How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days (The Embraced #1)

“How can you be sure?” Nevis asked. “They might have super hearing with those big-assed ears. No offense!” He lowered his voice. “Maybe we should back away. Some of them can shoot arrows really far.”


“I think we’re safe for now.” Leo smiled at his friend. Nevis had been watching out for him ever since their first battle at the age of fourteen. When Leo had been named Lord Protector seven years ago at the young age of nineteen, it had been obvious that the king hoped the job would cause his death.

King Frederic had successfully gotten rid of his younger brother, Cedric, by making him Lord Protector. Cedric had died at the age of thirty-five, leaving behind a wife and Leo, his son. When Cedric finally fell in battle, Frederic had quickly enacted a plot to kill Cedric’s son.

Leo had been eight years old when the assassins had arrived on the family estate. He’d survived. His mother hadn’t. His father’s best friend, General Harden, had charged in and killed the assassins. A few minutes too late for his mother. Then the king had acted innocent, claiming to have no knowledge of the affair.

Leo had lived in a daze for a while, traveling and training with the army. General Harden was named the new Lord Protector, which was the king’s way of wishing him dead. With Leo under the general’s protection, the king was forced to delay any plans to murder his nephew.

The general’s son, Nevis, a few months older than Leo, was assigned as his sparring partner. Soon, the two became best friends, with Nevis declaring he would always be there to watch Leo’s back.

Now, years later, Leo glanced at his friend. Beneath the shaggy brown hair that fringed Nevis’s brow, there was a jagged scar that ran from his brow to his left temple. Nevis usually kept it covered, so Leo wouldn’t be reminded that he’d been the cause. Not that Leo could ever forget. He curled his hands into fists, and the leather of his gloves stretched tight against his knuckles.

Nevis shifted his weight. “I came here to warn you. You were so busy looking east, I figured you hadn’t noticed…”

Leo turned his head sharply to the west. Across the horizon, there was a dark strip. A storm.

Instantly his body grew tense. His nerves hummed with the familiar mixture of dread and anticipation. Dread for the pain that would come. Anticipation for the power.

Nevis gave him a worried look. “Hopefully, there won’t be any lightning.”

“Hopefully, there will.”

“Dammit,” Nevis muttered. “Do you enjoy courting death?”

“Of course not. But it’s been four months since the last lightning storm. My power is seriously depleted.” Leo glanced down at his gloved hands. “I could probably touch someone now.”

“Good. You could live a normal life for a change.”

“I am not normal. I never will be.”

“You’ve never tried!” A gust of wind blew Nevis’s hair back from his brow, revealing the jagged scar.

Leo gritted his teeth. “There is no escape from it. I’ve tried hiding in houses, castles, even dungeons. It never works. When the lightning comes, it always finds me. It burns down houses and destroys buildings to get to me.”

“How about a cave? That might work.”

“Enough!” Leo clenched his fists, then slowly released them. “I am what I am.” A monster. “At least my power scares everyone so much that no one has tried to kill me for being Embraced. Others are not so fortunate.”

“It has caused you too much pain.”

“And it’s kept me alive. There have been many times in battle when my power saved my ass. Yours, too.”

“I know,” Nevis grumbled. “I’m grateful for that. But it pisses me off that you keep taking in all that power so you can protect people, and do they ever thank you? No! They run away from you and call you names.”

Leo arched a brow. “So I should let them die? It is my job to protect the people of Eberon.”

“At what cost? Each time the lightning finds you, you take in more power than before. More power than you can handle. One day it’ll be too much, and you’ll—”

“Burst into a ball of fire,” Leo interrupted him. “I’ve heard it before. Maybe I should consider myself lucky. Doesn’t everyone want to go out in a blaze of glory?”

“You think it a jest?”

“I think it a theory. You have no proof—”

“So I’m supposed to wait till you explode so I can say I told you so?” Nevis gave him an incredulous look, then with a resigned sigh, he shook his head. “Dammit, Leo. I’m just trying to keep you alive.”

“I know.” Leo didn’t want to admit that deep inside, he suspected Nevis’s theory was correct. But there was nothing he could do. Whenever there was lightning, it sought him out. It burned its way through wood, clawed its way through stone to find him. Since there was no escape, all he could do was accept it. And use the power to protect his people.

He dragged his gloved fingers through his hair. Already, he could feel his scalp itching as the storm approached. His curly red hair would eventually stand out, the strands crackling with energy as if they were calling the lightning to him.

Nevis sighed. “I don’t know which will kill you first—the lightning or the king. You’re going to be in big trouble, you know. Disregarding his orders. Again.”

Leo shrugged. He’d decided it was more important to protect the country than go to court to meet his latest betrothed. The last woman his uncle had chosen for him had run away to Tourin, preferring the life of a poor refugee rather than marriage to the Beast of Benwick. “Why should I bother to please the king? He’s wanted me dead for years, and nothing will change his mind.”

“He’s a royal pain in the ass,” Nevis mumbled. “No offense.”

“None taken.”