“Really?” Jade challenged. She didn’t just choose to focus on the insidious implications hovering in the air, rather than the tragic passing of a beloved man. She had to shift gears—an inherent survival tactic so she didn’t become so mired in her torment that she couldn’t even think straight. Couldn’t function. She tilted her chin as she pressed on. “Jinx and a vampire became friends? We’re supposed to accept that as an explanation?”
“He was trying his hand at predicting the future of an immortal,” Walker contended. “To see if he could do it.”
“He was bored with us and needed a more fascinating conquest?” Jade planted her hands on her hips. This had to be a fabrication concocted by the Demon King to pacify the townsfolk.
With a grieved sigh, Toran told her, “We can’t presume to know what Jinx was thinking, Jade. All we know is that they’d met several times before. Last night, Jinx decided to hypnotize the vampire. It had the opposite effect than what he’d anticipated—not a look into the future, but a jolt into the past.”
Walker said, “When tapping into the vamp’s subconscious mind, Jinx inadvertently triggered memories of the war. Though in a trance, the vampire sensed Jinx’s human presence and pounced, because he thought he was back in time, amid the attacks.”
Jade’s fury burned through her veins. “And the king bought this flimsy excuse?” she retorted.
“He investigated,” Walker announced. “Thoroughly. It’s quite evident the king is troubled by this tumultuous event. He has no intention of letting something disrupt the regulations he has vowed to uphold and he therefore—”
“Let me tell you about the king’s vows, regulations, decrees—whatever the hell you want to call them,” Jade interjected, her voice gaining strength as the stakes hitched. She turned to address the villagers and revealed her own truth. “They hold no weight. The sanctions have been violated. With Jinx, certainly and undisputedly. But also with me. Perhaps with some of you.” Her gaze slid to Michael.
“Jade,” Toran growled in warning of her treason against a kingdom that could incarcerate her—or worse—as he lunged forward and grabbed her arm.
Michael moved in, taking a protective stance.
“Release her,” came a deep, commanding voice from the back of the room. A man stood, coming to her defense in such a quiet, imposing fashion that even Michael paused.
The stranger was dressed all in black, his cloak covering his body, the hood pulled over his head, casting shadows across his face. All Jade could see of him was that he was a mountain of a man—possibly six-foot-five or -six—broad-shouldered, with glowing amber eyes.
Toran’s grip on her arm loosened and Jade ripped away from his grasp. Her gaze locked with the covert newcomer’s. There was a familiar air about him that sent tingles of the forbidden along her spine. Ignited her insides. Tightened her nipples.
All alarming sensations.
“Who are you?” she dared to ask in a near breathless voice.
The man peeled back his hood to reveal a devilishly handsome face. A chiseled-to-perfection visage, with a hard-set jaw and well-proportioned lips, not too thick, not too thin.
It was a face she’d never seen before, not even in her dream, because it had been buried in the mass of her hair as his mouth and tongue had swept over her neck, teasing her senseless with his intimate touch and gentle biting.
But she knew those onyx locks of his as well as she knew his voice. The luxurious strands enticed her, reminding her of how she’d tangled her fi
ngers in them as he sank into her, thrusting confidently, claiming her mercilessly, knowing every responsive inch of her body regardless of having never laid a hand on her in reality.
The air rushed from her lungs as realization dawned and instinct told her exactly who he was. A hot flash of awareness made her skin sizzle, but Jade stood her ground.
Her eyes still on him, she murmured, “King Davian.”
Surprise rippled through the crowd. Then the villagers slipped from their chairs and bent on one knee to bow at his feet. Even the slayers and Michael paid homage.
Jade did not.
She was the only one to remain standing, and the flicker in the king’s hypnotic eyes told her he was both impressed by her unwavering constitution, yet annoyed by her insolence.
To appease him without giving up her strategic positioning, she nodded reverently at him.
One corner of his mouth lifted in a suggestive smirk, then quickly dropped. With a gloved hand, he gestured for the congregation to return to their seats. When the upheaval dimmed, he stepped into the aisle and took three long strides toward Jade; though he was still several feet away, maintaining a respectable distance.
With a demanding look, he said, “Please, explain why you believe I’ve broken all the regulations I’ve put into place in order to preserve peace in this region.”
Jade pulled in a ragged breath, then let it out slowly.
Not only was the king the largest and strongest-looking man she’d ever laid eyes on, he was also the most mesmerizing. And visions of him doing naughty things to her would absolutely not leave her mind. It was almost impossible for her to concentrate, especially with every nerve ending reacting so innately to him. His close proximity sparked all the unexpected, intense sensations from the previous evening, causing her pussy to clench as it pulsed radiantly—and traitorously—with need and desire.
But she found the moxie—from Lord only knew where—to forge on.