Page 29 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
Just when I was about to lose my control, Ella stood up and excused herself. The other two women immediately did the same. I glanced down as she rose, staring at my plate, both grateful and dejected she was leaving.
I don’t know how much longer I can do this.
“We leave for the citadel in the morning,” Caz said before they could retreat from the room. “Be ready to go.”
Anna nodded. “We will be.”
By the time I looked up, they were gone.
“Will you be ready to leave?” Caz asked from my left.
“Yes.” I would make the journey. One way or another.
“Good.” Caz spun his dinner knife in his hand. “I dislike being away this long with Bryna’s trial so close. I don’t trust Mirko.”
I grunted agreement.
“Awfully convenient timing of the attack,” Kolar chimed in, his fork paused above the remnants of his steak.
“No, it’s not,” I said, speaking up before Caz could respond. “If Mirko wanted us gone before the trial started, what’s more convenient than an attack here?”
“We can’t prove that,” Caz said cautiously, though he didn’t reprimand me. As the Tyrant, he simply had to be more careful of the accusations he made out loud.
I shook my head, growing more positive of my suspicions the more I voiced them. “The anonymous tip Florian received said the attack would be overwhelming and at any moment. We rushed off here, just the three of us, without any backup. They sent eight Reds to face us, three of them barely out of their teens. Kolar and Durion could have handled half of that assault without breaking a sweat. They’re some of the strongest warrior Elite we have.”
Caz frowned in thought.
“What exactly are you saying?” Durion asked from the other side of the table, leaning back casually in his chair.
“This was a distraction. If it had come before we returned, there was only a slight chance it would have succeeded. If we’d left one more guard here, it would have failed. Mirko, or whoever was behind it, wanted us gone. He’s up to something.”
“We can’t just come out and accuse Mirko like that,” Caz chided gently.
“I don’t care,” I snarled, rising to my feet. “I know it was him. He’s behind this.”
He was the reason Ella had been hurt. I squeezed my fingers tightly, wishing they were tightening around the neck of the Red who had hurt her. I wanted to snuff the life from him. Again.
“Dirk …”
“I will find proof,” I said, cutting my brother off. “I swear to you, I will stop at nothing to prove that Mirko was behind this. And when I do …”
Caz stared up at me with a murky expression that gave away little of what he was thinking.
“I will prove it was him,” I repeated and left the table before I started yelling again.
Just the thought of Ella being in harm’s way was turning my dragon into a belligerent bloodthirsty monster once more.
Sixteen
Dirk
I went tomy room to try to calm down, to soothe the beast that was riled up. I couldn’t be around others like this. I was too prone to lash out.
My clothes were soaked in sweat, from dinner and the anger working its way through me, so I stripped them off and turned the shower on. While the water ran cold, I looked at myself in the mirror, cataloging the maze of slowly healing wounds and the hideous mass of bruises that was my body.
They would fade soon, but for the time being I still looked horrible. I touched the back of my leg where the bone had punctured through, feeling the ridge of flesh that had been sewn back together to force it to heal.
That one would take days to fade.
