“We are not finished discussing him. You’re still shaking from a magickal attack, and his scent is all over you! I’m going to go back there and kill him!” Benedict shook with rage, and I remembered him falling as the demons attacked, horror and guilt causing a blush to spread across my cheeks.

“He’s probably already dead,” I said nastily, “since he took on the entire fortress to let me escape with the prisoners.” Fear gripped my chest for another reason. “Did they all make it?”

They shot each other heated glances.

“They made it,” Benedict reassured me, “even the drakens.”

I went still. “I was right then. There were draken prisoners.”

Benedict’s jaw twitched, but I knew the anger wasn’t directed at me. “Five female drakens. You’ve done . . . you’ve done an incredible thing. Do you realize that, Wren?”

I looked away, blushing. “I wasn’t going to leave anyone there.”

Except I had, hadn’t I? I tried to shake off Thad’s dark, penetrating gaze in my mind. I remembered the gaping, mindless eyes of the witches and prayed the drakens weren’t the same.

“You shouldn’t have tried that. It would have killed anyone else.” Ronan’s face was white.

Kieran looked spooked as well. “It only worked because Benedict crowned you as queen in your own right. That means you were able to pull power from the entire draken race to shift everyone here. We all passed out. Thankfully, the witches were here to take care of things until we came to. Even Benedict was out for most of the evening.”

Ronan seized Benedict in a fierce hug around his middle, and my poor first mate didn’t know what to do. “Thank you for giving her the power to save everyone.”

Benedict stood awkwardly, his arms finally coming around and patting Ronan lightly on the shoulder. Benedict’s ears went dark. “I just wanted you protected as fully as possible,” he murmured, embarrassed.

I crossed the bed and reached up on my toes, kissing him. He growled and leaned in, claiming my mouth for himself as his arms gripped my hips.

“Benedict, she’s hurt—”

He pulled back from me, and I gasped, not expecting him to withdraw so soon. His arms ran down my arms, and I hissed in pain. Right, the white magick. “I’m gonna flay the skin from Thad’s body.”

I glared. “You will not! It was my own fault for refusing to leave. His attack was the only thing that finally made me move. The tattoo was needed in order for me to shift.” I paused, eyeing them all hungrily. “Tell me everything that’s happened, then have your wicked ways with me.”

They turned to me predatorily, and I smirked back. It was good to be home.

Chapter Sixteen

Benedict

Wren made it only an hour or so before the pain came back. Judging from how she stood, it started in her tattoo and quickly radiated out to the rest of her body. I paused in my explanation of our tentative alliance with Aldur, and she groaned out loud, unable to hide it any longer.