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  Where the hell had his lover gone?

  The door slammed open and a dozen soldiers entered.

  “King-Mate, we’re here to arrest you for the murder of Lady Nelb,” an unfamiliar soldier announced in a voice ringing with authority.

  “What?” The sleepy fog clouding his mind blew away, leaving him awake but confused.

  Nelrin approached the bed, crouching beside it until they were at eye level. “Your knife was found next to Lady Nelb’s body.”

  “Nonsense, it’s right there.” Kres pointed towards the bedside table where he’d set it the night before. He sat straight up, staring at the bare spot. “Shit.” His knife was gone.

  “We don’t blame you for killing her. Arresting you is only for show. Please get dressed and come with us,” Nelrin said in a soothing tone.

  Looking at the guards, he saw that not one of them looked upset over his supposed murder.

  “Um, all right.” Dressing quickly, he let them lead him away. Now he had to figure out who’d killed Lady Nelb and had framed him for it. The bigger question was where the hell was Vohne?

  Kres followed the soldiers, mentally preparing for the rigors of a jail cell. What he wasn’t prepared for was the luxurious office he was shown into. Lush carpet sank beneath his booted feet and a soft couch with a wide padded seat dominated the room.

  “We thought you’d be more comfortable here, Your Highness,” Nelrin said in an apologetic tone, as if expressing regrets for the lack of proper accommodations.

  “I’m not the official king-mate yet,” Kres reminded him.

  “Trust me, after this, you will be more than accepted by the populace,” Nelrin said with a smile. “Anyone who had doubts before won’t now. You will be seen as the enforcer, the king’s right hand.”

  He watched in astonishment as the soldiers all gave him a respectful salute before leaving the room. Nelrin was the last man out.

  “We’ll make sure no one bothers you while we wait to find out what the king’s reaction will be.”

  “Don’t I get to defend myself?” What kind of bullshit court was Vohne running?

  Nelrin shook his head. “Heroes don’t need to defend themselves. It will likely be a slap on the wrist or community service. It will be decided by the victim’s closest family and confirmed by the king.”

  Kres was still mulling that over when the soldiers left. Wasn’t it convenient that he’d met Niafe last night and her mother had ended up stabbed with his knife? Kres didn’t believe in coincidences. Beautiful Niafe was up to her pretty little neck in all this. A neck he imagined throttling when he got out of this place.

  Where the hell was his mate? Wasn’t he supposed to sense when Kres was upset? Maybe he wasn’t worried enough. The entire situation felt unreal, like he was still dreaming—although the calm way the soldiers had brought him here had taken away some of his worries. Plopping down on the comfortable couch, he propped his feet up on the cushioned ottoman and wondered how to prove that Niafe had set him up for murder.

  Chapter Nine

  Vohne sat at his desk, flipping through the hundredth piece of paperwork. A lot of the information was on the machine on his desk, but the really old stuff was still on paper. He’d sneaked out of their bed early to get some work done, hoping to return to his mate before Kres awoke. Looking at the bright sun outside, he was pretty sure he’d failed.

  Rubbing his eyes, he tried to focus on the paper again.

  A knock at the door had him lifting his head. “Enter.”

  Nelrin walked into the room, a wide smile on his face. His mate Friln followed behind.

  “We’ve got your mate in lockdown if you’d like to go see him.”

  Vohne jumped to his feet. “Why would you arrest Kres?”

  “His knife was found by Lady Nelb’s body. Lady Niafe demanded we take your king-mate into protective custody. When you weren’t in your room with your bonded, we moved his location in case one of Lady Nelb’s supporters went looking for him.”

  “Were anyone else’s fingerprints found on the knife?”

  Nelrin shrugged. “We didn’t bother looking. It’s not like it matters anyway. You’re not going to have your mate put in the dungeon. Besides, Lady Niafe hates her mother, and I doubt she’s even going to press charges. She merely demanded we protect your mate against repercussions, not charge him with anything.”

  Niafe. For the first time Vohne wondered if maybe he’d had his attention on the wrong family member.

