The Leopard King (26 page)

“I wish I could.”

“You know all of us who follow him? We’re all wrong in some way—culled, cast off—and if he hadn’t taken us into his service, we’d have been put down.”

Pru stared, unable to credit what she was hearing. “You mean—”

“They say we’d be better off. Only Prince Alastor offered us a place, and he took responsibility for us. Please, pride matron. Find a way. There are many more who would follow him, given half a chance. I will do anything for you, anything at all, if you promise to try.”

“All right,” she said, heart aching. “Get me a used vial, and I’ll do my best.”

As usual, Dom
spent the night in the temporary ops center, not as well equipped as the old one, but the room had four walls and a ceiling, along with minimal fire damage. They’d salvaged what gear they could, and people ran in and out with varying degrees of urgency. The way his eyelids felt, they must be full of sandpaper. Just then, he was listening to a scouting report.

“The bears are slowing the Golgoth in the north, but they have forces on the move in the east as well.”

“How long before they reach our borders?” Dom asked.

It’s not a question of if we go to war. It’s when.
With the hold weakened, their position wasn’t good. He didn’t feel prepared to send out the call to the other settlements, but they had to know. Most of them didn’t even have broken walls to hide behind.

“It depends on the fighting. But less than a week, I suspect.”

“Thanks. Tell Slay I’d like to see him.”

The scout bowed, and as he ran out, Gavriel raced inside, his expression grave and apologetic.
More bad news,
he guessed.

“Let’s hear it,” Dom said.

The Noxblade didn’t hesitate. “Talfayen’s Eldritch slipped out of one of the breach points last night.”

Dom nearly took the Noxblade’s head off over that report. Even if there were only fifteen loyalists, they could wreak a lot of havoc, given what they knew about the state of Ash Valley.

“You had eyes on them. How did they get past you?” he demanded.

Deep down, he understood that this argument wouldn’t change anything, but he’d put up with
so much
shit that he didn’t know how he could let this go. His head ached like he was wearing an invisible vise as a headband. It was hard not to suspect that this asshole was screwing him around. The Noxblade drew in a deep breath and met his accusing gaze squarely.

“I let them go.”

“
What
did you say?”

“Orders came in from Princess Thalia. She’s offering her father’s followers a chance at amnesty, so I had to.”

“You had to,” Dom repeated through clenched teeth.

Gavriel raised his eyes to amend his statement. “I chose to place her commands above yours. Punish me as you see fit.”

“Yeah, because I have time for that.”

“Your patience will be rewarded, I promise. Now that the schism has occurred, My Lady is no longer pretending to be her father’s hostage. I have reliable intel that she’ll be here in two days to lend her forces to the fight.”

Suddenly Dom didn’t feel like arguing over the fate of fifteen traitors. “How many men does she command?”

“It will take time for everyone who has sworn to her in secret to assemble, but she has at least three hundred at the estate proper.”

“Can you guess at the total?

Gavriel appeared to consider for a moment. “We number in the thousands, pride master, and the remainder of the Eldritch will either acknowledge her right to rule or they will regret it.”

“If they don’t pledge to her, she’ll hunt them down?”

“Don’t worry about how we will restore order. Just trust that we’ll support you against the Golgoth. A good portion of the harm to your hold can be laid at my door.” Saying this, Gavriel bowed low. “I promised to disrupt Talfayen’s plans, and I failed.”

Until this moment, it didn’t occur to Dom that someone else might be struggling with the same sense of shame. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well. I could make a list of everything I did wrong too. At this point, there’s no benefit in assigning blame.”

“And it wouldn’t be either of you,” Pru said.

Dom turned to find her hovering in the doorway, so he beckoned her in. “If you’ve got some wise words, we could use them.”

“If either of you feel guilty, stop. The people behind the attack are responsible, period. I refuse to let either of you stew over not preventing a crime.”

That shouldn’t feel like an epiphany, yet somehow it did. Pru had a way of cutting through the bullshit, a unique ability to drag him back from the brink and shove his ass down the road he needed to travel. With a wry smile, he nodded at Gavriel, who also wore a startled look.

