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“Oh shit,” Clara said, arriving on the scene at that exact second, practically snarling when she saw my ex. “That’s Ben. He was the?—”
“Clara!” I snapped her name in warning, not for her though. We all knew Ben made a massive mistake coming here and I didn't need her adding fuel to the fire. If the look on Caius’s face was any indication, he’d be dead soon.
“He was what?” Caius asked, not looking at her. His entire focus was on Ben as chaos ensued, but he stood still as stone, hovering over Ben’s prone form. Clara sidestepped away from us, sensing the very palpable tension.
“Hewasmy frien?—”
“I’m her boyfriend,” Ben declared, getting to his feet. He dusted himself off as he rose to his full height—only an inch beneath Caius. He was built burly and thick, with large beefy biceps, but there was zero doubt in my mind who would win this fight. Sin was stronger than anyone I knew, and Caius put her on her ass without blinking.
“That’s offensive,” Eres piped up.
“This is so not the time for your ego.”
“Boyfriend?” Caius repeated softly. I didn’t miss the way the corded muscle in his arms twitched. Suddenly the blood stains on his hands seemed chilling. “I take it this is the prick that attempted to claimmymate.”
“Nope, he’s no one?—”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Ben said, digging his own grave with a backhoe. I smacked my forehead with my palm. “And I fucked up, but that doesn’t change that she’s taken, buddy—” He broke off when Caius swiftly wrapped his hand around Ben’s throat. He lifted him off the ground with ease.
“Caius,” I said, keeping my voice soft as I put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s no one?—”
“Don’t insult my intelligence, Reagan. I’m well fucking aware he’sno one. The boy thought he could enter my realm and what? Win you over? Take you as his mate?” On the word ‘mate’ his fingers tightened. Ben started making these awful choking sounds, face turning bright red.
“He’s delusional. I promised you six months and I’m keeping it?—”
“Reminding me that you plan to leave is not the way to save the boy. I suggest you stop talking while you’re behind.”
How was it this was the same man who moments ago had me turned on, and now he had me infuriated by ignoring what I was trying to say? I ground my teeth.
“Now you,” Caius said, addressing Ben, “are a liar. You told me you were her boyfriend. That wasn’t true, but you are here for her. After what you did, what makes you think I’m going to let you live, let alone walk through that portal with Reagan?”
“Res—cue—her?—”
“Rescue her? From what? A man that respects her choices?” Caius laughed cruelly. “Boy, you can’t even rescue yourself.”
Ben didn’t have a retort and not speaking was probably the smartest thing he’d done since coming through that portal. The purple shade of his face might have had something to do with it.
“Caius, please—” My words were punctuated by Nog’s barking.
“Will someone shut that infernal corgi up?” Caius growled.
“Nog,” I barked his name using the alpha command my father did whenever he really wanted to get the point home. Nog closed his mouth and lowered his head, giving me the biggest brown eyes as if to say he was sorry.
Clara snorted. “No one believes you’re innocent. Not for a second.”
Nog walked over to sit behind my legs, like he was hiding from the guards that were creeping up. They didn’t dare approach Caius when he was like this. He totally knew what he was doing, but Nog wasn’t my priority.
Ben’s face was violet and drawing closer to blue with every passing second. Giving it one last effort, I put my hand on Caius arm and squeezed. “Please,” I whispered, aiming for low enough only he could hear. “You said you were trying to win me over. You’ll never have any part of me if you prove to be the monster I feared. Ben is stupid. Well intentioned, in this case, but still stupid. That isn’t punishable by death. Let him go. We can talk this out.”
A beat passed, then another. My heart sank. He really was going to ignore me and choke the life out of Ben.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, Caius released his grip. Ben fell to his knees, clutching his throat in the mother of all coughing fits as he tried to inhale as much oxygen as possible into his lungs at once.
Holy shit.
It worked.
Caius turned to regard me, ignoring Ben entirely. His dark eyes held mine, searching. I reached up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, hugging him. “Thank you.”
