Page 27 of Shadow Queen
“Don’t!” the Destroyer snarled at the Shadowmen warriors. His eyes of night found Alexander. “He’s mine.” And he attacked again.
Alexander fought him back with equal skill.
“Mikael, stop this!” Norah cried, but the king wasn’t listening. None of them were.
Alexander’s own fire of rage burned. He broke from the Destroyer once again, and they circled each other, each looking for an opening.
Suddenly, Norah rushed forward between them and grabbed Alexander, forcing him to look at her.
“You’ll stop!” she cried. “Stop this!”
He gaped at her in surprise, and the commander saw the opportunity for distraction. He swung with a forceful blow, barreling by Norah and striking the sword from Alexander’s hand.
The king called to her, but she was too entangled in the attack. The Destroyer delivered a lunging kick, taking the wind from Alexander and dropping him to his knees. Then he raised his axe to deliver the fatal blow and brought it down with all his weight.
“No!” Norah screamed as she threw herself forward, wrapping herself around Alexander to shield him.
Too quickly for him to stop her.
A loud clang rang through the hall as the Shadow King’s sword met the Destroyer’s axe, sending the commander stumbling back. He caught his balance, stunned, and looked in shock at his king.
The king staggered back, his eyes on Norah.
Tears streamed down her face as she clutched Alexander.
Alexander reached up and threaded his fingers into her hair, pushing her back to look at him. All was quiet. “Why would you do such a stupid thing?” he said between his teeth, not able to keep the anger from his voice, not able to hide the fear, the horror of what had almost just happened. “Do you know what you could have done?”
“I can’t let you die,” she cried softly, shaking her head. “I can’t.”
He brushed her cheek with his thumb, his emotion too thick for him to speak. If anything happened to her…
Norah looked up to see the king, who held his sword low. Their eyes locked, and the king grimaced.
And Alexander realized. She’d revealed herself, her heart.
“Out,” the Shadow King ordered the soldiers, and they quickly filed out the way they had come. He looked at the commander. “You too.”
“You can’t mean for me to leave you here,” the Destroyer hissed.
“Go,” the king said sternly.
The commander’s eyes tightened with a bitter rage, and he reluctantly drew back with his axe, disappearing into the shadows.
The king looked back at Norah with an expression Alexander knew all too well.
“Mikael,” she started.
But he shook his head. Then he turned and followed after the commander.
“Mikael!”
Norah followed after, leaving Alexander alone.
His body shook. He’d lost himself and endangered Norah. He’d lost control. And he wasn’t sure if he could get it back again, as his mind reeled back to…
The catch in her breath.
Chapter eight
