"I know." I give him the best smile I can muster, then wrap him in a hug. "No one fucks with our clan and gets away with it."
If my head wasn't pressed to his chest I never would have heard the soft rumble of Andrej's chuckle as he says, "You are correct. No one fucks with our clan and gets away with it, my queen. Absolutely no one."
I hug Allie tight, trying to share the strength coming off of her in waves, then meet her eyes. "You tell Daisy Mae her Auntie Posey loves her to pieces and as soon as this is over she is going to smother her in kisses, ok?"
Al nods. "You bet. And I'll make sure if she decides to have explosive diarrhea while we're in the basement that Josh uses her diaper to gag that creepy son of a bitch in the dungeon."
We all laugh as I hug my friend one more time, watch her and Andrej leave, then turn to my mate, the love of my life.
"Are you nervous?"
He studies me for a minute but shakes his head. "No. I am ready. Ready to avenge my family, to take Cyril's head and offer it as tribute to Bozidar the Great. I am ready to eliminate the threat posed to our people, the threat inflicted upon my mate."
I nod and take a deep breath. "Good because I'm nervous enough for the both of us." And then some.
"We shall be victorious, my beloved, just as Andrej said. We will defeat our enemy and make our home safe. You can rest assured in knowing that."
But at what cost?
Will our victory come at the loss of my mate, my king, my sugar?
If that's what it takes then I don't want to win.
I don't want to win only to lose the man I love more than anything because it won't be worth it.
Nothing will matter if I lose Kai, lose him forever.
Nothing, not even defeating our enemies is worth that, and I'd rather run and hide, surrender and retreat before the battle even begins if it means he would be safe.
But that's not an option, not for Kai, not for me.
This is about more than just us, more than our happily ever after and I can't be selfish like that no matter how much I want to be.
So I nod, lean up on my tip toes, grab his face and kiss him hard. "You better be right."
Kai growls and deepens our kiss as he pulls me against his body. "I am, beloved. We will fight, we will win, and we will return to our life happier than before. I will give you the world, Josephine, and no one shall stand in the way of that."
"I love you." I squeeze my eyes tight as I kiss him again, maybe for the last time. "I love you, Kasimir, so you better come back to me."
"I will always return to you, my beloved mate, always. I fear I could do nothing different even if I tried. I love you far too much to ever let you go."
God, I hope he is right.
Warlords A Plenty
Iscan the horizon, watch the stars begin to dot the sky over the mountain range. A slight breeze floats through the trees, breaks up the summer heat and humidity, cools my already sweat-slicked skin skin.
It's quiet.
Eerily quiet.
No owls hooting, no crickets chirping.
Not even the sound of any deer or coyotes running through the forest.
I can barely make out the faint sound of the creek, the water gently flowing through the valley in the otherwise silent night.
It's as if Mother Nature herself knows what's about to happen and has hidden her creations away in order to protect them from the impending destruction.