  After Nelrin left, Vohne concentrated on his lover. His first instinct was to go free him, but protective custody meant Kres was out of danger. It would do him good to stay put for a bit until Vohne found out what really happened.

  “You all right, love?” He sent the question down their shared link. Their bond felt stronger than ever before.

  “I hate your planet!”

  Vohne laughed. “Did you kill Lady Nelb?” He didn’t really think Kres had. Not that his lover wasn’t capable of murdering anyone—because he was—but more than that, he hadn’t had the opportunity. New to the planet, he wouldn’t even know where to find Lady Nelb.

  “No. But everyone is too busy congratulating me to listen.”

  “Ahh. Sit tight, love. I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

  “Take your time. I’ll let you know before I die of boredom.”

  “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”

  He could feel annoyance more than anything along their connection before he broke off communication. It wouldn’t do for him to rush to his lover’s defence. If Kres was going to prove himself as a true king-mate, he needed to take care of his own problems. Vohne would only step in if absolutely necessary. He couldn’t let anyone harm his mate, but Kres wasn’t made of glass either.

  A soft knock at the door drew his attention.

  “Enter.”

  Niafe sauntered into the room, triumph glowing on her face.

  Vohne examined her carefully. The woman was dressed as befitted a lady of the court, in sheer layers of locally woven fabric, but the look in her eyes had him shifting uneasily in his seat.

  “Good morning, Your Highness. I hear your mate has taken care of our little problem.”

  Gone was the sincerity of yesterday. The girl who’d reluctantly plotted against her mother and helped him strategise his defence had vanished behind this confident, conniving woman.

  “You don’t look upset about her death,” Vohne said.

  Niafe shrugged. “I’ve lived under my mother’s thumb for enough years. This is more of a relief than a moment of mourning.”

  Vohne propped his elbow on the desk and rested his chin on his hand as he examined her. “Have a seat.”

  With a brilliant smile, she sat in the chair before his desk.

  “Why did you frame my mate for your mother’s death?” No point tiptoeing around the fact she had murdered her mother. Vohne had no doubt in his mind she’d done the deed.

  Niafe’s jaw dropped open for a second, but she quickly recovered. “Why would you think I killed my mother?”

  Vohne stared at her for a long moment—waiting.

  Niafe jumped to her feet. “Fine! You want to hear that I killed the psychopath who tried to ruin my life and unbalance the monarchy? Then you’re right.” She pointed a finger towards the door. “But everyone thinks your mate is a hero. He can ride this out with the backing of the entire kingdom in his pocket. Do you think they’d do the same thing with a woman who kills her own mother?”

  “Perhaps not, but how can I trust you with my brother if you don’t think anything about framing my love?” Her deception bothered Vohne more than anything. If she could easily dispose of her mother, what would she do when Bleine became inconvenient?

  “You forget one thing, Your Highness. I don’t need your permission to bond with your brother. I just need your brother’s. Hell, we might not even be mates, but I was willing to bet my mother’s life on it.” With a cold look at Vohne, she stormed out of the room.
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  Vohne shook his head at her exit. She’d killed her own mother and still thought she had a chance with Bleine. Unfortunately for her, there were two major flaws in her plan. First, Bleine’s intelligence rated even higher than Vohne’s, and he would let himself die before being used by another woman. Secondly, Vohne didn’t plan on bringing his brother out of deep freeze until he had a viable candidate. If Niafe thought she could blackmail Vohne into a mating with his brother, she wasn’t as smart as she thought.

  Vohne sat at his desk for a bit, wrapping up some more paperwork before deciding it was time to go check on his lover. Kres might get into trouble if left too long on his own. Hell, he might have already left wherever they’d had him stashed, guards or no guards.

  Ignoring the soldiers who fell in step behind him, Vohne headed towards where he could feel his mate biding his time.

  As he approached, the door guards snapped to attention.

  “Has he been behaving?” Vohne asked.

  “Yes, Your Highness,” they replied in unison.

  “Hmm.” Vohne opened the door and stepped inside. Three steps into the room, he was jumped. Air burst from his chest as he fell onto the soft carpet, a familiar hard body pressing against him.

