Читать книгу Vision of Seduction - Cassie Ryan - Страница 9

Grayson de Klatch, the Seventh Prince of Klatch, cursed as five pale Cunt warriors filled the doorway. The traitor race that had caused a civil war on his home world of Tador had been banished, and their name had become something of an epithet on Earth and on Tador ever since.

Grayson stood with his back to Katelyn, shielding her from any attacks. “Leave or die, Cunts. There are no other choices. The Seer will be safe from you regardless.”

Katelyn gasped behind him, most likely misinterpreting his use of the term, as it was usually only applied to females here on Earth—and incorrectly, at that.

She bolted from her chair and ran behind the glass counter, surprising him, since she was no doubt still weak from her vision.

Grayson took advantage of the distraction and raised his hand to send a bolt of deadly pink energy sizzling from his fingertips across the room toward the Cunts. The leader blocked the bolt with a hastily thrown energy field, but Grayson’s beam bounced away to hit another Cunt squarely in the chest.

A hint of relief rolled through him. If the Cunts couldn’t control where their energy beams bounced, Katelyn was still safe hiding behind the display counter. Energy would automatically go toward the next easiest target, but couldn’t bend around corners.

The affected Cunt groaned as he slumped to the floor.

Four blue beams sizzled toward Grayson from the remaining Cunts. He dropped into a crouch, tossing out an energy shield with his left hand, and shot anther pink beam toward them with his right.

Their blue beams sizzled against his shield, slowly draining his energy and showering him with blue sparks.

Every hair on his arms stood at attention, and a smell like burned electrical wires filled the air. He strengthened his shields and shot another quick bolt toward his enemies.

Sizzling pink energy caught one Cunt in the calf, dropping him on top of his downed friend.

A growl of rage rolled out from one of the Cunts before he and the other two sent a concentrated blast of blue toward Grayson.

Grayson dove to the side, not willing to risk his shields in a head-on assault from the mingled energy beam.

Burning heat prickled over his hip and then receded as his body hit the hard shop floor.

His shoulder slammed against a display shelf. Sharp stabs of pain lanced through him as muscles tore and tendons popped.

He bit back a groan, but allowed himself a few curses. Now he was injured, and his ill-advised dive had taken him farther from Katelyn.

Before Grayson could recover, the Cunt closest to the Seer bolted toward her and disappeared behind the counter.

A band of panic constricted inside Grayson’s chest. Katelyn was at the mercy of the Cunt.

Grayson had to disable the two Cunts in front of him before he could help her.

He poured more energy into his shield as he shot quick bursts of pink power toward the pair in front of him.

Blue sizzling energy crackled from behind the counter. Grayson ground his teeth. What had the Cunt done to Katelyn?

Surprise filtered through him again when she stood up. She held a small black instrument in front of her. It crackled blue energy of its own between two small metal tips.

Her green eyes blazed with anger as she glared from one Cunt to the other. She looked like a queen defending her castle.

A blue beam caught her in the stomach, and she screamed—an angry sound rather than one of pain or fear.

Red-hot rage seared Grayson’s insides, fueling his powers. If his future mate sustained any permanent damage, he would hunt down every last member of the Cunt clan.

He poured the energy born of adrenaline into the twin pink bolts he sent hurtling toward the remaining two attackers. The beams sliced through their shields like a knife through tissue paper. The bolts hit them squarely in the throats and their screams sent warm satisfaction through him.

The last two Cunts dropped to the floor in boneless heaps, and Grayson resisted the urge to kill them. He needed stamina to survive the trip between and to make sure Katelyn was safe—especially now that he’d have to use precious energy to function with his injuries.

Grayson’s shoulder throbbed, but the adrenaline racing through him numbed it enough so he could manage to cross the room. He circled around the display case and stepped over the downed Cunt to kneel next to the Seer.

