I should have gone after her. I should have known. I should have been there. Why did I think she would be safe?

The truth was, he didn’t think the Harvenk spy that had gotten through the border would be stupid enough to come to his kingdom’s stronghold. It told him something, even in the depths of his fear for Lola. It told him that the Harvenks wanted Lola dead so much that they were willing to risk outright war to accomplish the goal. It was ludicrous that they should go to such lengths just to kill one human woman, but Russel could no longer deny the facts. Or push them off. Or simply ignore them because it was easier than trying to understand what might be going on.

Lola was special.

She was special in a way that others weren’t, himself included. As he raced across the castle courtyard, down the length of the walls, across paths and lawns, and anything else in his way, his worried mind kept coming back to the things he’d seen when he was with her.

The weird way she could sort of sense things, especially supernatural creatures.

How the ghoul poison didn’t affect her.

And then there was the Blood Challenge.

He had no idea how she did it considering she had been held by Zeo and Enok the entire time, but somehow she was the reason he’d won that fight. She did…something to his father. Something that weakened him so much that Russel was able to actually kill him. He had no idea what that was and again, had zero evidence or proof to prove she was responsible, but that didn’t matter. He still knew she was the reason he was still alive and the king of Oclan.

And now she was in danger.

If she was seriously hurt or dead, he would never forgive himself. If he had just understood the seriousness of the Harvenk threat sooner. Maybe he could have acted quicker. Maybe he would have ignored his pain and exhaustion and made sure there were more guards watching over them both. He hated himself for failing her. For allowing her to come to harm. There was no excuse for it.

He looked around, but there was no one even close. The guard that had come for him had long since been left behind. Distantly, he heard the sound of booted feet hitting the stones of roads and walkways but they were far away and most were heading away from him, presumably to reinforce the castle gates and make sure no other intruders snuck in.

Be okay, Lola. Just please, be okay.

These words played on an almost endless loop inside his head, spurring him to go even faster. Pretty soon, everything around him started to blur as he sped toward the Serenity Pond. He felt the rush of cool, chilled air along his cheeks and moving through his hair. He felt sweat dripping all along his back and out of his armpits. His throat grew dry as he pulled in air in controlled, measured breaths. It was hard to focus on his breath work though and pretty soon, he felt like his chest was on fire and his heart was about to explode outward in grisly fashion.

Still, he pushed himself to go even faster.

All the while, he cursed himself for being a fool. He screamed at himself that he’d been an idiot for allowing her to go off by herself. There were a lot worse things he called himself, but most of that boiled down to him, once again, cursing himself for a fool.

After what felt like the longest stretch of running he’d ever done in his life, he finally came upon the Serenity Pond. Even from where he was, he caught the smell of blood and death in the air. His heart leaped and lurched again. There were several guards clustered around a form on the ground, rocking back and forth. One of the guards must have heard him coming because he turned toward Russel and his eyes widened with alarm.

The man hastily saluted and then started to gently nudge the others. One of them, a barrel-chested and grizzled older soldier turned toward the guard and snapped angrily at him.

“What the bloody hell are you kickin’ at me for?” he yelled.

The guard nudging him didn’t say a word. He just kept moving his eyes from the older soldier to Russel and then back again, several times. The soldier must have finally caught the hint and turned to look in the direction indicated. He nearly jumped to his feet when he saw that the king himself was barreling toward them with clear, and reckless, disregard of anyone or anything in his way. Fortunately, however, the streets were empty of people.