Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
My heartbeat spikes. “Please don’t! It was just an accident.”
A scurrying noise on the floor draws my gaze.
A lizard with spikes on its back—a tuatara, if I’m not mistaken—is greedily lapping up the puddle of nectar that lies at my feet.
I can’t help but smile at the prehistoric cuteness. “Aww.”
Aruan pushes it away with the toe of his boot. “These pets don’t belong under the table.”
“Sorry,” Gaia says, appearing guilty. “But in my defense, everyone lets them lick up crumbs.”
The king gives her a stern look. “You mean you like to feed it treats from your plate when you think we’re not looking.”
“Aruan,” the queen says, her voice calm despite the concern painted over her face. “Allow me to take your mate to my quarters and help her get changed.”
“You?” he says with scorn.
The table starts shaking, jostling the cutlery and crockery.
Everyone leaps from their seats.
Kian rounds the table and places himself in front of the queen. “It’s better if Gaia assists Laliss—if Gaia assists Elsie, Mother. You’re needed here. You’re the only one who can order another carafe for the toast.”
“But it will take hours to infuse,” the queen says. “The batch the pixie spilled had brewed since this morning.”
“I told you to have those insolent pixies chased out of the palace,” the king grumbles. “I’d rather chase off a snake than one of those sly little vultures.”
“Oh, Elsie,” Gaia says, coming toward me. “I’m so sorry this happened.”
“I’m fine.” I rub at the stain on my dress. “It’s just a little wetness.”
“No, it’s not,” Vitai says, pointing at the floor.
We all look in that direction. The tuatara lies on its back, keeled over, its long tongue hanging from its mouth to the floor.
I bend down. “Oh, no.” What’s the matter with it?
I reach out to touch it, not sure what I can do to help, but Aruan locks his fingers around my bicep and jerks me away so viciously I almost get whiplash.
“Poison,” Kian announces gravely.
The look of rage that comes over Aruan’s face is scary, but it’s nothing compared to the crack that appears in the thick stone wall at the front, running from the top right down to the bottom.
Screams and exclamations of terror rise from the audience.
Before I have time to process what’s happening, Aruan scoops me up into his arms and carries me swiftly to the exit.
Shocked whispers reach my ears as he makes his way with long strides along the aisle, and there’s one sentence I make out:
“Someone tried to poison Aruan’s mate.”
Chapter 10
Aruan
My only thought is to protect my mate.
Someone tried to kill her.
Fury wells up inside me, but I push it down because her dress is drenched in the poison. I need to get that off her skin.
I growl an instruction to the guards who stand on either side of the doors to the Great Hall as I fly across the threshold with Elsie in my arms. “Keep the guests locked inside.”
Every person will be questioned. I will find the bastard who tried to assassinate her. Poison has been used to eliminate rivals for as long as Zerra has existed. It’s the weapon of cowards and corrupt people who lack honor and pride.
“Aruan,” Elsie says, pushing on my chest. Her blue-green eyes are wide with alarm. “You drank it. You drank a whole goblet full of it.”
Her concern for my welfare warms my chest. If urgent measures weren’t required, I’d bask in her care, but I have to make sure she’s safe.
“Aruan,” she repeats, sounding close to hysterical. “Are you listening to me? You need to put me down. Call Vitai. He can fix this, right?”
Not even Vitai can fully reverse the effect of a powerful poison. Once it’s been ingested, it quickly devours flesh and blood, too fast for a healer to intervene before the onset of death.
I don’t have time to explain, but the need to reassure my mate demands that I set her worry at ease.
My reply is gruff. “If there’d been poison in my goblet, I’d be dead already.”
A gasp falls from her lips, and a dragon can maul to me a pulp if I don’t feel her fear as if it were my own.
The minute I’m outside the hall, I lower Elsie to her feet. I don’t pause to think. I act fast, gripping the neckline of her dress and ripping the garment down the middle. I’m deaf to her shriek as the fabric pools around her ankles and she stands there naked.
My body reacts to hers naturally. Even in such dire circumstances, I get hard at the sight of her pale skin and small, perky breasts. The aphrodisiac rushes through my blood, amplifying everything until I’m about to combust, but those are only physical needs. They won’t dictate my actions or influence my decisions as long as Elsie’s life is in danger.