Kissed by a Dark Prince(105)

“I seek to kick that bitch’s arse,” Sable said calmly but Olivia could see past her false smile to the fear it hid.

Thorne scared her for some reason.

He took a step closer and ran his gaze over Sable’s body, his expression unconvinced at first and then gaining a decidedly hungry edge. Oh. My. No wonder Sable was on edge around Thorne. Olivia glanced back at her and caught the almost imperceptible touch of colour on her cheeks.

The demon’s red eyes slid to Olivia and she seized her chance.

“Take me down there,” she said and he looked below them at the raging battle. She didn’t want to look now because she feared she was going to be too late and was beginning to consider the outcome of grabbing the chain and sliding down it to reach the ground. She had to stop Loren.

Thorne nodded and held his large left hand out to her.

She grabbed Thorne’s arm and he grabbed Sable, tucking her against his bare chest despite her protests and blushing, and then darkness opened below them.

Olivia dropped into it, clinging to Thorne, regretting her decision to ask him for assistance. She had expected him to use portals in the same way Loren and Bleu did. There was something disconcerting about plunging into a black hole.

The darkness receded and Olivia instantly broke free of Thorne and Sable, running towards Loren and Bleu where they battled Vail.

Loren’s handsome face was a picture of determination, his black spiked helmet making him look formidable as he struck hard at Vail with his blade, murder in his eyes. A chill went through her when he managed to slash across Vail’s shoulder and turned his blade to deal another blow while his brother fought to recover from the first.

“No!” Olivia screamed and Loren froze mid-swing but Bleu didn’t.

He drove his spear through Vail’s side from behind and Vail cried out in agony, the force of the blow causing him to arch forwards.

“No,” Olivia shouted again and raced towards them. She had to stop them before they killed Vail. He was just a pawn, used against his will by Kordula in her insane quest for power.

Olivia slowed as Kordula rose to her feet behind them, her flesh knitting and mending before Olivia’s eyes, becoming perfect and smooth once more. The metalwork of her corset repaired itself and the threads of her dress wove together. Her hair floated around her shoulders and her black dress fluttered around her long legs.

The witch’s eyes blazed crimson and bright arcs of red energy crackled around her.

Olivia threw herself forwards as a bolt of crimson lightning struck at her and grunted as she hit the gravel hard, skidding across it.

Loren peeled away from his brother and was at her side a split-second later, pulling her onto her feet and shielding her with his body. A bolt of red energy hit him in the back and drove them both forwards. They smashed into the crumbling sandstone wall of the building beneath the scaffolding, Loren’s arms and her backside taking the brunt of the blow, and dropped together to the ground.

“Olivia?” Loren said and released her. His hands claimed her cheeks and he pushed back, his purple gaze warmed by concern and the fear she could feel in him.

“I’m fine,” she muttered and arched her back, cracking everything into place.

Loren’s gaze fell to her throat and the slash that cut around the front of it and darkened. He growled and went to turn away and she grabbed his wrists, stopping him from launching himself at his brother.

“No.” Olivia held firm when he tried to break free of her and he looked back at her, his black eyebrows knitted into a dark frown and his gaze narrowed and bright with the fury she could sense in him. “Listen to me.”

She glanced beyond his shoulder to the fight. Thorne had joined Bleu in his battle against the witch and Vail, and Sable was doing her best to help but her speed couldn’t contend with theirs and Bleu and Thorne had to save her more than once when she came under fire from Kordula’s red lightning.

Vail was still fighting, slashing at Bleu and Thorne with his twin black swords. He was paler now than he had been just minutes before, bleeding out from multiple wounds, but was feral and wild as he fought, a contrast to the man she had seen when they had been alone.

“Kordula is controlling Vail somehow.” She looked back at Loren and her heart sank when she saw in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. “Loren... your brother told me. Kordula is not his ki’ara. She tricked him. She is using him because she wants your kingdom. It’s a sick and twisted game to her and Vail is caught in the crossfire, a pawn that she is using for more than just fighting.”

Loren’s gaze darkened again and he looked back at his brother.

“You have to listen to me, Loren. Please. We can save him somehow.” She hadn’t realised how much she wanted that until the words left her lips. She had failed to save Daniel from Archangel but she had a chance to help Loren save Vail from Kordula, and she wouldn’t give up until she had gotten through to Loren and made him believe her.