nothing like the burning in her side. She clutched at her wound, feeling the blood flow thick and fast through her fingers.
“What have you done?” demanded the winged Warrior to the other.
The pale green Warrior shrugged and studied his left claws. “She shouldna have kicked me in the face.”
“You wouldna dare.” He spoke through clenched teeth, his fangs cutting his lips. “Deirdre will have your head.”
The other laughed and walked to the balcony. Without a backward glance he jumped from the railing.
Larena stumbled as lights began blinking in her vision. She reached for the posts of the bed to steady herself. The bleeding should have slowed by now, and the pain should have receded. She glanced down at her side and saw the blood was gushing so rapidly that it coated her gown.
“I’m sorry.”
She turned her head to the winged Warrior. “What did he do?”
“He dipped his one set of claws in
The longer she stood, the weaker she got. She let herself sink onto the bench before her bed. “Why are you helping me?”
“Deirdre wants you alive. I’d rather not have my hide ripped from my body because of an incompetent fool.”
Before she could ask more, he was gone. She focused on keeping herself breathing. A couple of times she hollered for Malcolm, but the sound wasn’t loud enough to carry into the next chamber.
She wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed when the banging started on her door. She was slumped over the bench with blood everywhere. The ache from her wound had spread to her entire body, and each pump of her heart was like someone pouring fire in her veins.
The door swung open, and suddenly Malcolm was kneeling before her.
“My God, Larena. What happened? Why aren’t you healing?”
She licked her lips. “N … no time. Fallon.”
“I’ll get him.” Malcolm kissed her forehead and then raced from the chamber.
Larena tried to stay conscious so she could tell Fallon about her wound, but fate conspired against her. She blacked out on her next breath.
Fallon turned from killing a wyrran to finding three more waiting for him. As he began to chase after those, he spotted more climbing the outside of the castle.
“What is going on?” he grumbled to himself.
He easily caught two of the three wyrran he was chasing and bashed their heads together. With his strength, it killed them instantly. As much as he wanted to chase after the third, he had to get rid of the three he had already killed.
Fallon lifted the two wyrran at his feet and hurried back to the first he had killed. It was while he was returning from the forest that he saw Malcolm running toward him.
Malcolm gripped his arms, his blue eyes wide and darting around him. “Thank God I finally found you. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
That’s when Fallon noticed the stain on Malcolm’s blue vest. “What happened?”
“It’s Larena. You need to come with me right now. She’s hurt, Fallon.”
Fallon said no more as he followed Malcolm. They kept their pace more sedate than Fallon would have liked, but because Malcolm kept looking around him, Fallon understood something awful had happened.
As they climbed the stairs toward Larena’s chambers a servant went rushing by them, tears on her face. A moment later two ladies walked down the stairs, their hands covering their mouths as they whispered.
Fallon’s chest tightened. Larena was a Warrior, which meant her body healed on its own and very quickly. There was nothing that could kill her except cutting off her head.
“Malcolm?”
“Not yet,” the younger man said.
They reached the landing and turned the corner to walk down the corridor to Larena’s chamber when Fallon saw the crowd. People, lords and ladies and servants alike, milled about the doorway to Larena’s chamber.
“Let us through.” Malcolm’s voice boomed through the conversation.
The crowd parted. Fallon glanced at a few people as he followed Malcolm through the doorway. And then he stopped cold.
Larena was on the bench before her bed slumped over, with blood everywhere. A man knelt beside her and put his finger beneath her nose. Fallon couldn’t breathe. His vision swam and the voices around him faded as if he were in a tunnel. It was a hand on his arm that brought him back to the present.
Malcolm’s trembling fingers dug into his arm. “There was a man who attacked her,” Malcolm told the physician who rose from beside Larena.
“Did you get a look at him, my lord?”
Malcolm swallowed and glanced at Larena. “He had black hair. He rushed past me when I entered. I didn’t get a good look at his face.”
“I’ll report the death. My condolences, my lord. Lady Larena was well liked. Shall I take the body?”
“Nay,” Malcolm said, a little too hastily.
Fallon hid his wince, but couldn’t take his eyes off Larena. He stood to the side as people filed out of the chamber. Malcolm closed and bolted the door before he turned to Fallon.
“You must help her,” Malcolm said.
Fallon put a hand on Malcolm as he started past him toward Larena. “What happened?”
“She was attacked. I don’t know by what or who, but that is her blood all over her.”
Fallon felt as if someone punched him in the gut. He rushed to Larena and lifted her head. He put his cheek by her nose and waited to see if she breathed. It was faint, so weak it was barely detectable.
“She’s not dead, not yet at least,” he told Malcolm. “Tell me everything.”
Malcolm gripped the bedpost and cleared his throat. “I came in to find her just as she is. Blood gushed between her fingers as she held her hand over the wound. I asked her what happened and she told me there wasn’t time. Then she said your name. I left immediately to find you.”
“Did you tell anyone?” Fallon let one of his claws lengthen before he sliced open her gown. He tugged all her clothes off but her chemise. Everything was soaked in blood. He found her wound and ripped the chemise so he could see the injury better.
“Nay, no one,” Malcolm answered. “A servant must have come in and found her.”
Fallon saw the five slices in her side and cursed.
Malcolm moved closer to look. “What is it?”
“It wasn’t a man, Malcolm. A Warrior was here. He’s the one that attacked her.”
“Oh, God.” Malcolm staggered to the bed and sat. “How? Why?”
“I’m hoping Larena can tell us.” Icy sweat covered Fallon’s skin. He couldn’t remember ever being so frightened in his life. He had foolishly thought he wouldn’t have to worry about Larena dying, that he would be spared what Lucan went through every day. What an idiot he had been. She was in his arms dying even now.
He wanted to howl at the injustice, but more than that he wanted to find the Warrior who had dared to hurt her and tear him limb from limb. He reached for her skirts and tore off a long thick strip that he wrapped around her to help stop the flow of blood.
With Malcolm’s help they removed the bell hoop from beneath her skirts so it would be easier for Fallon to carry her.
Fallon put his arm under Larena’s shoulders and hugged her against him. “Larena? Can you hear me?”
Had he failed someone again so soon? He was trying to make himself into the man his father had wanted him to be, but everything he did backfired on him.
When Larena didn’t respond, Fallon gave her a little shake. He couldn’t stand not knowing what happened, or why the Warrior had attacked her and not him as well. Had the wyrran been a diversion so they could get to Larena? It made sense and angered him like nothing else could have.
“Has she ever been injured like this before?” he asked, and looked up to find Malcolm watching him with red- rimmed eyes.
