The Warrior King (Inferno Rising #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,88

mountain in any kind of numbers.

Samael turned away from the window, reminding her of a raccoon that used to ransack their trash in Kansas, with black scales surrounding his eyes like a mask. And a look that speared through her heart, pinning it to her spine. “What’s happening?” she asked.

“The king!” A shout sounded from the hallway, muffled by the door.

King?

No one had seen them yet. No one knew they were here or that Samael had come to take his throne with his mate at his side. What king were they shouting about?

Realization dawned, and her stomach pitched and rolled as though the solid rock beneath her feet had turned into a sinking ship on roiling ocean waves.

“Sam?”

No emotions filtered to her. Nothing. That invisible wall had slammed up so high around him, she wondered if she’d ever get through again. The nothing from him only fed the fear slithering through her, joining the sensations tossing her around on that violet sea. “Sam. Please. Talk to me.”

He slowly raised his gaze, and his eyes… She imagined his eyes might look that way when he died.

“Sam?” she prompted.

“Gorgon isn’t dead…” He shook his head, gaze blazing to life even as he took a step away from her. “He is alive, and he has returned.”

Chapter Sixteen

Fuck.

The king was alive. His king, his friend…was alive. The man who was under the belief that Meira’s vows held her to him until he could claim her body…was alive.

And Samael was being torn apart from the inside.

His dragon blasted a roar in his head so loud he shook with it. The sound reverberated with challenge against anyone trying to claim her, but also with terror they’d lose their mate. Especially given where Samael’s immediate thoughts were already going. Beneath those first two instinctual, bone-deep emotions lay grief, for the man he’d have to fight was not only his king, whom he’d been loyal to for centuries, but his friend. One of his few true friends.

How could I do this to him? To the clan? How could I have put Meira in this position?

Because his actions would be setting her against her sisters and everything they were trying to achieve, but also against his king and clan—no way would his people ever accept them after this. Not as their king and queen. Not as members of the clan at all.

Not as anything.

Hell wasn’t a deep enough pit to hurl him into. As her mate, his job was to protect her, make her happy. Fucking impossible now.

He forced himself to look at the woman staring at him with wide eyes, her face so pale she might as well be translucent. He’d made vows, but so had she. Sacred vows in front of the Blue, Gold, and Black Clans. Witnessed. Technically, she belonged to Gorgon.

I have to fix this.

Only one way to do that.

“Stay here,” he ordered.

“What?” She started toward him as he unlocked the door and slid it back. “No.”

“I’m not asking, Meira. I’m telling you.”

She’d lifted an imploring hand toward him as she walked. Now she dropped it to her side, eyes narrowing. “An order?” she asked. “Talk to me, Sam.”

“Can’t you see my emotions right now?” He snapped the words, feeling like a bigger asshole for turning this on her, but not willing to take it back.

Meira winced. “No. That wall of yours is up.”

Good. He didn’t want her feeling this. “Stay here. It’s for your safety.”

“I can use the mirrors to search for him—”

“I know where he is if he’s here.”

“So I go with you.”

“No.” His hands curled into fists at his sides. “It’s not safe for either of us out there.” Not if Gorgon was alive.

“All the more reason to do this together.”

“Dammit, Meira.” The words came out more dragon than human, the growl snarling out of him. “I can’t…”

Fuck. He’d been about to say he couldn’t lose her, but if Gorgon was alive, he’d already lost her. She’d never been his.

The mating shouldn’t have worked if that was true. He should be a pile of ash.

Except for a phoenix, mating isn’t about fate, it’s about choice, a voice whispered in his head. Not his dragon, but a voice of doubt. The same voice told him he’d never been worthy. That reaching for her had turned him into Icarus, flying too close to the sun.

A soft hand landed on his arm, yanking him out of his thoughts. Shock zapped up his spine to find she’d crossed the room to his side without his being