Dark Swan Bundle by Richelle Mead Page B

your naked body has haunted my dreams for many a night.”
    â€œYeah? The only thing I remember about you is how easy it was to kick your ass.”
    Rurik grinned. “You’ll remember a lot more before I’m done.” Behind him, a few of the other men regarded me with renewed interest. I felt myself go rigid, despite my bold words.
    The black-haired woman eyed Rurik distastefully. “If you think I’ll let you give in to your…perversions here, you’re wrong. You’re as bad as them.”
    â€œStop being so prim, Shaya. You know who she is.”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter. You can have her later if the king says so, but you’re not doing anything while we’re on patrol. My patrol.”
    I didn’t quite take that as female solidarity, but it was better than nothing. I’d come expecting a grisly death, not a gentry gang bang. Wil might be a lost cause, but if I fired on one of the guys, my minions could probably do serious damage to the others. I tensed, ready to fire.
    â€œStop,” Volusian suddenly said, moving forward. “Don’t touch her.”
    â€œWe don’t take orders from you,” replied Shaya.
    Volusian was unfazed. “No, but you do take orders from your king, and my mistress has business with him.”
    I saw the men freeze. So did I. Business with their king? Ah, right. We were in the Oak Land where Dorian ruled, the king Volusian had originally wanted me to see. Suddenly I wondered if this winding way we’d taken had been a ploy of his to get us to Dorian after all. If so, I wondered if he’d imagined capture as part of the plan.
    Shaya regarded me coolly. “King Dorian has no business with her.”
    A few of the men looked like they doubted this, and I jumped on it, as well as what Volusian had said about Dorian earlier.
    â€œAre you so sure?” I smiled, portraying the same smug confidence I used with the minions, even as my heart pounded in my chest. Too many eyes on me. It was like public speaking. “I’ve come a long way to talk to him. How do you think he’ll react if he finds out you’ve killed me before I’ve delivered my message?”
    â€œTell me your message,” she said impatiently.
    â€œI talk only to him. Alone. I don’t really think he’d like you getting the gossip before he did. Or not getting it at all if you kill me.”
    â€œWe won’t kill you,” said Rurik cheerfully. “We have plenty of other things we can do. You’ll still get to the king…eventually.”
    Volusian fixed his red eyes on Rurik. “And how do you think Dorian will feel when he learns you’ve been at her before him? The king’s tastes are quite…particular.”
    In another situation, I would have decked Volusian. Whose side was he on anyway? Stupid question, I realized a moment later. He was on his own side. As always.
    The gentry all appeared put out. They looked like they really wanted to kill someone. The woman verified as much.
    â€œThey’ve killed our people. We cannot let that go unpunished.”
    One of the other female riders strode forward. “No, actually. Everyone’s still alive. Some just barely…but if we can get a healer out here fast enough, they’ll live.”
    All alive? So much for Team Eugenie. I’d known gentry were stronger in their own world, but this…It didn’t bode well for our gallant attack on Aeson and his people. Next time I’d aim for the face. I doubted they’d come back from that.
    â€œLet’s kill the weak human anyway,” suggested one of the others, “just for fun. We can still bring her to the king.”
    â€œThe king’s going to offer me hospitality,” I informed them, still talking out of my ass, “for my whole group. He’ll be pissed if you kill one of them. It’ll make him look bad.”
    I was lying, and Shaya looked like she knew