Despite Nola’s nearness, the beast roared with fury, making his rage a thousand times worse.

Closing in, faster and faster...

He was grateful Nola wasn’t sobbing, begging or screaming hysterically. Actually, he was impressed. She had a weak body, yes, but such a keen mind and—

Monstrous wings popped from his back, and he hissed a curse. Quick glance. No feathers, just a membranous web edged by a bulbous substance, with a bony hook extending from every joint—the beast’s wings.

He’d never partially transformed before. Never maintained consciousness while the beast fought on his behalf. And in the presence of a princess no less.

How it occurred, he didn’t know. Why it occurred, he could only guess. Perhaps, as a hybrid, she could control the beast only half as well as a full-blooded queen. Perhaps the beast planned to protect her. Yes, the fiend hated Nola with the same vehemence as Bane, but no one—no one!—had the right to harm what belonged to them.

Bane grinned. Two warriors for the price of one.

Let’s do this. He unleashed hell, using the wings’ razor sharp tips to slick through the neck of every soldier he passed.

The scent of blood tainted the air. Songs of agony played in the background.

“Stay back!” Nola’s captor shouted, tapping the barrel of the gun against her temple. His finger twitched on the trigger.

He was a human mercenary on Erik’s payroll. His love of money would be his downfall.

Nola whimpered, the sound scraping at Bane’s ears. His cells became embers. His organs became kindling. An inferno raged inside him.

Careful. If he fully transformed, he could harm his princess irrevocably. She wouldn’t know she could order the beast to stand down; or that, without a verbal or telepathic command, the beast could do anything he wanted, anytime, to anyone. Calm. Steady.

Gunfire exploded behind him, bullets piercing his wings. Ignore the flare of pain. They wanted him to slow; he picked up speed. Must save Nola, whatever the cost.

A golden beam of moonlight illuminated her and her captor—and the contingent of humans who loomed behind them in no discernible pattern.

“I told you to stay back! I’ll shoot her, I swear I will.” The mercenary holding Nola cocked his gun, making her jerk and gasp. “Stop!”

When Bane thought he’d reached the limits of the soldier’s patience, he did it, he stopped and held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

“I’m so sorry,” Nola mouthed.

He balled his fists. Earlier, he’d come upon Erik, who’d been on the trail of Knox and Vale. Bane had thought to snatch Vale and use her to gain Nola’s cooperation. Just before he made his move, Erik and two other combatants—Adonis and Rush—ambushed the couple, ultimately stealing away with her.