King of Battle and Blood (Adrian X Isolde #1)(36)

The sounds of battle died around me, but I did not rise until Adrian approached.

“Up,” he said, dragging me to my feet.

“We have to bury her,” I said, staring into his blood-spattered face. “We must bury them all.”

I might not abide by the goddesses’ doctrines, but they did, and they deserved the burial rites they’d prayed for. If they were left exposed, they were left to be fed upon, and their souls would never make it to the afterlife.

Then my eyes shifted to the dead littering the road, and a small group of survivors who were now on their knees before the vampires, swords pointed at their throats.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “Let them go!”

“They have committed treason,” Adrian responded. “They must be punished.”

I understood his inclination to punish, because what they’d done was wrong, but this was different…these were my people. They had a right to their anger.

“You think these are your people, but they are not.”

My brows lowered. “I was born of this land.”

“You will come to find that blood has no bearing on who you become.”

“Adrian, please,” I breathed, but he just stared back, unmoved by my plea.

“I have already spared one life for you.”

My gaze shifted to the few who were left, all glaring back at us. It was clear they considered me the enemy. How had I gone from the savior of my people—you are the hope of our kingdom—to this?

“Daroc,” he said. It was a wordless command.

“No!”

I bolted for them, but Adrian’s arms snaked out, winding across my shoulders and waist. He turned me at the last second before the kill was ordered, and a wet thud followed as the bodies hit the ground in unison.

It was done.

Adrian’s chin had settled in the hollow of my neck, and as he spoke, I felt his breath on my cheek.

“They do not deserve your tears.”

I did not know if I cried for them anymore or if I cried for myself. I thought I’d lost my future the moment I agreed to marry this monster. Tonight, I’d lost my home.

I pushed away from him and whirled. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“If they can attack their princess,” he said, “what is stopping them from attacking their king?”

His words hurt, and it was worse because I knew they were true.

“Come,” he said, placing a hand upon my shoulder. He guided me to his horse, but before I mounted, I turned to look at him.

“You will bury them,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“It will be done,” Adrian said, taking my face between his hands. “But not by you.”

I stared. “You promise.”

“I promise,” he said.

“Why should I believe you?”

His eyes fell to my lips, and he brushed his thumb against my cheek. “Because I only make promises for you.”

Why me? I found myself thinking as I had so many times over the last two days but said nothing. I’d take his promises now because one day, they might run out.

“Up,” he commanded, and this time, I obeyed. Adrian followed me onto the horse, and I settled against him, cradled by his arms as we took off into the dark. I felt as though my chest were unraveling as I left the souls of my slaughtered people in the hands of my enemies.

Except that the vampires hadn’t been my enemies in that fight.

It had been my own people.

The shock of their anger, of their conviction reverberated through me, striking in new places—my heart and chest, my stomach and throat. It was a blow I had not anticipated. I had thought they would understand my sacrifice. I had chosen to marry Adrian to ensure their lives never changed under his rule, but that had not been enough. They’d wanted him dead.

And now they wanted me dead too.

I was beginning to think Nadia was wrong.

There was no coming back to Lara.

Adrian set a brutal pace through the wood that took us away from the main path. The ground was uneven, which caused my body to rock against his, my thighs unable to grip Shadow’s sides. Adrian’s arm slipped around my waist, tightening so that I was sealed against him. He leaned forward, his cheek against mine. It was an intimate hold, but it was a stance that kept me in place and urged our horse forward.

We did not stop until the sky was tinged light blue, a sign of the coming sun. Scouts were sent ahead, and by the time we reached them, an encampment had been erected. The same tall, black tents that had loomed outside Lara made a haphazard circle upon a balding patch of earth surrounded by thin trees.

Adrian dismounted near his tent.

“Isolde,” he said, drawing my attention. When I looked down at him, he was waiting for me to follow. I considered taking off, riding hard into what remained of the wild night. I didn’t know where I would go. Back to my home? To the castle where I was now known as a traitor?

Adrian’s hand closed over mine, once again drawing my attention.

“Dismount, Isolde.”

It was the closest thing he’d ever given to a command. He did not say it, but I read the message in his eyes—If you run, I will catch you, and I knew he would. For a moment, I let myself think about what that would be like, watching Adrian’s power and aggression descend upon my body. We would fight like we fucked—brutally.