A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [72]
Before they could say anything, before they could protest, Mace was out the door again and back in his natural shape, flying toward the bandit camp. He didn’t worry about Eferem misreading or attacking him now; there simply wasn’t enough time to consider any alternative. He was running through his energy faster than normal, thanks to his wounds, and he needed to feed. He also needed to save Sally. This was the kind of emergency his queen would fully understand and he was terrified of not getting back in time.
He raced straight back, skimming the treetops until he reached the ridgeline and roared up the steepest side. If he was lucky, both Sally and Ruffles would be held where he could easily get to them.
He wasn’t lucky. They were in the center of the camp, Sally sitting on a crate, with Ruffles lying at her feet. All of the bandits were there, standing around the two females and looking in every direction. Sally seemed unhurt, but her fear was palpable. So was the bravery that spoke to his soul.
It didn’t take them long to spot Mace’s lightning. Someone shouted, and they were all gawking up at him, closing ranks around their captives. Most of the men were terrified, but at Raven’s order they acted. The bandit captain stood beside Sally, one hand playing with her hair.
“Get down here!” he shouted. He exuded fury, outrage at having been defied, and as Mace hovered there, the bandit chief’s hand gripped Sally’s hair and yanked her head back, ignoring her cry of pain. “If you don’t want her dead, you’ll get down here!”
Mace wanted to kill him. Never had he wanted to destroy someone as he did right now, and he raged at Lily’s command. Not even against Jasar’s control had he fought with so much desperation, and the men below him stared up in terror as the blackness of his form turned nearly white with the crashing lightning inside him. His mouth gaped wide, teeth formed of pure energy, and he roared his fury, rearing up. He would disobey. He would disobey this thoughtless command, this order restraining justice. He would kill the man, free Sally, take her in his arms, and make her his master. His love. His soul tie. He screamed, gathering his power . . . and nothing happened.
Below, Raven grinned, his teeth a sickening nightmare. He laughed, recognizing he was for some reason untouchable.
Not able to do anything else by his very nature, Mace carefully formed vocal cords for his cloud shape. It wasn’t easy, and his voice came out strange, but he didn’t want to land. Not until he figured out what to do. He couldn’t fight. Instead, he came closer to begging than he’d ever imagined he would. “If you do, you’ll never get me to do what you want.”
Raven sneered. “How about I just torture her instead? You want her little finger? One of her eyes?” He yanked Sally’s head farther back, leering down at her. “How about I just take her right here?”
“No!” Sally cried, her courage rising as she tried to push him away. Raven backhanded her, and Mace roared in renewed fury. His hate aura flared out. Raven only grinned and grabbed Sally’s breast, squeezing it until she started to sob.
“Stop it!” a new voice said.
Raven turned. From only a few feet away, Travish glared at him, the boy’s fists clenched at his sides so tightly that they were trembling. He had a black eye to match Jayden’s now, and a swollen lip, both apparently rewards for letting Mace escape. He stared at the man who held his mother and lifted his chin. “You don’t have to hurt her.”
“Really?” Raven almost looked delighted.
“Travish,” Sally wailed, reaching toward him even though Raven had a painful grip on her hair. “Don’t, he’ll hurt you!”
“You know her?” Raven demanded, his amusement immediately turning to anger. The other men were eyeing Travish as though he’d suddenly become an enemy.
The young man swallowed, shooting a glance at Mace before looking directly at Sally. “She’s my