Chapter Thirty-Five
Thrasher growled his outrage as two giant Arkadian warriors jumped forward and snatched Kaspyn off her feet. “Let her go!”
Both warriors began to bleed from their eyes, effectively releasing Kaspyn, nearly dropping her on her ass.
Three more ran forward, one pulling a covering over her face while the other two gripped her by the arms.
Kaspyn cried out as one of the males twisted her arm up high behind her back.
Thrasher roared, fighting his way to Kaspyn’s side. “Let her go! She’s pregnant, you fucks! She’s pregnant!”
The neck of the male unlucky enough to cross Thrasher’s path, snapped like paper in Thrasher’s hands. He tossed the Arkadian aside and barreled his way toward another.
A female voice suddenly rang out. “Stop it! Stop this at once.”
Everyone within hearing distance froze at the fiercely spoken command. “Let my daughter go this instant or I will have your heads served to the sharks by sundown.”
Thrasher ran across the hall and wrapped Kaspyn in his arms.
A feeling of overwhelming protectiveness overcame him in that moment. He finally had Kaspyn back in his arms where she was meant to be; her and his child.
The regal-looking female who’d commanded the multitudes glided forward, tears sparkling in her light amber colored eyes. “This is your land walker, I presume?”
Thrasher loosened his hold enough to allow Kaspyn to respond. She lifted her head from his shoulder, her chin rising proudly, and addressed her mother. “This is my mate, the father of my unborn child…Thrasher.”
King Kryten made a furious sound, the sea of people abruptly parting to allow him to pass. He stopped next to the queen. “You will not give birth to a human child, Kaspyn. I will not allow it.”
Thrasher bared his teeth, moving his body between Kaspyn and her father. “I’m taking her out of here.”
“Then you will sentence all of Aukrabah to death,” the king growled back.
“At least we will not die as cowards.”
A spark of something resembling respect, flashed in the king’s eyes. He studied Thrasher for several heartbeats before swinging his gaze to his daughter. “You know what they are, Kaspyn…what they’ve always been since the beginning of time. They have no honor, no sense of commitment.”
Kaspyn stepped out from Thrasher’s side to face her father. “Thrasher has more strength, honor, and compassion in him than I have ever witnessed in another. Do not make me chose, father, because it will not be you.”
Hurt flickered in the king’s eyes, but left so quickly, Thrasher thought maybe he’d imagined it.
“Go,” the king bit out. “Go, and do not come back here. You are no longer welcome in Arkadia.”
“Kryten,” Kaspyn’s mother gasped, spinning to face the king. “You cannot mean that. She is our daughter…our only child. And she carries our grandchild.”
Thrasher felt Kaspyn’s pain at her father’s words as if it were his own. And it was. If she hurt, he hurt. She was his whole world; she and the unborn baby she carried.
“Goodbye, Mother,” Kaspyn whispered, taking hold of Thrasher’s hand and following him down the hall to meet up with his group from Aukrabah.
Zyen, Pyre, and Syrina fell into step behind them.
Surprised, Thrasher glanced back at the trio.
“We go where Kaspyn goes,” Zyen announced, daring Thrasher to argue.
Thrasher nodded, sending the huge Arkadian an understanding look. He knew they cared about Kaspyn, and she and their unborn child could use all the protection they could get.
Once they were out of earshot, Thrasher tugged Kaspyn over to the rock wall, wrapped her in his arms, and covered her lips with his. God, but she tasted good.
He eased back to stare into her beautiful amber eyes, eyes he thought he’d never have a chance to look upon again. “I missed you so much, Kaspyn. Every second that you were gone was a living hell for me. Don’t ever leave me like that again. I don’t think I could survive it.”
Kaspyn gripped the back of his head and pulled him back in for another kiss before sliding her mouth to his ear. “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But it was the only way I knew to keep father from harming you and the innocent dwellers of Aukrabah. I could not eat or sleep. I have been plagued with your image for weeks.”
“We made a baby,” Thrasher breathed, tightening his hold on her. He felt as if he would wake up at any moment and find it all to be a dream. “I’m going to be a father.”
Visions of his own father slammed into him without warning. Thrasher recoiled from it.
“No.” Kaspyn pulled back enough to look into his eyes. “You are nothing like your sire. Just as I am not like mine. You will make a wonderful father, Thrasher. And I will give you a fine, healthy son.”
Thrasher blinked back the suspicious moisture in his eyes. “I never knew I could love someone as much as I love you, Kaspyn. God, I missed you.” He covered her lips with his once more.
“We should probably move faster,” Zyen suggested from his position across the hall. “In case King Kryten decides to send his army after us. Koral has only so much influence on our king.”
Thrasher reluctantly eased back from Kaspyn. “Koral?”
“Koral is my mother, the queen,” Kaspyn informed him. “And Zyen is right. We should hurry.”
Thrasher took hold of Kaspyn’s hand, unwilling to let her go for even a second. “You’ll be safe in Aukrabah. None of you will ever have to endure discrimination again.”
And he meant it.