  “Took you long enough to check on me.” Kres’ hot breath brushed across his ear. “Now that I have you, whatever am I going to do with you, hmmm?”

  “Problem, Your Highness?” one of the soldiers asked. Vohne could hear the amusement in the soldier’s voice.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” he replied.

  With a quick flick of his muscles, he spun around and pinned his laughing mate to the carpet.

  “What are you going to do now?” he teased.

  Kres relaxed completely beneath his hold, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

  “I guess I’ll have to give in to your obvious superiority,” he said, rubbing his body against Vohne’s like a cat in heat.

  Vohne looked up to the men in the doorway. “Leave us.”

  With knowing chuckles, the guards left, closing the door gently behind them.

  Kres moved beneath Vohne, his body hot, hard and delicious—perfect.

  “Mmm.” Vohne leant down to taste his lover. Kres turned his head.

  Vohne growled. “What is that for?”

  A smirk crossed his mate’s lips. “You think because you have me trapped, I’m just going to give it up?”

  “You’re not?” Vohne knew a bit of desperation coloured his tone, but he needed to feel Kres around him.

  “Nope.” Kres licked his lips, taunting Vohne with their slickness. “Like all good things, you need to fight for what you want.”

  Vohne had foolishly relaxed against his lover during their chat. Before he knew it, Kres had flipped him onto his back, sliding on top and pinning Vohne to the floor by his wrists.

  “Gotcha,” his victorious mate announced.

  Vohne couldn’t hold back his grin. “I guess I’m just a prisoner to your whims.”

  Kres frowned at him suspiciously. “I fell into your trap, didn’t I?”

  “Never try to out-strategise a king, my love,” Vohne teased.

  Sighing, Kres gave him a hot, hard kiss. “I guess I’ll just have to fuck you until you can’t be so sneaky.”

  “Good plan,” Vohne agreed. Of course he didn’t tell his mate that he would agree to about anything if it involved his hard, muscular body naked and against Vohne. No need to give the man the total advantage. He knew from experience the difficulty in resisting his mate’s charms during a disagreement. Luckily, this one time they were in perfect accord. “I don’t suppose we can move this to the couch so I don’t get rug burns?”

  Kres smiled. “Nope. It will remind you later about the dangers of trying to outsmart your mate.”

  Vohne laughed. “Yep, that will teach me.”

  Kres dipped his head to taste the flavour of his lover. Just as he was enjoying the feel of his hot mate beneath him, a blaring alarm ripped through their warm cocoon.

  Before he could figure out where the alarm was coming from, Vohne quickly rolled them until he was on top. He jumped to his feet and offered Kres his hand.

  “What’s going on?”

  “That bitch must’ve tripped the thawer. She’s going to try to bring back my brother before I can warn him.”

  “What bitch?”

  “Niafe. She came to me earlier and confessed to killing her mother. Tried to tell me she was doing you a favour, building up your reputation.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a reputation I want to have,” Kres replied.

  Vohne wrapped a hand around Kres’ arm, pulling him towards the door. “We’ve got to stop her. Bleine will be disorientated when he first comes back. He might not be able to see through her bullshit. Here.”

  Kres instinctively grabbed the handle of the dagger his lover handed to him. “What’s this?”

  “To replace your lost one,” Vohne said.

  “Aw, that’s sweet. Most men bring flowers.”

  Vohne gave a bark of laughter. “Let’s go before my brother is taken advantage of.”

  Kres walked fast to keep up with his lover. “But won’t he be…um…be unable to perform? I mean, if my danglies get frozen they aren’t going to work.”

  Vohne gave Kres a quick kiss on the cheek as they walked, proving the man had amazing coordination. “Thresls have amazing recuperative powers.”

  “I have noticed that.” Kres hurried to keep up with Vohne as the stronger man yanked him along.

  Ripping open the door, Vohne glared at the soldiers. “Why are you still here? Niafe is after my brother. I want her stopped before my brother regains consciousness.”

  The guards ran down the hall towards the alarm.

