The Pearl Heartstone (11 page)

They’d kept her in this world, and now they wanted to kill her. Anger boiled in her. More for their betrayal of Jorel and Fi’an’s loss than for the attacks on her.

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The Pearl Heartstone by Leila Brown

“Fi’on, we don’t want to hurt you. Just walk away,” the jaguar guard said.

“You killed my sister’s litter. Most likely robbed her of any chance to breed.” Fi’on’s anger was almost a tangible thing surrounding her. She took a step toward the men, balling her finger into tight fists.

“That is not our fault. That bitch you are protecting is the real enemy. Her, and others like her, will dilute our genes until there is nothing left. Let us kill her and save our kind.”

“See, that’s where we’re different, Valek. I am loyal to my king. I protect the princess with my life, unlike you. You were supposed to protect the prince, yet you put a devilmite in his room. What if he had walked in instead of her? What if they had both been poisoned?”

“It was a risk we were willing to take to protect our families.”

Valek narrowed his eyes at Fi’on.

“You are too late. She is already breeding. Killing her now will accomplish nothing. If…” Fi’on bared her fangs. “If you succeed in killing the princess, it won’t matter. When they find her remains, they will smell the babies. They will know that our kind can be saved this way and will no doubt continue with breeding the next in line. Either way, nothing you do here is going to matter.”

Ally tried not to react to Fi’on’s words. That couldn’t be right. No way could they know that quickly. She hadn’t been here more than two weeks. She didn’t move her face. Didn’t smile. Didn’t groan. Didn’t reach down and rub her stomach. Right now, she needed to concentrate on being alive later to deal with the bombshell just dropped in her lap. She could feel her face heating with the need to know, to question, do something other than just stand here.

“Unless there is nothing left of her to find,” the lion growled.

“I can smell it on her now, which means the prince smelled it this morning and the king shortly after that, so I’m guessing even if they don’t find her body, the project is going forward. But what you haven’t thought about is how diligent the king will search for those who killed his only hope for grandchildren.” Fi’on crouched again, narrowing her eyes at the group of men. Her ears twitched. She was about to attack.

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Ally thought she was ready, but when Fi’on jumped, it took her a

second to follow. Two apiece. How the hell she was supposed to come out of this one alive, she didn’t know. She leapt on the jaguar and hit him with the heel of her hand directly in the line of his throat. He bent over choking, and she turned and planted her foot in the balls of the other man.

They recovered quickly. Too quickly.

After five minutes of parrying and bending to stay out of the way

of lethal looking claws, Ally’s strength began to wane. She needed to go on the offensive. But after finding out that she might be pregnant, she couldn’t give her all in this fight. Which meant that where she normally would have risked everything and taken the biggest of chances, she held back. She played it safe. And that was going to get her killed.

The smell of blood flowed across the clearing.

“Fi’on?” Ally screamed. If that blood was Fi’on’s, Ally was going to make a run for the ship. She was barely holding her own against two of the guards; there was no way she would survive four of them.

“I’m fine. He’s not,” Fi’on yelled.

Ally kicked the knee of one of the men in front of her. He fell. She vaulted over him. She aimed her foot at the other man but the fallen man grabbed one of her ankles and yanked her to the ground. The impact stole the breath from her lungs.

She waited for the men to pounce, but nothing happened. The hand

on her ankle dropped, and after a moment, she sat up. Jorel and another man fought the two guards that had brought her down. Right now, while everyone was occupied, she could slip away. It would take no time at all to disappear into the trees, to go searching for a doorway home.

The smell of fresh blood sailed across the air again. It burned her nose and caused tears to well in her eyes. She knew that smell. Jorel. All thoughts of escape and hope evaporated. The need to keep Jorel safe became the center of her world. The cop in her made her assess the situation before she jumped in the fight.

Jorel’s arm had just been slashed. Blood dripped down to his hand.

From the look of it, the gash might have hit nerves, which meant he was one arm down. But his attacker’s back was to Ally. She had an advantage.

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Jorel was still a threat, so the guy couldn’t afford to turn his back. If she acted now, she might be able to take him out in two quick movements.

Ally closed her yes and sucked in a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and jumped. She knocked the guard to the ground. She stayed on his back, riding him down. The second she heard the air whoosh from his lungs, she wrapped her hands around the sides of his face and jerked his head to the left. The crack that rebounded against the trees told her that it was over. She’d snapped his neck. Killed him.

Death wasn’t like it was in the movies. Wasn’t a quick and easy thing. It lingered as the man’s body slacked into a heap. Her hands shook as she pulled her fingers away from his head.

Jorel reached down, grabbed her hands, and yanked her up. “You

crazy fool. You shouldn’t have done that. I can handle my own fights.” He slipped his hands around her and squeezed her up against his chest. He winced but didn’t let her go. “You need to let me protect you.”

There was a grunt, and suddenly the forest was quiet. Ally looked

over at Fi’on. She hadn’t escaped her fight unscathed, but she was doing a hell of a lot better than her opponent. The young man Jorel brought limped toward them.

Ally breathed a sigh of relief. Thoughts of Fi’on’s earlier comments stole her thoughts.

“Am I pregnant?” She pulled back so that she could see Jorel’s face.

His voice might say one thing, but his eyes would tell her the truth. “Fi’on told them she could smell it on me.”

“I didn’t want to say anything. I wanted you to come to terms with this being your home before you had to deal with this.” He tightened his hold on her as if he expected her to make a run for it.

She’d had her chance. No, she couldn’t have left him like this. Not with his life on the line. And she knew the second he was able to hold his own, he would also do his best to keep her here with him.

