He battled five...ten...sixteen men. Humans? Most held guns, grunting and groaning when Bane struck and their bones gave an audible pop.

With an animalistic roar, Bane hurled two large men across the distance. The pair slammed into different trees and slid to the ground, where they stayed, their heads hanging at odd angles. They were dead, and Bane had killed them viciously, without remorse.

The two sides of Nola warred about the proper reaction. Horror or excitement?

Bane lunged and grabbed another man by the throat. A man with two knives, doing his best to land a killing blow.

Nola looked away when Bane used his claws to remove his opponent’s hands. A howl of pain pierced the night, followed by a thud, the weapons and appendages plopping on the ground.

Do I leave, or do I stay?

Leave, definitely. Wasn’t like she could help him. Oh! Unless she managed to portal Zion here, and convinced the two guys to work together. But Bane must have sensed her presence. Even as he disemboweled a soldier, he zoomed his gaze in her direction. Their eyes met, locked. Surprise shook him, and he stilled. A mistake. A soldier sank a blade into his chest.

Roaring, Bane batted the weapon away.

Horror shoved a protest out of Nola’s mouth. “No!”

The remaining soldiers focused on her. Blood flash-froze in her veins. A tide of panic surged, threatening to drown her.

She backed up a step, then another and another, stopping only when she ran into a tree. Problem: the tree reeked of sweat. And it breathed. And moved.

Oh, crap. The tree was a man.

He hooked an arm around her neck and pressed a gun against her temple. “Behave, and you might walk away from this.”

CHAPTER TEN

Will he live—or die—for you?

A HUMAN TERRORIZED Bane’s future queen. The human would die screaming.

Sweat beaded on his brow, and panic gnawed on his mind, devouring his good sense. He kept thinking, Can’t lose her. Not her. Anyone but her.

Anyone but her? Hardly! If necessary, he would find another royal.

He swallowed a harsh denial. He wanted this princess. To save time and energy.

Saving time and energy is the reason I feel so...crazed when she’s nearby? Or faraway.

Nola’s eyes widened with terror, her cheeks ghostly pale. The sight shredded what remained of his control.

Bane remembered the last time an armed man had stood behind a woman he wished to protect...remembered how Meredith had gasped for breath she couldn’t catch, death unstoppable as it spread through her body.

He stalked, no, ran, charging after her. Adrenaline pumped through his veins at warp speed. Muscles doubled in size and bones hardened into steel. The pain in his shoulder dulled. His mind devolved further, his thoughts fragmenting but also sharpening. As sharp as daggers.

Save her. Kill—them—all.