Chapter 39

Elouera

“Did you really think I didn’t know?”

His words left me completely speechless. I stared into Jace Corowa’s hazel eyes as the freezing rain poured down on us. The heavy trench coat he had just wrapped around my shaking shoulders was the only thing keeping me warm.

For three years, this man had done everything he could to make my life miserable. He had dragged me through the muddy Vanguard training grounds, broken my ribs during sparring, and forced me to run around the training walls until I vomited blood.

Whenever he looked at me, all I ever saw was cold hatred and disgust.

But now, as his bare knuckles gently brushed against my collarbone, that hatred was gone.

In its place was something far more frightening. He looked at me as though he wanted to protect me and keep me for himself. The possessiveness in his eyes was so strong that the Omega toxin in my body reacted immediately, making my condition even worse.

He had known my secret all along.

Every time he stood unusually close to me during training, he had known. Every time he stepped in to stop another cadet from cornering me in the barracks, he had known.

All this time, I had thought he was punishing me.

But he had actually been protecting me.

Before I could find the strength to speak, the sound of boots crushing gravel broke the silence.

Across the broken fountain, five more men appeared from the dark entrance of the hedge maze. They were the remaining members of Julian’s hunting party rich, powerful young lords from the royal court who had spread out across the palace grounds to find the source of the irresistible scent coming from me.

They stopped in their tracks when their torches lit up the scene before them.

Callan’s broken body lay somewhere among the blackthorn bushes. Julian’s twisted corpse rested against the brick wall.

And there I was, shivering on the ground, wrapped completely in the Vanguard Commander’s coat.

“The little prince,” one of the men whispered.

His eyes immediately turned a frightening, glowing red. The heavy scent of my heat filled the air, taking away whatever sense they had left. They no longer saw Jace as a dangerous man standing in their way. All they could see was an exposed Omega they wanted to get their hands on.

With loud, angry growls, all five men pulled out their swords and charged at him.

Jace didn’t reach for a weapon. He didn’t shout at them to stop. He didn’t even get into a fighting position.

He simply removed his hand from my face, stood up from the freezing mud, and walked straight toward them.

What happened next wasn’t really a fight. It was a brutal display of how easily Jace could take them down.

The first lord rushed forward and thrust his silver sword toward Jace’s chest. Instead of moving away, Jace stepped closer. He knocked the blade aside, moved past the man’s guard, and struck him under the chin with the palm of his hand.

A sickening crack filled the air as the man’s jaw broke. His eyes rolled backward, and he dropped onto the gravel, completely unconscious.

Jace didn’t even stop to look at him.

The second lord swung his sword at Jace, but Jace quickly ducked beneath it. He grabbed the man’s arm, twisted his body, and forced the man’s elbow backward.

A loud snap rang out over the sound of the heavy rain.

The lord’s elbow broke, and he opened his mouth to scream. But before he could make a sound, Jace drove his knee into the man’s chest. The blow broke several ribs and sent him crashing into the stone fountain.

It was horrifying to watch.

And yet, I couldn’t look away.

When Callan fought, he fought like a wild Alpha who had completely lost control. He screamed, raged, and attacked with the fury of someone who wanted to kill everything in his path.

But Jace was different.

He fought without showing any emotion, and somehow, that made him far more frightening.

His face remained completely blank. His jaw was tightly clenched, and his dark eyes followed every small movement his enemies made.

He didn’t waste a single movement or strike harder than he needed to.

This was the Vanguard Commander at his most dangerous. He moved with the cold precision of a trained soldier, using exactly the amount of force needed to bring down anyone who threatened me.

The third and fourth lords attacked Jace at the same time, one from each side.

Jace grabbed the third man by the throat and used his own speed against him, slamming his head against the brick wall of the maze. Without even letting the unconscious man go, Jace kicked backward and struck the fourth lord directly in the knee with his heavy combat boot.

A horrible cracking sound filled the air as the man’s knee bent the wrong way. He fell into the mud, screaming in pain as he grabbed his injured leg.

