I arched a brow. “Here in Iceland?”
He dipped his chin. “They need a stern hand.”
Niamh laughed, but he ignored her.
“They were trained by pacifists,” he added. “I have a lot of bad habits to break.”
“Such as mercy and compassion?” I guessed.
“Exactly that.”
“Hmm,” I hummed. “Just don’t turn them into monsters, Kas. Not all of us crave blood the way you do.”
“Someone has to be harsh around here, what with our leader handing out temporary asylums to our bounties,” he shot back.
I rolled my eyes. “She’s my fated mate, Kas.”
“What an excuse,” he scoffed.
“Don’t listen to him, Ves,” Niamh murmured. “He’s just jealous that he hasn’t found someone who will put up with his shit yet. Let alone someone who can tolerate him for eternity.” She visibly shuddered at the prospect.
Kaspian chuckled and shook his head. “I’m good.”
“Are you, though?” she asked, arching a sculpted black brow.
“Didn’t realize you cared so much about me, Niamh,” he returned, flashing her an easy smile. “You sure you and Zabra don’t want to invite me over for a visit?”
I shook my head, ignoring their easy banter, and started typing a reply to Kieran.
Niamh wants a few days to—
My finger slipped to the Enter key as a jolt of power sliced through my sternum, stealing the breath from my lungs.
“Ves?” Kaspian asked, at my side in a blink.
I palmed my chest, my heart squeezing painfully and causing my head to fall to my keyboard.
Fuck.
Fuck!
I groaned, my insidesburningfrom something intense, something impactful, something… somethinglethal.
Kaspian and Niamh started speaking in another language, the two of them making no sense.
All I could feel waspain.
Excruciating, agonizing torment.
I fell from my chair, hitting the ground as I tried to push through whatever the fuck was attacking my insides.
Only for it all to go dark.
And then light.
With a blaring alarm echoing throughout my office.
What the fuck is happening?I grabbed my head, my other hand on my heart.What is this? A spell? A curse?