Katelyn’s mane of unruly red hair was latticed over her face, and she groaned. He gently brushed the locks away before lifting her with his good arm, and hefting her over his shoulder. He bracketed his arm behind her knees to keep her from sliding, the thin material of her flowy skirt allowing him to feel every warm inch of her.

Her soft curves pressed against his chest and shoulder, causing his cock to spring to life inside his tight jeans. He groaned as he shifted to a more comfortable position. He didn’t have time for this. He had to get her to safety, then he could worry about the rest.

Gritting his teeth, Grayson raised his injured arm and drew a large portal in the air with his hand, using his last reserves of power. The air shimmered, and the portal expanded until it was an oval large enough for him to walk through.

He took one last look to ensure none of the Cunts could follow, and then stepped forward into the bone-chilling cold that was the between.

The air around them crackled with energy, sending a march of goose bumps over his skin.

Grayson shivered as the dark, still air surrounded them, making it difficult to breathe. He inhaled deeply, trying to find every last bit of oxygen in the thin air, and took a few minutes to let his body adjust to the vastly different environment. It was obvious why it had been named the between, but he still hated each and every trip through the portal.

The Seer groaned, and he laid his good hand on Katelyn’s shapely ass to keep her in place. Even in her unconscious state, she shivered and cuddled against him.

The tang of mold on the back of his tongue burst inside his senses and he pushed forward even as his stamina leached out into the abyss. He cursed the Cunts for causing him to expend all his energy before this trip between, and then cursed again when his voice was swallowed by the oppressive air surrounding them.

Each step became harder than the last, like walking through taffy.

Grayson’s limbs, suddenly heavy, dragged him down, each step forward harder than the last.

Then a small spark of light appeared just in front of him, signaling the portal point in the clearing just beyond the castle.

He reached out to draw another portal in the air in front of them, gritting his teeth against the blinding pain from his injured shoulder. The shimmering oval illuminated the blackness in front of him and then widened until it was large enough for him to step through.

As soon as he cleared the portal, the warmth of the Klatch sun began to chase away the cold, even as the portal snapped closed behind him. He slumped to his knees, careful not to jostle Katelyn, who lay limp over his good shoulder.

“Prince Grayson, are you hurt?”

It took a moment to make sense of the words after the muted sounds within the between. When he did understand what was said, he had to gather strength just to be able to nod.

Grayson’s vision blurred around the edges.

He was still coherent enough to recognize the speaker as a member of the Royal Guard, several of which stood in a line before him.

Grayson swallowed hard before he spoke. “I’ve found the Seer. Guard the portal so we aren’t followed by the Cunts who attacked us.”

The guard who had spoken and wore the dark purple livery of the royal family reached out to take the Seer’s limp body from him.

Grayson growled at the man. “Stand down. I can take care of my future mate without your help.”

The guard bowed and stepped back, his dark hair falling over his brow.

“Don’t be a damned fool, Grayson. Let them help you before you fall over and crush the poor woman. Then she’ll never get to discover what an ass you are.” King Stone stepped forward through the line of guards to stare at Grayson. His lavender eyes studied Grayson as though assessing injuries and damage.

Stone had recently become king when his wife, Alyssandra, had ascended the throne as queen. But Grayson would always think of Stone as one of his two oldest friends. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to calling Stone “King.”

Ever since he could remember, Stone had been one of the three—himself, Stone, and Prince Ryan—who were always in trouble or about to be. Wherever there was destruction or mayhem around the castle, all eyes turned toward the “Trio of Disaster,” as Stone’s mother, Darla, had called them.

Stone must’ve taken Grayson’s silence for assent because he reached out and lifted Katelyn from Grayson’s arms.

As soon as Stone held her safely, Grayson allowed himself to slump onto the warm grass, careful not to land on his injured shoulder. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, allowing the nourishing energy of his home world to seep into him. Even with that comfort, he knew it would take several days to heal if he didn’t seek out some sexual sustenance soon—especially with the ripped muscle and torn tendons.

As a Klatch witch, sexual energy was as much a needed sustenance as food or water. His race could survive for a while on only food and water, but they needed sexual energy to thrive and even to survive.

