“Are you all right?” He needed to touch her, to see that she was unharmed. He examined her face, her throat, opened her cloak to find nothing but a torn sleeve on her arm.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing,” she protested when he lifted the arm to observe if she’d been injured. “I’m fine. Truly. Not even a scratch.”
Satisfied the beast hadn’t marred her skin, he turned to his men grouped around the one at Aleksei’s feet.
“Same dress as the huntsmen up north,” said Gregoravich, his barrel-deep voice rumbling low, his beast primed and ready for more violence.
Their eyes flared bright ice blue with their vampire senses at the forefront.
“And in a pack of three,” noted Aleksei, “like the ones who took Helena.”
“Who’s Helena?” asked Mina.
Mikhail cracked his neck, exhaling deeply and calming his monster still yearning for blood, itching to kill and maim anyone daring to touch her. He retracted his claws before facing her.
“Helena is the daughter of the Duke of Winter Hill’s wife.”
“His daughter now, as well,” added Gavril.
“They took her?” Mina’s face paled, her eyes wide.
Mikhail’s heart clenched at her concern. “She’s all right. We saved her.”
“Bloody hell.”
Mikhail spun at the sound of his brother in pain. “What is it, Dmitri?”
He gripped his left shoulder, trying to roll it back, bearing his canine teeth like a feral wolf. “My fucking shoulder.”
“You popped it out of socket again.”
“I popped it out of socket. How is this my fault?”
“You move too fast, Brother. On your knees.” Mikhail maneuvered to stand behind him and gripped Dmitri’s shoulder with his right arm and his biceps with his left. “I’ve told you before to control your speed in combat.”
“Yes, that’s easy for you to say. My speed amplifies when my blood is up, so don’t lecture me—”
Crunch.
“Fucking hell!”
Gregory chuckled.
“There’s a lady present,” Aleksei warned with a smirk, wiping the blood from the flat of his blade on his trousers.
“Don’t mind me,” said Mina, smiling, though her brow was still pinched with concern. “Are you all right, Dmitri?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He rotated his arm and scowled at Mikhail, who lifted him to his feet.
She caught his gaze and offered him a tender smile, one of admiration that made his chest swell. He shouldn’t be admiring or wanting her smiles. He shouldn’t be wanting any of her. And yet, his body disagreed with his brain.
“Do you think these men were sent after us specifically?” asked Gavril, crouching down and inspecting one of the bodies.
“No. These have gone rogue. The blood madness will do that,” replied Mikhail, glancing back at the one he’d killed, fangs still bared even in death. “That one was trying to kill the princess. The queen will want her alive and healthy.”
“How do you know that?” she asked.
The men looked to Mikhail, who had no intention of elaborating on how he knew this to be true.
“Oh,” she said quietly. “King Dominik.”
There was more to tell her about Queen Morgrid’s plans for her marriage to her son. Thinking about it poured ice into his veins. That was a detail he’d tell her in private.
“We need to clear out of here quickly. The smell of blood will draw predators. Including any other rogues in the vicinity.”
Mina glanced warily behind her, so Mikhail edged closer. “Are you good to travel on foot from here, or do you need my help?”
He thought she’d simply shout defiance like many women would, but she took a moment to self-examine before drawing in a deep breath.
“I believe I’m fine. If I begin to weaken, I’ll let you know.”
“Promise?” he asked gently, retying the lacing of her cloak at the throat.
“Yes. I promise.”
“Give me your hand.”
Her brow pinched together like it did when she was puzzling something out, yet she offered her hand anyway. So trusting. He held it between both of his and closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses.
“Heartbeat is steady. No shakes. No tremors.”
Opening his eyes, he stared into the infinite blue, feeling something slip inside, like he was losing himself, piece by piece.
“Steady under attack, Your Highness? I’ll bet you’d make a wonderful warrior queen.”
“Are you teasing me, Captain?” She arched a delicate brow.
“Not at all. I mean it sincerely.” He sobered. “Deeply.”
Their gazes lingered, deepened, causing his heart to kick up a notch. With a squeeze of her hand, he ushered her between the other men with a hand at the small of her back. “Dmitri, you’re point. Gavril and I will take her right. Gregory and Aleksei, her left.”
She moved within the circle of Bloodguard assassins, shielded on all sides. As one, they flashed into vampire speed, moving ever closer to Silvane Forest. Soon, she’d be within the safety of the Black Lily. Perhaps then, the temptation to drag her off behind a tree and devour every last inch of her would finally subside.
Perhaps not.
Chapter Seven
Mina warmed her hands at the fire Gavril had built. He placed another small log on the flames, nodded to her, then found a tree to lean against. That one was the most elusive of them all. He was polite but withdrawn. Mina wondered what tragedies these men had endured. One thing she knew for certain, it was their shared hardship that united them as one in the Bloodguard. She sensed the familial brotherhood binding them each to one another. She envied them.
Aleksei and Dmitri dozed, backs against tree trunks and arms crossed. If they fell under attack again, she knew they’d be on their feet in a split second. Gavril stared into the flames. Gregoravich was on guard down the small incline, facing the southwest in case King Dominik’s Legionnaires should finally catch up to them, though none of them feared that they would. And Mikhail had gone to the nearby brook to wash his wounds from the attack. The others had done so already. Mikhail had kept guard, falling into silence—avoiding her gaze—while Gavril had tended the fire.
Mina glanced in the direction of the brook that trickled softly nearby. She couldn’t see him. Shifting in her cozy spot, she considered finding her way down to that stream where he was.
“Don’t be anxious, Your Highness,” said Dmitri, his eyes still closed. “We’re safe for now.”
“Oh, I’m not anxious.”
His eyes slid open. “No?” A lopsided grin creased his masculine face. “You sure seem it. That heartbeat of yours is pumping hard.”
Taken aback, she fiddled with her sleeve. “Though I’ve endured quite a bit, it’s not often I’m attacked by rabid vampires.”
He chuckled. “Guess not. Happens to us all the time.” He winked. Glancing down to where her fingers pulled at the cuff of her emerald nightgown, he jerked his chin. “What is it with you royals and dragons?”
She stared down at the wide cuff where the white dragon sigil with emerald gems for eyes winked up at her. She’d embroidered this one herself.
She smiled, remembering something. “You know, there’s actually a story behind the dragon sigils of the north and south?”
“Is there?”