Langlais Page 0,9

because of Sofia’s position in the king’s court.” Gunner shrugged. “What can I say? She’s good at what she does. I’m not going to hold her back.”

“No one is complaining about your absence. We miss you but understand.” Axel stepped in to soothe tempers before things got heated. He eyed Casey. “When should Titan tell the king you’ll be arriving?”

“Don’t. I want to check things out first.”

See if this king was worth fighting for. If not, maybe she’d kill him and collect the reward herself.

Chapter 3

This time it wasn’t the gentle nudge of a cold wet nose that woke Roark. He lay perfectly still in his bed and kept his breathing even. Didn’t move despite the temptation. He listened. Not just with his ears. He cast out his senses and found nothing of any concern.

There was never just nothing. Hence why he showed patience and waited. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill him in his sleep. He had the scars to prove it. However, it had been happening more often of late.

More annoying than the assassination attempts, he couldn’t quite figure out who was behind them. For a long while, he’d been so sure it had to be the Emerald queen. She bristled at the upstart who demanded his kingdom receive recognition and respect. She’d balked when he took over the mountain pass and demanded she pay taxes to pass her goods through. She sent him threats when he refused to bow to her demands. He’d expected her to turn murderous. With each assassin he killed, he sent back as a message to the Emerald leader. Usually the head in a box with a note that held a taunting reply.

However, the queen had been dead a few weeks now, and this was the fifth attempt in the last month. Not by any of his subjects he might add. For some reason, they liked their king.

However, outsiders…they could be seduced with wealth.

The soft scuff didn’t come as a surprise. He wouldn’t have woken for nothing. An intruder had infiltrated his bedchamber. Titan would be pissed. He’d taken the last attack quite personally, given he’d put in extra measures to prevent it. Roark could only imagine Titan would insist on sleeping with him to keep him safe. The newest member of his court was already oddly loyal to him.

But who cared about Titan’s feelings? More worrisome, what of Charlotte? She was much more vulnerable than him, and he couldn’t feel her. Couldn’t feel anything. Something vibrated against the walls of his mind.

The whisper of something sliding across stone let him know the attacker neared. He still felt nothing. Not a single thought, which didn’t bode well. He’d thought himself recovered from his earlier expenditure of power. He caught a faint smell, putrid and moist, as of something had crawled out of the river.

Probably the river outside his tower window. Damned thing provided transport and did a surprisingly good job of keeping the city clean. But it also ran right past his castle and through the middle of his city. It offered a point of vulnerability. They really needed to find a way to keep the monsters out.

Especially the monsters with an agenda.

The reek of it almost made him grimace. Apparently, since the human assassins failed, the last two attempts had gone in a different direction. A less human one.

Roark didn’t care how many claws it had or how sharp the teeth. The monster in his room would die because it wasn’t his time yet.

Just as he readied himself to fight, there was a sense of motion, a squeal, then the stench as the creature spilled out its life’s blood—and its guts, judging by the reek.

Sitting up, Roark couldn’t see much in the shadows and still sensed nothing. “Show yourself.” He transformed some of the energy he could grasp into light. A ball of it ignited the lantern hanging from his ceiling. He focused on a chain reaction that hopped the balls of flame into other waiting lamps, illuminating the room, dispelling all shadows.

A slim figure stood over an already decaying heap of flesh. The night creatures tended to not react well with any kind of light.

The swathed stranger held a pair of daggers and watched the melting lump until nothing remained but a heap of mud on the floor. The maid would get it in the morning and never even know what she cleaned.

Roark did though. A swamp golem. Rare because of the difficulty in controlling them, they