Evren stopped it with his own, and my marks burned like fire against my skin.
“You know she’s coming with us, Evren. You’re only fighting the inevitable.”
“I will kill you before I allow you to take her.” Evren bared his teeth, and fear coursed through my veins.
“You’ve become soft, prince.” Calix shot his power in my direction and Evren dove for me. Panic filled his eyes as the power slammed into his back and knocked the breath from his lungs.
“Evren!” I charged for him as blood dripped from his lips, but Calix was faster.
I could see the defeat in Evren’s eyes as he tried to climb back to his knees. My marks were set afire across my skin, burning more than they ever had before, and I could feel a part of myself breaking.
“This is your mate.” Calix laughed before he gripped Evren by the back of his hair and forced him to look at me. “The bastard prince stuck between two kingdoms.”
He still spoke, but all I could concentrate on was the word mate. It echoed inside me, rolling through my veins, and when I stared into Evren’s tired eyes, I knew it to be true.
This man that was on his knees before me, the one fighting for my life with his own, was my mate. Flames formed in my gut, and my marks felt like they were charring my skin.
“Let him go,” I demanded of him with a growl.
Calix laughed and only tightened his hold on Evren. “This one will be taken back to my queen just as you will, princess.” He spat the name like a slur.
I didn’t know his queen or what she wanted with either of us, but I knew I refused to allow them to take him.
I reached inside of myself, and I held on to that blaze that raged. “I said to let him go.”
Evren shook his head, barely able to manage the movement with his hair still inside Calix’s hand, but I was beyond taking orders.
The power inside of me built, the anger and rage rising and rising until I could feel it along my fingertips.
“You’re lucky I don’t kill the bastard.” Calix laughed, and power shot from within me.
I didn’t know where it came from, and I had no control, but power slammed into Calix unexpectedly. His gaze hit mine as the breath was knocked from his chest, and his hand loosened on Evren’s head. I let my magic loose once more.
This time when it slammed into Calix, he was more prepared, but it still knocked him to his back. His men shifted around him, but not a single one approached me.
“Don’t touch him again.” I stepped closer to Evren, and I saw the fear in Calix’s eyes as he watched me.
“The queen wants him back in the Blood Court.”
“I don’t give a damn about your queen,” I growled at him, and another wave of black power shot from me. Some of his men fell to the ground, but I kept my eyes on him.
“You should.” My gaze snapped up at the sound of a woman’s voice, and I quickly put myself between her and Evren.
She moved around the tree in which she was hidden, and her long fingernails trailed over its bark lazily. She was beautiful with eyes that reminded me of the sea and my father. She wore black boots that went to her knees and covered her trousers that were tucked beneath.
She didn’t look like a queen, but I knew in my bones that this was her.
Evren groaned as he reached out for me, but his hand trembled as he wrapped it around my shin.
“Queen Veda, I presume?”
“In the flesh.” She cocked her head to the side and stared at the way Evren reached for me. “And here I thought you didn’t give a damn about me.”
“I don’t.” My fingertips buzzed with my power, and I gritted my teeth as I tried to keep control.
“Yet you protect my son as if you care very deeply.”
Her words choked me, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Evren’s hand tightened against me, and my marks begged me to let my power flow through me.