The fifth and final lord froze.

The red glow in his eyes began to fade as the sight of his four fallen companions finally broke through the strange haze clouding his mind. He had just watched Jace take down four men in less than ten seconds.

Fear took over.

He dropped his sword and turned to run.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

Jace covered the distance in just two long strides. He grabbed the back of the man’s velvet coat, pulled him backward, and struck him hard in the back of the neck with his elbow.

The man went limp and fell face-first onto the wet gravel.

It was over.

All five men lay unconscious in the freezing rain, their bodies badly injured and blood spreading around them.

Jace stood in the middle of the scene, breathing slowly and steadily. His broad chest rose and fell as he controlled his breathing. His knuckles were split and bleeding, and the blood mixed with the rain running down his combat gear.

He didn’t even look at the men again.

Instead, he turned and walked back toward me.

My vision was becoming blurry. The excitement and fear that had kept me going during the fight were wearing off, and Uncle Holden’s poison was taking over my body again.

The burning heat inside me was becoming unbearable. It felt as though my body was shutting down from the inside. Every breath hurt so badly that it felt like I was breathing in tiny pieces of broken glass.

Jace dropped to his knees beside me.

This time, he didn’t hesitate. He slipped one strong arm beneath my knees and the other behind my shoulders, then lifted me out of the freezing mud.

The moment my body touched his chest, a powerful shock ran down my spine.

His scent of crushed cedar, damp earth, and sharp lightning surrounded me. It was the only thing that made me feel even slightly safe in the middle of the storm and the terrible fever burning through me.

My Omega instincts took over completely. I could no longer control my own body. I buried my face in the space between his neck and shoulder, pressing my cracked lips against his rain-soaked skin.

A weak, painful whimper escaped me as my body desperately searched for something that could ease the burning inside me.

Jace’s entire body suddenly stiffened. His muscles became hard beneath me, and a low, dangerous growl rumbled from his chest. His arms tightened around me until they almost hurt.

“Hold on, Elouera,” he said roughly.

His voice sounded strained, as though he was fighting to keep himself under control.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

He turned toward the narrow path leading out of the fountain clearing, holding me tightly against his chest.

But before Jace could take even one step, the palace bells began to ring through the night.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

This wasn’t the normal royal alarm. It was the signal for a complete lockdown.

Suddenly, a bright orange wall of fire burst into view from the maze corridors ahead of us. The strong smell of burning wood and kerosene filled the air, overpowering even the scent of the rain.

“Burn the entire hedge maze to the ground!” a voice shouted through the gardens.

The voice was clear and loud, as if magic had carried it across the palace grounds.

Uncle Holden.

“The abomination is inside! Let the fire cleanse the imperial grounds. Shoot anything that tries to escape!”

The Vanguard archers had surrounded the entire area. The tall walls of blackthorn and yew bushes around us caught fire all at once. The flames shot nearly thirty feet into the freezing night sky, trapping us inside a circle of fire that was growing smaller by the second.

Jace stopped moving.

He looked at the approaching flames before turning his eyes back to me.

But the fire was nothing compared to the heat burning inside my body. The poison was destroying me from within, and my heart was beginning to fail. Each beat grew weaker and more uneven.

Jace’s pitch-black eyes met mine. For the first time, the calm expression he always wore began to break. What I saw in his eyes was pure fear and desperation.

“You’re dying,” he whispered.

His jaw tightened as he stared at my burning face, which was soaked with sweat. He adjusted his grip, pulling me tightly against his chest. His thumb rested against my throat, feeling my dangerously fast and uneven pulse.

“The toxin will stop your heart in less than three minutes.”

The fire roared closer, and thick smoke began to fill the air, making it difficult to breathe.

But I could only stare into his eyes.

“I can’t get you out of here in time,” Jace said.

His voice dropped into a deep, frightening growl as his sharp canine teeth slowly began to grow longer.

“The only way to save your life…” He paused, his eyes fixed on mine. “Is for me to claim you right now.”