15. CHAPTER 15 #2
He drew me toward him, pressing me against him as his other hand curved around my bottom.
“Gorgeous little thing, aren’t you? Kallias’s little plaything…all alone in Gothryn.”
I pulled my arm back once more, but all I succeeded in doing was bringing my arm flush against my chest, still wrapped in the man’s grip.
“I’m not alone,” I spit out.
I felt myself shrinking away from his leering gaze as he rubbed against my breast with the back of the hand still gripping my arm.
“Might as well be. Nothing but a Veytari tart as company…” His head fell back with laughter, his sharp canines the only thing I could focus on.
My heart thundered in my chest and my head swam with panic. I pulled away harder. “Please, let me go. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Of course you don’t!” He drew closer, his putrid breath wafting across my face. “What a lucky night to have found you.”
Enora grasped me around the waist to try to pull me away from him bodily, but he only laughed harder.
“We’ll teach Prince Kallias a lesson with you. Send you back to him crying and begging after we are done. Show him who the stronger kingdom truly is…”
My blood was rushing in my ears, my skin flushed hot. I needed to get away from him. Surely he wouldn’t harm me right here in this tavern…in front of all these people? Looking at him now, his friends circled around him, I wasn’t so sure.
The hand that wasn’t gripped tightly around my arm had discarded the mug and now moved over my hip. I flinched at the touch. I pressed my eyes closed, willing someone to come to our aid. Willing for this harassment to be over.
“Remove your hand…or I will remove it for you. And if I do it? I’ll remove the entire godsdamned thing. Why stop there? I’ll remove it at the elbow. No…the shoulder.”
The voice cut through the cacophony, sending a familiar chill down my spine.
The hand released me at once and I staggered back, rubbing the smarted skin that was sure to darken into an angry bruise the shape of fingerprints by tomorrow.
Enora pulled me flush against her, pressing my head to her chest and holding me protectively.
My gaze drew upward…toward the sound of that voice.
Even without the wings, he was a foreboding presence that stopped everyone dead in their tracks. He stood taller than the rest of the crowd, his gaze darkening as he scanned the mass of fae crowded around us.
“I-I—” the man stuttered, but his words were cut off when the prince’s gaze finally landed on him.
With nothing but a look, he was silenced. Sorin’s gaze lifted to meet mine as a tear escaped, spilling down my cheek.
“Are you all right?” His voice was a soft, low hum. Deadly calm.
I nodded, dropping his gaze. I didn’t want him to see me cry.
My fear still rattled tightly in my chest, my pulse pounding harshly in my ears.
I could feel the panic still clawing its way up the back of my throat as I let out a shaky exhale.
I had never been so vulnerable. Never felt so frightened for my own safety before.
In Myros…everyone knew I belonged to Kallias.
That brought me safety, even when it didn’t bring me respect.
Here…it only drew hatred and loathing.
The man who had groped me spoke once more. “My Prince, I only—”
“You only?” he asked, inclining his head toward the man, amusement painted across his sharp features. “You only what? Thought that you would assault a guest of my kingdom, right here, out in the open? In plain view for everyone to see?”
“But, My Prince, she is Kallias’s—”
His voice was thunderous as he cut the man off.
“I know who she is.” I could have sworn the uneven floorboards beneath us had quaked beneath his wrath.
“If you touch her again, I will ensure it is the last time you touch anything with that filthy, unworthy hand. Have I made myself understood?” Sorin asked, a muscle ticking in his jaw as his gaze darkened further, blazing into the man who cowered before him.
I half expected him to catch fire.
Sorin straightened, squaring his shoulders.
I didn’t know much about dragon shifters, but it appeared as if Sorin was trying very, very hard to restrain his wings from breaking free in the crowded bar.
His magic was practically visible beneath the surface of his taut skin, begging to be released as it swirled golden wisps in his gaze.
Sorin met Enora’s eyes over my shoulder and nodded toward the exit behind us. Without hesitation Enora pulled me backward, toward the opening in the crowd.
“But Your Majesty…she is the Myrosian prince’s whore. We were simply trying to teach her a lesson—” the man said at my back.
An agonizing moment of silence passed as I took another step toward the door, then another. My vision was blurry with tears as I held onto Enora tightly, unwilling to let go. I felt rather than saw the prince’s rage as the tavern grew so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“What did you call her?” His voice was strained, twisted with barely contained fury.
The sound of his voice was lethal. I never wanted to be on the other end of that wrath.
Wings stirred the air, and I glanced over my shoulder once. I glimpsed the black, leather wings of the prince. They spread outward and outward, knocking over tables and Vireth alike as they began to flee the tavern.
“Aveline, let’s go!”
With one last glance, Enora pulled me through the open doorway as screams erupted behind us.