“New mission. Whatever it takes, get the walls shored up. Salvage from fallen buildings, figure something out for mortar if we run out. If you need more bodies, ask the Golgoth.”

“Understood.” For the first time, the Noxblade saluted instead of bowing, and then he raced off, evidently to execute his new orders.

“How does it look for us?” Pru asked.

Since he didn’t want to analyze the odds, Dom said, “We’re not out of the woods.”

She laughed softly, though he hadn’t meant it to be funny. “No kidding. Have you seen where we live?”

The sound startled him so much that the question slipped out. “How can you…?”

“Laugh? Do you think one bad joke means I’m not still mourning?” Her face fell into somber lines then. “Is this better? But… you should know by now that humor is how I survive, how I
always
have.”

True.
He’d thought before that she rarely let anyone see her cry.
Damn, why am I so clumsy where she’s concerned? I didn’t even mean it that way.

So he tried to explain. “It wasn’t a complaint, more like… I’m marveling. At how fucking indomitable you are. I’ve never known anybody so strong. Shit, you’re the reason I can push on, day after day. I’m following your example.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Sorry. I jumped to conclusions. I guess I always think I’m being judged… in a bad way. Can I make it up to you?”

Even without hearing what she had in mind, he could think of ten things he should be doing. Yet it seemed like forever since he’d spent more than five minutes with her, and the hold wouldn’t implode if he took his hand off the wheel for a little while. So he didn’t even ask what she wanted, offering a nod.

“Of course.”

Her smile made him feel like he’d already won the war. “Don’t think I’m unaware how long it’s been since you slept. I’m ordering you to bed.”

He couldn’t stop the slow grin. Pru sighed, but she also showed a hint of dimple.

“Not like that. I’ll stand guard and make sure you get a solid hour of sleep.”

“I wish I had the energy to tease you, but that sounds amazing. One condition, however.”

“What’s that?”

“You don’t go anywhere. Having you close will do me as much good as pure rest.”

She didn’t argue, only led him off to the curtained alcove where they had been passing out now and then, usually at opposite intervals. The grubby pillow and blanket he’d salvaged from their disaster of an apartment were a far cry from the comfort they once enjoyed, but as he reflected on that, his mate took off
all
her clothes. His mouth went dry.

His expression apparently made her laugh. “It’s not what you think. Take yours off too… we’ll be more comfortable shifted.”

That should have occurred to me first. I’ve been going cat much longer than Pru.
But commonsense solutions seemed to be her superpower. In answer, he shucked his clothes, kissed her forehead, her freckled cheeks, snub nose, and finally, her lovely mouth. Unexpectedly, she deepened the kiss with a sweetness that stole his breath. She reached up to trace his features with such gentle hands that she stole his breath. Once, her eyes reminded him of winter, desolate and somehow lonesome, but now… for Dom, they held all the brightness and promise of springtime.

I used to see her and think of Slay. But now there’s no question that she’s mine.
Dom didn’t even care anymore if she should be. With a final kiss, he slid into leopard form as she went ocelot and rubbed her cheek against his, then touched their noses together. They should have done this sooner. Unlike most couples, their moments together had been driven by necessity, and the time they got to spend with each other diminished with each new disaster.

Curled up with his mate, Dom made a silent promise, then and there.
We may be backed into a corner, but this isn’t the end. For you, I’ll take on the world. And win.

A
s promised, Pru
only dozed while listening for potential interruptions. She safeguarded Dom for a couple of hours, but she couldn’t keep the world at bay forever. Eventually Magda came looking; she heard the security chief asking around.
In case I’m ever at risk of forgetting that he doesn’t belong to me.
She shifted back and shook him awake.

“Duty calls.”

A snow leopard leveled sleepy eyes on her, and then he stretched so gracefully that she couldn’t resist smoothing a palm down his back. That fast, she was caressing her naked mate, who dared her with his eyes to recoil or blush. Knowing she didn’t have long with him made her brave, so Pru nuzzled her face against his, much as she would if they were still in feline form.

“Morning,” he purred.

“It was that already when we went to sleep.”

Outside their tent-room, Magda shuffled her feet on purpose. “I realize this is probably bad timing, but…” She trailed off with more tact than usual.