  “Idiots,” Vohne muttered.

  He still didn’t let go of Kres as they followed the soldiers.

  “Why aren’t we running?”

  “Kings don’t run.”

  “Really?” Kres wondered if that really was true or if Vohne was feeding him lies.

  “Unless our mates are involved.” Vohne flashed him a hot smile. “I’d run anywhere for you.”

  After what felt like an endless stream of hallways, they reached a point where a dozen soldiers stood outside a metal door.

  “What’s going on?”

  Kres’ hormones stood at attention at the forceful tone of his lover. Hot images of his lover using that commanding voice in the bedroom made him harder than the solid door before him. Pulling his shirt down farther, he futilely tried to hide his erection. Luckily all eyes were on Vohne and ignoring Kres for the moment.

  Nelrin came forward, bowing low before the king. “She’s locked the door, overriding the security measures.”

  Kres’ blood ran cold. If she blocked them long enough, she could thaw out Vohne’s brother and cause all kinds of trouble. He couldn’t let her get to Bleine. His mate loved his brother, and it would break Vohne’s heart if Bleine re-mated with this scheming bitch.

  No one was allowed to upset his mate!

  Kres scanned the doorframe and the electronic panel caught his eye. “Can’t you override the system?”

  Vohne shook his head. “Security has changed since I was here last. They didn’t even have electric locks.”

  “Huh.”

  Kres walked up to the security panel and plunged his knife into the interface with all his force. A popping noise sounded, followed by the smell of burnt electronics polluting the air. The doors slid apart.

  Vohne flashed him a look of admiration. “Good thinking.”

  Kres shrugged. “Sometimes the direct approach is best.”

  The guards rushed in ahead of them. A moment later, the sounds of a struggle and shouting reached their ears.

  Yanking his knife out of the wall, Kres retained hold of his mate as they entered the room. It was eerie as fuck to see walls of people hanging from metal tubes filled with blue goo and bodies.

  “Who are all these people?”
His voice was barely a whisper. He didn’t want Niafe to hear him, and truthfully, the room creeped him out. He nervously gripped the knife tighter as they approached.

  “Most of them lost their mate or have severe illness or injury and are waiting to be cured. Some will be here for a brief while, others centuries,” Vohne explained in an equally quiet voice.

  Chills prickled Kres’ skin as he moved with Vohne through the room. Several tubes hung from hooks in the middle of the room like something out of a horror movie. “It’s kind of disturbing.”

  Vohne gave a soft laugh. Kres hoped there never came a time where Vohne needed to be cryogenically frozen. He didn’t know if he could do it.

  “I demand to see the king!” Niafe’s shrieking voice echoed throughout the chamber.

  “I believe that’s our cue.” Vohne yanked free of Kres’ hold and walked quickly towards the sound.

  “Shit.” Kres rushed after him, determined to protect Vohne by any means necessary.

  He skidded to a halt when they reached the area where Niafe stood, held between two guards beside Bleine’s cryo tube.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked Vohne. Kres had to give her credit. With her attitude, she made the guards seem more like accessories than the people who held her captive. Despite being a psycho, the girl had style.

  “You’ve admitted to murdering your mother and framing my mate. Now you think I’m going to let you bond with my brother?” Vohne asked, his voice revealing his astonishment.

  “I deserve this!” For the first time Kres saw cracks in her composure. “I deserve to be queen.” Madness lived in her eyes.

  “You’re the reason we didn’t meet last time, aren’t you? It wasn’t your mother at all,” Kres demanded.

  She turned imploring eyes to Kres, like he was going to side with her, as if she were only misunderstood instead of crazy. He had missed her deceit because she hadn’t thought she was fooling him. She truly believed she was fulfilling her personal prophecy. “It’s Mother’s fault he came back this time. I had it all under control, but no, she said it was unnatural to deprive the people of their king. I think it’s unnatural to deprive people of a bloodline. I can bring new blood and children to the throne. Instead of recycling the same garbage, we could have a fresh start. With enough human blood in our system, we won’t need full humans.”