Page 168 of Starborn Husbands

Gem peeks with me. “Gods. How did they find us?”

I don’t know, but there are too many palace guards for me to fight on my own. They’ve brought guardians too, which means they know I’m here. I’m not going to kill a guardian doing their job for just any reason, but if they fuck with Gemini, we’ll have a problem. Fuck, I was the one that trained a handful of the ones I see out there.

“We’ll have to come back for our brothers later, time to portal out of here.”

“O-Okay.”

That’s not a confident okay. I’ll find a way to give him my unerring confidence if he needs it. I’m gonna fucking pound whatever took it from him. My heart races. He’s our ticket out of here. Know what? Fuck it. Maybe the guardians are just doing the job I taught them, but I also taught them about fair game. If it were just me, that’d be different, but it’s not. No one’s taking Gem from me.

Anyone who tries is my enemy. I’ll have no choice but to end them.

A sharp whistle hails the silence.Shit.I dive for Gemini, shielding him with my body. My rifle flies out of my grip. I cling tightly to his body as the pieces of our love cottage topple over me. Pain explodes across my noggin’, and then everything’s muted like I’ve been submerged under water.

“No! No! Atlanta!” Gem’s anguished voice cuts through my pounding head like a blade. “Stop it, he’s hurt.”

Least I know he’s okay.

Rough hands grip my arms, a growl rips from my lungs. I’m somewhere in between conscious and not. I can’t see, can’t hear very well either, but as my body heals, instinct kicks in. My limbs are floppy, but I can shake them. It’s enough to send the hands on me flying, but I can’t fucking stand up.

The pretty feet I know so well come into view. They’re fuzzy, but I know they’re his. He didn’t put his boots on.Fuckin’, Gem. You need to wear your boots, darlin’.My slack hands claw for them. Are they bleeding? Bruised? I wish I could see who’s trying to arrest me, to catalog them. They’ve made Atlanta’s Most Wanted List.

“Motherfuckers,” I mumble. “You’re so fucked.”

I doubt they can make out my words with how slurred they are, but I’m sure they’ll figure out my intent clear enough.

Wetness drips from above, streaking a hot river down my cheek where it lands.

Gemini tears.

I’ll kill them, soon as I can move again. Every last one of them is a dead star walking.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO

Treyu

The heavy stone slides open and the loud commotion from the entrance hall draws our attention away from our own problems.

“Let me the fuck go, fuckers.”

My body prickles with dread. I know that voice. It’s Atlanta.Shit.

An army of palace guards have him held by his upper arms, which are secured behind his back. He’s pissed, more pissed than I’ve ever seen him.

“And that is why you never ask if things can get any worse,” Merrick says.

“Yeah, thanks. Fuck.”

Our booted feet pound stone and we keep pace with the entourage of palace guards and guardians, following them straight into the king’s throne room. They toss Atlanta on the floor. He looks like shit, bleeding from multiple places, a long gash oozes blood across his bald scalp.

“We were told to bring him here, Your Majesty,” he says. The man isn’t a guardian, he’s one of the king’s palace guards, and he’s familiar.

“That’s the asshole who pounded my face to shit,” I growl under my breath for Zhang.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the king says. He squints. “Atlanta Orion?”

“We were given a tip off, Your Majesty,” the guard says. “Atlanta Orion drank from the cup. He’s been seeking refuge in a small house deep into the east woods.”

I glare murder at every guardian in the room with us. They hang their heads, apologetic. Yeah, I guess this was a tough one for some—the crown or your Orion ex-commander. We’re taught to choose the crown, sure, but no Orion would ever do that, which means my family was left out of this impromptu raid.