Pru could finish the sentence in the security chief’s customary vernacular:
Get your asses out here anyway.
When she reached for her clothes, Dom astonished her by refusing to let go. With a muffled squeak, she toppled backward into his arms. Acutely conscious that Magda could hear everything—and everyone else probably could too—she squirmed against his hold.

He raised his voice, clearly speaking to the other woman. “Come back in five minutes, unless there’s a brand-new fire.”

“What are you doing?” she whispered, as Magda strode away.

“Living on borrowed time.” He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair, as if she had the luxury of regular baths and smelling delicious on command.

Abashed, she tried to pull away, but he only held on tighter. “This isn’t like you.”

“It’s
exactly
like me. You’ll soon realize that I require regular fuel-ups to tolerate constant problems.” Dom kissed the curve of her ear with a lazy brush of his lips.

“Please don’t tell me you run on hugs,” she said, stifling a laugh.

“You’re cruel to mock me.”

But she curled into his embrace, rubbing her cheek against his bare chest. Before, there had never been anyone in her heart but Slay, but in that moment, she had to admit that Dom had first carved out a small niche, and now he occupied
all
the space.
That wasn’t part of the deal.
Though she tried to remind herself it was for the good of the pride, deep down, she didn’t care about that anymore.
That’s the mate bond talking, right?

Pru sighed. “I suppose we can’t hide here forever.”

Trying to smile, she couldn’t quite meet his gaze. All she could think about was how much he mattered, and shit, what if he realized? It would be awful and embarrassing if he thought she expected something.
I can stand anything but him feeling sorry for me, or being pity-gentle.
The affection he’d shown already would be enough; Pru just wished making that silent resolve didn’t hurt so damn much.

“I’m back,” Magda called.

Thankfully, it gave her an excuse to pull away and don her clothes. Dom kissed her quickly and then scrambled to deal with whatever else had gone wrong. As she watched his back recede, a pang echoed through her, and she knew what she had to do.
It’s time.
Moreover, it was too soon to check in with Sheyla, as she hadn’t been working on a fix for the Golgoth prince that long when she had so much to do otherwise. The majority of the wounded were on the mend, leaving only Latents and children with extensive recoveries.

Outside, the hold looked better than it had only a week prior. Though visible damage still pocked the settlement—and Pru had to clamber over piles of rubble here and there—most of the exterior wall damage had been repaired. Gavriel was working hard on the last section, so people could sleep better from now on. She also spied Raff and his wolves clearing out the least-damaged residential building, so maybe soon people could start trickling back to their apartments instead of camping like refugees.

Waving at familiar faces here and there, Pru didn’t slow until she reached the columbarium. With everything going on, she hadn’t checked… and maybe on some level, she’d been avoiding this discovery. The hundreds of memorials that made up the pride’s memories were gone, either buried or burned. For many families, this would be like losing their loved ones all over again. Pru staggered a little, realizing that in addition to her fresh bereavements, she also couldn’t visit Dalena or her mother anymore.

But… I really need to talk to you.

Deprived of her original goal, her steps turned aimless. At the edge of winter, the weather was warm enough not to make breathing painful, but she couldn’t waste time strolling. The problem was deciding what issue required her attention most urgently. Somehow her footsteps carried her to the building where Dalena had lived with Dominic. Since the columbarium was out of the question, maybe there was no better place to talk than where her best friend had died.

Entering the dusty foyer sent a chill through her.
So many people died here. It’s not just Dalena anymore.
And though she hadn’t seen who pulled the trigger, all those deaths had been murder too. So it was impossible not to feel that weight as she navigated the dark halls. An unnatural quiet had settled, so her breathing seemed extra loud in conjunction with the scrape of her shoes. There was no need to enter Dalena’s pin because the door to their old apartment was broken. Dust motes swirled in the air as she stepped inside for the first time since she’d suggested moving to her place instead. Prince Alastor had bided here for a time, but he’d left no imprint on his surroundings. Pru’s gaze locked on the wedding portrait, now smeared and hanging crooked as if it might drop off the wall at any moment.