Noah. Jacquelyn Frank
the innocents around them,” Noah bit back.
“Then consider Kestra if you will not consider yourself,” Jacob said grimly, his voice echoing in the stone room. “If you undergo standard procedures, you will be left physically and emotionally devastated. To penalize yourself would mean punishing this innocent. She is becoming a Druid now. You know what that means. She will need to feed off your energy. She needs your full strength if she is to survive such a taxing alteration of her genetic code and physical being. None of us knows what this might do to her, to you both, if you persist on this path.”
“No,” Noah murmured. “No. I cannot walk away from this without being answerable for my actions. If not standard punishment, then you must devise something in its stead. I demand your compliance in this, Jacob.”
“Very well.”
Both men looked up when Bella finally spoke, her soft voice—usually so full of her vibrancy and humor—wintry and dead as it fell on them. She had her arms folded tightly around her midriff as she advanced on the Demon King, the bite of her step a warning come too late to her husband.
“I will punish you,” she hissed at the Demon King, her hand suddenly flying at Noah’s face and striking him so hard that the slap reverberated through Jacob’s very bones. He could only imagine how it had felt, knowing how powerful Bella was in spite of her compact appearance. But as Noah recoiled from the surprise of the blow, the male Enforcer knew the psychology behind the strike was what would cut to the quick.
“You are never to go near my child again! Do you understand?” Isabella gritted the dictate through clenched teeth, her full fury and outrage finally, after all these hours, taking aim at their first solid target. It was a brutal, tangible thing. “Never! You will not even look at her! Do you hear me? I trusted you! Trusted you with her life and her safety like I would never have trusted anyone else, and you betrayed me! You betrayed her and used her for a wild experiment that could have—” Bella choked on her emotion, her tears finally spilling as she fought for her voice. “How could you do that? How could you put my baby in such horrific danger? She loves you! I loved you!”
She raised her hand to strike the stunned King again, but her husband caught her by the wrist and halted the forward-flying motion of her body. Noah turned away from them both, reaching out to steady himself against the stone of the fireplace as the Enforcer enfolded his violent wife into the unyielding frame of his body.
“Enough,” Jacob whispered into her black satin hair as he pressed his mouth to the ear hidden beneath. “Enough, my love.”
“It will never be enough,” Bella rasped hoarsely. “I will never forgive you for this, Noah! When I think of all the things that could have gone wrong, it makes me want to scream! I had to stand there and sweet-talk and coddle you while my baby and my sister sat huddled in a corner, beside themselves with terror! You make me sick!”
His mate was screaming so violently by then that it did not surprise Jacob when Gideon’s hand appeared out of nowhere and touched Isabella’s shoulder. The Ancient medic did not give her any opportunity to fight him, even if she could manage her power enough to attempt to drain his abilities. As hysterical as she was with the emotion that only a mother in defense of her child was capable of, she would never have been able to concentrate.
So Gideon sent the chemistry of her body careening out of balance, tricking it into thinking it was desperate for slumber. The sleep command hit her like a ton of bricks and Isabella collapsed against Jacob mid-accusation. Jacob felt Magdelegna brush past him, hurrying to her brother’s side with the ready compassion that was so much a part of her nature.
Noah felt her touch and shrugged her off so hard that she stumbled back several precarious steps.
“Do not comfort me, Legna! Just stay away from me!” he growled savagely. “Leave! All of you. Your duties are finished here.”
Noah finalized the order by snapping into a vicious flurry of flame that burned hard and brilliantly, making them all flinch and protect their eyes.
When their vision cleared, the King was gone.
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