In fact, the reigning queen’s job was to maintain a symbiotic relationship with the planet of Tador—the home world of the Klatch. The king helped her build her sexual energy, and she in turn healed the planet, which sustained the Klatch people.

Grayson acknowledged he’d pushed himself too far, but it wasn’t like he’d had much choice. The Cunts would have taken the Seer if Grayson hadn’t acted.

The thought of replenishing his energy with some random Klatch maid when his future mate had finally been found didn’t appeal to him. In fact, it felt like a betrayal to her. That left Grayson with something of a dilemma.

“Guards.” Stone’s stern voice filled the clearing. “Pick up Prince Grayson, deliver him to the baths and have several of the maids attend him.”

Grayson tried and failed to push himself off the grass to tell Stone he’d have no maids attending him, but his friend spoke again.

“Because Grayson’s mate has finally been found, I don’t think she’d appreciate him receiving sexual sustenance from anyone but her.” Stone smiled down at Grayson, his expression amused. “Clean him up, renew his energy as best you can, and put him to bed. I’ll deliver the Seer to the queen. I’m sure Alyssandra will find some lady’s maids to attend her.”

Grayson opened his mouth to thank Stone, but gave up when no sound emerged other than a croak.

Stone’s chuckle filtered down to Grayson through his exhaustion. “Consider it a returned favor for everything you’ve done for myself and for Alyssandra. I’m looking forward to watching you settle down with just one woman.”

Grayson pushed himself up in bed so he could lean against the headboard. Pain stabbed through his shoulder and down his back and arm. He cursed and tried to shift again for a more comfortable position, while his valet shoved pillows behind him.

“I still think you’re being unreasonable, Grayson.” Queen Alyssandra waved away his valet and arranged the pillows herself. “You need to heal, and you haven’t even kissed the Seer yet, so how can that be considered cheating?” Sunlight streamed through the open balcony window of his bedroom to glint off Alyssandra’s tumble of mahogany hair and the lavender beads decorating her scattered braids.

Grayson relaxed back against the pillows and flashed her a grateful smile before he turned his thoughts to putting into words something he couldn’t explain even to himself.

“Leave him be, Alyssandra,” King Stone added from a nearby chair.

The queen rounded on her husband, her hands fisted on her hips. “Are you telling me that from the time you understood we were betrothed until a few months ago, when you found me on Earth, that you didn’t find sexual sustenance with anyone?”

Heavy silence suddenly filled the chamber, and Grayson almost felt sorry for Stone for walking into such a self-made verbal trap. Almost.

“Well, no….” Stone admitted.

Over the past few months, Grayson had become used to their familiar banter. Even the kind they did only through telepathy, which left everyone else in the room feeling like they were watching an Earth television show with the sound off.

Stone had definitely changed when he’d finally found Alyssandra, but the changes were for the better. He was happier and more content somehow. Grayson envied him that.

“What have I missed?” Prince Ryan, the third leg of the Trio of Disaster, burst into the room and immediately made himself at home. He plopped onto the overstuffed ottoman and snatched the goblet of ale from Grayson’s untouched dinner tray.

Grayson smiled. “Alyssandra was winning another argument with Stone.”

“It wasn’t an argument,” the king and queen said together and then laughed.

Ryan downed the ale and then pantomimed a large yawn. “So, in other words, I haven’t missed a thing.”

Alyssandra shot Ryan a mock caustic glare, and he grinned at her, obviously unrepentant. “I was trying to convince Grayson to let one of the maids help him heal his shoulder before the Seer wakes up.”

“Are we going to talk about what to tell her, or are we going to argue over my health and welfare?”

The queen gave him a meaningful look, clearly communicating that she would drop the subject…for now. However, Grayson had no illusions that she would give up permanently. She was one of the most tenacious people he’d ever met.

