I kept a decent distance between us as we stepped out into the long, stone hallway. He turned to the right and continued on at a nice even pace.
So arrogant, turning his back on me like that.
I was going to guess he’d never met a female like me; I was going to fight him all the way. I took a running jump and two-foot-kicked him straight in the back. My hit was hard and solid, and he ended up face-down on the stone. I heard the oomph as all the breath whooshed out of him, but I didn’t stick around to see his recovery. I started running and never looked back.
I sprinted as fast as my legs would go, looking for a stairway or exit from this shithole. I heard a series of curses behind but knew better than to turn back. The odds of me escaping were slim to none, but I had to try. Maybe if I could just get outside…
“Jessa! You can’t escape from me.”
His voice was closer than I would have liked. The hallway seemed to be never ending, but there was a lighter section in the distance. I needed more speed. My wolf came to my call in an instant. It took me mere seconds to slip free of my human skin and clothes, and I let loose with a long howl as the canine in me took over.
My senses sharpened and we were so much faster on four legs, the green-gray landscape zooming by in a monotonous array. The end of the hallway was fast approaching and this gave my wolf an extra burst of speed. There were no clear exits, just a few doors scattered about. My nostrils picked up furniture and linen scents from within. Bedrooms most likely.
Just as I was about to reach the junction where the light shone brightest, a figure stepped out into my path. I skidded to a stop, my eyes darting over the newcomer. I dropped lower; growls ripping from me, rumbles in my chest, the fur standing up on my back. I didn’t hesitate to attack. The wolf didn’t understand that this creature was dangerous, maybe even more so than the dragon king chasing us. The wolf just wanted to be free, and I wanted that too, so I didn’t stop her.
The jinn did not step back. It glided across the hall and knocked into my side, smashing me against the wall. I yelped. Asshole. How the hell was there a jinn here anyway? At least this one didn’t have the markings of an elemental, but still, was he teamed up with the dragon king?
I attacked him again, from the side this time, my movements slower so I could dodge if he swiped at me. He was sidetracked for a moment by the arrival of Larky; the shifter was hard to ignore as he strolled up to us. Using that distraction, I managed to latch onto the jinn’s arm, mainly grabbing at the layers of black cloak he wore. I jerked back and ripped it free, exposing his long, sort of oddly shaped limb. I couldn’t tell in the wolf vision, but I guessed he would be marked in shades of red and black, like the last one I’d seen.
“Do not hurt her, Kirik, or I will end you.” Larky was all protective and shit, and I really wished he’d do everyone a favor and kill the jinn and then himself. Was that too much to ask?
“She’s your weakness, Larkspur. You will do well to remember your promises. This one cannot go free. If the bond is not fulfilled, you have no course with the gods. You have no firstborn and you made the deal.”
This conversation was confusing to the wolf. I knew I should still listen so I could examine it later. There was something disturbing there. Firstborn … seriously? If Larky’s dick came anywhere near me, I was cutting it off.
While the pair were focused on their argument, I took off in the opposite direction, but Larky was faster than a freaking bullet. He zipped across the corridor and enclosed my wolf in his strong arms before I could make it more than a few feet along the hall.
“Come, my little wolf. We have a dinner to attend.”
I struggled, clawing and biting the shit out of him, but no matter how much flesh I tore free, nothing loosened his grip. His whole no pain, total-chill-about-everything attitude was starting to annoy me. I needed to figure out what his buttons were and I needed to push them. Hard.
He took me back in the direction we had originally walked, past the door of my smashed-up room and all the way to the end, where a spiral staircase led down.
Three floors down, we emerged out into a massive space. It was all marbled floors, fancy artwork, and shelves filled with books, like a big recreation room slash library but completely decked out for the rich and famous. The bastard had taste. I ignored the opulence and continued my mission to scratch his arm off.
I was getting really sick of being treated like a piece of décor he could just cart around. His blood flecked my fur and his clothes, but all of the wounds were healing fast. It was impossible to inflict enough damage to escape; he healed before I could even sever the muscle, and my wolf and I were getting both frustrated and tired. Supernaturals had a lot of stamina, but I had not eaten or slept in many hours. It was starting to take its toll.
“You have to learn to stop fighting me. We are meant to be together. I’m patient. I’ve never taken a female against her will, and I’m prepared to wait for you to come to the realization that we are meant to be. You can’t escape your fate. The gods have spoken.”
Lie. I think. He was good at using lie and truth in the same sentence, which confused the detector.
I bit him again, harder this time. If it was fated, I wouldn’t have formed a partial bond with Braxton. There was something else at work here, some sort of dark magic, and there was no need for two guesses to figure out who had messed with the strings of fate. Larky had done this to me, I knew it, and I planned on rectifying the situation as soon as my ass got free.