THE WARLOCK’S CONQUEST, A Magical Shifter Fantasy Romance
by Lorelei Moone Shifters of Black Isle, #4 Publication Date: April 19, 2019 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Shifters, Paranormal, Novella, Standalone
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EXCERPT
It was unmistakably him. Eryn was instantly mesmerized by the man's eyes.
This was the one who had attempted to read her mind as she had flown past the ship
earlier, staring up at her from his cabin, assuming she wouldn't notice.
Only, she had noticed.
Now here he stood, his sword held high, circling her in a bid to evade the aim of her bow
and arrow. He wouldn't be able to, of course. She was faster than any human. More accurate.
And she had orders to kill. All it took was one swift flick of her finger. The arrow would
hit any body part of her choosing instantly.
Time seemed to stand still for her, as soldiers rushed past and clashed with the other
humans. The latter were no match, of course. Every single one of her fighters had at least a foot or two on the feeble humans. But her opponent was different.
The warlock was unique.
He stood taller than his companions, with broad, muscular shoulders to match. They were
about equally matched as far as height went. And he looked younger than the others, probably closer to her own age.
His blue eyes hid all sorts of sins.
But these superficial observations hadn't shaken Eryn. As physically impressive as he
was for one of his breed, Eryn had been affected by a much deeper power.
It must be his magic, she thought. And yet she felt no sign of his presence in her own
mind.
Strange.
All she could do was observe him, as though she was not truly in control of her body.
Then, the spell was broken by his first move. He charged ahead and swung at her with his
sword, and instantly she snapped out of her trance.
She defended herself with her bow, whipping it around to break the impact of his
weapon, then swiftly flung it over her shoulder and unsheathed a blade of her own.
They danced around each other, eyes locked on, taking turns to attack and defend. But his
impact lacked strength. Were humans really that much weaker? Or was he as reluctant as she
was to do real damage?
Where had her hesitation come from? She didn't have time for this!
Eryn bit her bottom lip as she swung around again. In this carefully orchestrated charade
of a fight, it was her turn to strike. She'd had enough of the pretense and more importantly, she had orders to follow.
She raised her sword and aimed. He stepped aside to evade her attack, just as she
suspected he'd do. In response, she changed direction mid-swing, found an opening, and brought the tip of her blade to a halt right at his throat.
It would be so easy to push a little harder and draw blood. So easy, and yet impossibly
difficult. With a heavy heart she realized she couldn't finish it. She couldn't bring herself to kill
him.
"You'd better drop that sword," she hissed.
The man did as he was told, but his expression was as calm as it had been all along. Like
this wasn't a real fight, and he hadn't really been defeated.
"I surrender." As he spoke, the corner of his mouth curled up just slightly.
Was he smiling?
Eryn could not be sure. All she knew was that the longer she looked at his boyishly
handsome face, the deeper she would sink. He'd given up so quickly, she couldn't even justify
carrying out Rhea's demand here. Not in full view of her soldiers, who had been given clear
orders to keep the prisoners alive.
So in a way, it was she who had lost this fight after all.
Rhea would be furious and rightly so. She was angry with herself.
A quick glance around revealed that most of the other humans had surrendered as well. If
this was the sum total of the threat against the Isles, then they had nothing to worry about. As sheclooked back at her own prisoner, something shook Eryn to her core. His expression was so relaxed, it almost looked smug. There was something more coming.
She might regret capturing him alive before the day was over.
"Tie them up and stash them below deck, then we'll tow the entire ship back to Black
Mountain," Eryn ordered. "Good fight, everyone!"
Her soldiers let out a loud cheer before getting to work and doing what she'd ordered.
Eryn stood back and let someone else secure the ropes around the warlock's wrists.
There was something about him that she could not understand. She wasn't just
apprehensive of his powers; it wasn't fear she felt.
Yet she dare not touch him. Or look him in the eye for too long.
Her heart was beating just a little too fast. Her breaths had become too shallow. If she
didn't know any better, she thought it might be nerves. A funny tickle in the depths of her
stomach made it hard for her to remain focused.
If she was in fact nervous, there was another, heavier feeling making things worse. A
deep sadness had crept into her chest. It tore at her, and dragged her down.
It was only once he was completely out of sight that she could breathe a little more freely.
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