The Warlord by Gena Showalter

Author:Gena Showalter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2021-03-01T19:06:20+00:00

22

Taliyah hated Roc, but she missed him, too. She missed his warmth. His intensity. His hard stare and those roaming hands. Mostly, she missed the excitement he incited. For two days, he’d held her dissatisfaction at bay. Now? The sensation proved as relentless as ever.

Her hunger didn’t help. Must eat. Soon. She kept eyeing her wrist, wondering how her own spirit might taste. Amazing? She’d taste amazing, wouldn’t she?

A demented laugh caught her attention. Her own?

The day wasn’t a total wash, thankfully. She’d come up with a rock-solid plan: get free by any means necessary, then figure everything else out. Okay, maybe not so rock solid. At least she’d gained intel into Roc’s fighting habits.

During their miniskirmish, she’d witnessed one of his many abilities in action. The way he’d flashed those poles around her in a blink, trapping her within, told her he had an invisible arsenal at his disposal; he had only to flash it in.

No wonder he tossed his weapons so haphazardly. He could acquire more with only a thought. She’d bet the same was true for his men.

When she gained the strength, she would mount an escape. Although, honestly, she believed Roc would return sooner or later. He would remember the blessing mattered more than his bride’s species. Guaranteed he would glue himself to her side to stop her from meeting with Erebus.

Forget Roc for a sec. The ring presented a major problem. Your crutches became your enemy’s best weapons against you. She’d done herself a huge disservice by relying on a piece of jewelry for the sake of her sanity. At crunch time, she’d had to take a time-out to scream.

Now, when she should be fighting for her life, she needed to use days she didn’t have to train against the screams.

No one would use those screams against her again. Next time, she would be prepared.

“Taliyah! Psst!”

The whisper-yell penetrated her ravenous haze, and she swung her attention to the harpies. Since Ian’s arrival, the girls had avoided speaking with her. They’d only murmured among themselves, recounting history lessons about Erebus and his phantoms.

Mmm. Did someone just ring the dinner bell? As she ran her bottom lip between her teeth, the harpies paled.

“Are you really a phantom?” Mara barked the question.

Taliyah had refused to be straight with Roc, but she wouldn’t be so stingy with her own people. “I am.”

Had Ian’s ears just twitched?

Let him listen and inform his boss.

“So you’re the puppet of harpykind’s first enemy?” Mara demanded. “The god who once slaughtered our people?”

“Not a puppet.” A daughter. She almost said Screw it and revealed her royal connection. So badly she wanted to witness everyone’s reaction. Somehow, she resisted.

“Only a puppet,” Mara reiterated with a nod. “And you think to lead us?” She scoffed. “I’ll die before I serve you.”

“Trust me. I can arrange your death in a matter of minutes.”

“Shout it out later,” someone else piped up. A younger harpy with pale hair and only three stars. “We need an A-plus plan, like, yesterday.”

Everyone looked to her, then Mara, then Taliyah again.

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