Alyssandra poured a new goblet of ale for Grayson and laid the dinner tray on his lap. “If you refuse to find sexual sustenance, then you need food, so eat.” Her voice was firm and told him this was the price for her dropping the earlier subject.

He smiled, picked up a piece of bread, and bit off a corner.

Ryan refilled his borrowed goblet of ale. “From what you’ve said, Gray, the Seer is an independent and very stubborn woman. She has her own business and a life back on Earth. We can’t just huddle around her bed and when she wakes up tell her she’s been chosen to give up her entire life, move to a different planet, and participate in a triangle that resembles Earth’s Roman orgies so we can save our planet.”

A dull throb started behind Grayson’s temples and slowly radiated outward until the pain in his shoulder throbbed with the same rhythm. All his energy had been focused on finding the Seer. He hadn’t given much thought to breaking the news to her about what they hoped she would give up, and do, for a planet she knew nothing about.

A quick glance around the room assured Grayson he wasn’t the only one who had put off that particular line of thinking. Everyone’s faces darkened with concern.

The queen sat on the foot of Grayson’s bed, careful not to jostle his food tray. “We’ve found her—we can’t just give up now. There have obviously been women in the past who were willing to do this—from what I can tell from the queen’s archives, the triangle has been instituted at least three times in our history.”

Alyssandra had been kidnapped when she was an infant and taken to live on Earth with the losing faction of a quarter of a century old civil war. The kidnappers had raised her ignorant of her true heritage, and Alyssandra’s mother, Annalecia, had slowly weakened on Tador from grief and strain. Annalecia’s symbiotic relationship with their home planet had deteriorated until Tador had slowly begun to sicken and die.

Luckily, Alyssandra had been recovered and was able to ascend the throne in her mother’s place, but now the planet was too far gone for only the queen and king to repair through their generation of sexual energy. Their only hope seemed to lie in some obscure references in the queen’s archives—something called the triangle.

Unfortunately, time was extremely short. The Seer had to be taken through the Klatch coming-of-age ceremony on her twenty-fourth birthday, which was just a handful of days away. Only then could the triangle ritual be completed.

Alyssandra chewed her bottom lip and shook her head, the beads in her scattered braids clinking together softly. “I think we need to convince her to stay for a while and get to know the planet, the Klatch, and Grayson, and hope she falls in love with all three enough so she will want to stay here with us and perform the triangle.”

Grayson let the idea roll around in his mind for a minute. “She’ll be angry when she finds out we lied to her.” A large fist closed around his heart at the thought of starting a relationship on omissions and lies. But even if the civil war hadn’t happened, he would’ve been slated to marry another full-blooded Klatch and produce heirs, regardless of his personal feelings. How was this different, except that he had found the woman himself?

Ryan leaned forward, setting his goblet of ale on a nearby table. “True, but once she calms down, she’ll understand why we had to omit a few facts up front.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” King Stone’s expression showed nothing but doubt.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice. Otherwise, we’ve lost before we’ve started.” Ryan stood and gazed around the room. “We said we were willing to do whatever it took to save the planet and institute the triangle. Are we, or aren’t we?”

Stone scrubbed a hand over his face, his appearance suddenly tired and sad. “It’s up to you, Grayson. She’s slated to be your mate. Do we tell her outright, or go with Alyssandra’s plan?”

The weight of three heavy gazes pressed down on Grayson, and he looked away. They were right, this was his decision, and he would bear responsibility for whatever he chose.

His thoughts strayed to Katelyn as he’d seen her fighting off the Cunts in her shop.

Her fiery red hair had billowed around her, and she hadn’t cowered or screamed. She had somehow attacked the Cunts with some type of energy from a handheld weapon. The sound of her scream of rage when the Cunt’s beam had sizzled against her chest reverberated through his memories, and he smiled. “My Seer is a warrior, even if she doesn’t yet realize it. If we tell her up front, she will try to keep the control of the situation firmly in her own hands.” He glanced up, and his smile turned grim. “I agree that we don’t tell her until the time is right.”