Then it dawned on her. He’d known this morning. This morning when she’d told him she wanted to go home. When she’d set out to hurt him so that she could save him. She thought of the pain he no doubt went through knowing that she carried his child or children and yet she said 78

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that she couldn’t stay with him.

The need to explain burned in her. “I am so sorry about this morning. I had to do it. They were planning to kill—”

“I know.” He interrupted her and put a kiss on her forehead. “I know you were protecting me. I knew it the second Fi’an’s husband came and told me what he overhead.”

“So I guess this means I’m in trouble.” Fi’on came to stand beside them. There were claw marks all over her flesh.

“Oh, no. You kept my mate safe. So I think I will talk my father into giving you a special reward.” Jorel smiled at her, baring all his teeth. “I am going to suggest that you be the next volunteer in the mating program.

So we can see what happens when one of our women mates with an off‐world male.”

The horrified look on Fi’on’s face screamed that Jorel had scored a direct hit. He’d found Fi’on’s soft spot.

“Shall we go back to the palace? I think I have a need to speak to my father,” Jorel said, guiding Ally away. “I doubt they were the only four in on this plot. Surely, there were more. And even if there weren’t, there will be tomorrow. This is his plan. So either he gets everyone to accept it or he gives them options. A kingly command is not working.”

They stepped over the fallen bodies and made their way to Jorel’s

ship. The ride was blessedly short and uneventful. Although, when they made it back into the dock, every member of the royal family was waiting.

The king and queen rushed up to them in front of a group of royals.

The doctor followed then and immediately started treating Jorel.

“What happened?” his father demanded.

“Not everyone is on board with your plan to bring in others to save our people.” Prince Jorel winced as the doctor probed his gash. “It was Valek and the rest of my guards. It seems they were determined to show your program was a failure. You might want to rethink this. I mean, if they rebelled against it so will others.”

The king nodded, seeming to consider. He took a step toward Ally.

“What do you say?”

Before she could tell him what she thought, he sniffed at her. He 79

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grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to sniff again. If she smelled, oh freaking well. She’d just fought for her life and the life of his son. He sniffed again. If he did that one more time, she was going to hit him. Her patience was wearing thin.

“Hah. She is breeding. The plan works. Once she delivers a living

litter, our people will be lining up to be part of this.” The king was overjoyed. His entire demeanor changed. Suddenly there was a bounce in his step that didn’t bode well. He turned to the crowd and raised his hands. The group quieted. “Princess Allyson is breeding. If anything happens to her, the punishment will be swift, deadly, and will be shared by the traitor’s entire family. Now let us celebrate our good future.”

The king swept out of the dock with his entire entourage. Ally shook her head. She’d just found out she was pregnant and suddenly the king was shouting it to the masses. She wasn’t exactly cool with that. But what choice did she have? She couldn’t find the mist to take her home.

And she was damn sure Jorel wouldn’t let her out of his sight anytime soon. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t let them drop. Right now, she just wanted to lie down and forget.

“I can’t finish this here. I need all of you to follow me to the infirmary so I can treat you.” The doctor strode down the long walkway.

“We need to hurry. The king is no doubt calling all of the court to him. He will want to announce this as quickly as possible.”

“Damn him,” Jorel grumbled. “He goes too far.”

“No, he is doing this to save Ally.” Fi’on’s limp was becoming more pronounced. She had been seriously hurt but hadn’t said a word. “If everyone knows that she is the answer to our problem instead of a shot in the dark, they will fall in line.”

“Umm,
she
is here and doesn’t like being talked about this way.”

Ally was pissed.

When they walked through the infirmary door, everyone stood still. It was as if time had stopped for everyone but her. Then Jorel turned back to her. Yeah, okay, so everyone but the two of them.

“What the hell is going on, Jorel?” She tried to stop the wobble in her voice, but she didn’t quite manage it.

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“I don’t know.” He pushed her behind him as he took a few tentative steps into the room.

Suddenly a black hooded figure walked from a side room. “Prince

Jorel. I see you are well.”

Jorel just growled. He pushed Ally further behind him.

“Don’t hide your mate, Jorel. I would like to meet her.”

The woman’s voice sounded familiar. Ally couldn’t place it, but she knew she’d heard it before.

“Traveler, to what do we owe this pleasure?” Jorel asked.

“I come to talk to your mate. I remember what your heartstone was

like when I first removed it from your chest. I won’t leave her here if I think you’ll hurt her.” The woman walked toward them.

Jorel might be above hitting a woman, but Ally wasn’t. If the woman was here to cause problems, then she’d chosen the right one today.

“I am not here to fight. I just want to ask Allyson one question,” the woman said, coming even closer. “Allyson, are you happy here? Do you want to go home?”

“She is home,” Jorel growled.

“That won’t do you any good. She has been here long enough to make an informed decision. If she decides to go back, I will send her back.” And there was nothing he could do about it. Although the Traveler hadn’t said the words, Ally knew she meant them.

“What about our litter? She is breeding. What would those in her world do with our children?” Jorel no longer tried to push her away.

Instead, he tried to hold her closer to him.

“Let her answer for herself,” The woman barked. “Do you want to

go home?”

Ally didn’t know why she believed the woman, but she did. This was her ticket home. Her path back to a normal life. So did she really want to leave? Could she?

“Ally, don’t do this. After last night, you have to know that we need to stay together. We have a lot in common. Not to mention my children growing inside you.” Jorel turned to her and captured her hands.

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“Look, I know you’re not all bad. But I do miss my home, my job,