ears flicked up. He crossed to her in a single step, just as she opened her mouth to scream out a warning. A huge furry paw clamped down across her face before she had a chance to call out.
“So the eager mate returns, does he?” he murmured in her ear as the disgusting odor of his fur surrounded her. “I almost hate to do this. It would give me immense pleasure to let you watch me defeat him, but I’m afraid you might get damaged in the process and I take better care of my toys than that.”
He raised his right paw and she saw the control to the shock collar.
“Still, perhaps I will bring his head along as a reminder that it’s impossible to defeat me.” As he spoke, he pressed the button, and a fiery wave of pain spiraled out from the collar, traveling along every nerve as her body spasmed and she collapsed to the ground.
Her vision turned dark but only for an instant and she didn’t lose consciousness. As the pain washed over her, she remembered that day on the ship when Kwaret had adjusted the collar to the lowest intensity.
Gokan didn’t even bother to look in her direction, obviously assuming she was now unconscious. Instead, he moved into position behind the door, the same position she had taken the night before. If the pain throbbing through her body hadn’t been so intense, she would have smiled. Despite his boasts about his skills, he still wasn’t confident enough to face Inzen directly. But she couldn’t let him take advantage of her mate, even though she could barely move.
Struggling to turn her head, she searched desperately for a weapon. Her body had fallen to the ground between the two big chairs and she spied a gleam of metal under the closest one. The knife! After Inzen had taken it away from her the previous night, he had dropped it to the floor, and it must have skidded underneath the chair. She tried to reach for it, but the aftereffects of the shock collar had caused her muscles to seize up. Sweat poured from her body as she gradually forced her arm to reach forward until her hand closed around the knife handle.
Water splashed, then the porch steps creaked. Inzen was here—she was out of time. Calling on every ounce of love and determination she possessed, she tightened her grip on the knife. As the door began to open, she threw herself at the Ruijin’s leg with a hoarse cry. The blade slid into his flesh with sickening ease and he growled. He started to turn towards her and then Inzen was there.
Overcome by the effort, she fell back to her knees, her vision fading in and out as she caught brief glimpses of the battle raging between the two warriors, their bodies colliding with brutal violence. Finally, she heard a sharp crack, and then Inzen threw the Ruijin’s body aside as he rushed over to her and lifted her into his arms.
“Jade! Are you all right?” His face blurred over her, her vision shrinking into a single dark spot, but she managed to smile.
“Love…” she whispered before the darkness took her.
Inzen’s heart skipped a beat as Jade’s eyes fluttered close. No! By Granthar, he couldn’t be too late. He bent closer and felt the soft brush of her breath and then the beat of her heart, fast but steady. Relief overwhelmed him and he collapsed to the ground, still cradling her in his arms.
Thank Granthar he hadn’t dallied with Hrebec. The trip to his former captain’s home had been painfully wet and slow, and Lily had been miserable, despite his efforts to shield her. But she had proven to be her mother’s daughter, handling the entire experience with determined bravery. When they finally made it to Hrebec’s, his growing sense of urgency wouldn’t allow him to rest. After sending a message to Cassie and making sure that Lily was once again safe and warm, he had demanded the loan of a flyer. Lily had started to protest his leaving, but when he told her that he was going to get her mama, she had let him go without any further argument.
The whole way back to the hut, he had been plagued by an increasing sense of doom but hadn’t anticipated finding the Ruijin waiting for him. The smell of blood had been the only thing that had alerted him to his presence. That and the hoarse cry