“You good, Kael?”
“Yeah.” He paused briefly before continuing. “Just thought I might have seensomething.”
Someone.
“Who were you claiming was the drunk?” Percival crooned, a muffled hit echoing down the alleyway as his laughter followed.
“Do you want to clean the stables for the next week?” Kael joked, earning chuckles from everyone except the man he teased. “No? Good. Now let’s go. I don’t need my father to know I was out this late.”
Their footfalls slowly faded, lulling my nerves as the distance between us grew. Sighing heavily, I stepped back, expecting to meet the unforgiving, granulated wall. Instead of its scratchy bite, my shoulder blades collided with a warm, muscular chest. Before I could pivot, a calloused hand clamped over my mouth, the other holding a frigid blade against my neck, its teeth ravenous for its next victim.
Breath coaxed my skin, a graveled chuckle following the lengthened exhale. “Found you,mylittle siren.”
CHAPTER 5
Buried Dagger
CASPIAN
Drenched from the storm, goosebumps covered her barren skin as she shivered. Like a glass doll, easily breakable if it came to it, her petite body thrashed helplessly in my arms.
A pathetic attempt at escape.
Inhaling deeply and wholly unbothered by her struggle, I tightened my hold, pressing every inch of myself flush against her. The smell of citrus welcomed me—spiced and bitter. Humored by her scent’s accurate depiction of her demeanor, I chuckled, clenching my jaw to curb the hunger coursing through my veins.
Nipping at her ear, I hissed, “I’d prefer not to put my hands on you. My men don’t like their fruit bruised before they even get the chance to?—”
Her teeth sank into my hand, the back of her head colliding with the center of my face. Pain shot through my nose, cartilage exploding with the impact. In tandem, a searing burn roared through my flesh, a slew of curses tumbling from me as I instinctively shoved her away.
She shuffled to the side, putting distance between us while she still could, leveraging the moment of anguish that consumed my senses. Even though affliction blinded me, I caught the brush of her palmagainst my thigh. The touch alone ignited my wrath, and the instant she snatched one of my many daggers free from my waist, it exemplified tenfold.
A low growl came from my throat as I wiped my nose with the back of my arm. Crimson greeted me, staining my linen sleeve with its ruby hue. At the sight, nightmares flashed, dungeon walls and my own remembered screams threatening to send me spiraling. Doing the only thing I knew would shield me from my darkest vulnerabilities, I settled into the very essence of indignation—the aura of my soul.
Manic laughter fell from my blood-coated lips, echoing through the barren streets as my glare settled on her. “You fuckingbitch.”
Courtesy of the rain, her already minimal clothing cinched around her frame. Clinging to her waist with near-desperation, the bodice stretched over her minimal curves, and the sight alone was enough to have me salivating in desire. While she wasn’t my type, I could appreciate a beautiful woman when I saw one, and she was no exception. But her godsawful personality was another beast entirely, traits that would undoubtedly get her killed if she continued to refuse to tread lightly around me.
“I’mthe bitch?” Sneering, she cocked her head to the side, unbothered by the cosmetics trailing down her cheeks and staining her skin. Her dark brows lifted as she pointed my weapon at me. “Last I checked,pirate,you have norightsof ownership over me, because I’m not for fucking sale.”
“Oh?” Stepping toward her until nothing remained between us, I whispered, “LastIchecked, any whore beneath the roof of Seirdra’s Veil has a price tag, and I had to up-bid that blonde asshole who was panting over you like a mutt in heat. There was even another piece of shit watching from afar. Considering neither bothered to challenge my offer with any coin of their own, you’re damn wellmine.”
Her nose scrunched with confusion. “There was someone who watched?—”
“Not that it's of any importance,” I started, my canines nicking the inside of my lip with heightened annoyance. “But Malrik Ravelle, theOverseer of Assassins, fondled himself over the mere sight of you. I mean, for fuck’s sake, the man adjusted his prick in his trousers far more times than I?—”
Before I could react, her knuckles slammed into my jaw with a ferocity I’d never expected from someone her size. The impact settled, and a sharp ring erupted through my ear, its pitch high enough to drown out her barefooted retreat.
The uncomfortably familiar tang of iron was quick to follow, flooding the back of my throat and forcing me to recall the insurmountable times I’d lain on Elaros’s doorstep. Ignoring the ghosts of my past, I spat out a mouthful of my unknown lineage, a life force I never had an interest in tracking down.
My audible vexation escaped me as a guttural snarl, the only sound left to fill the silencing night. With the thunderous skies and torrential downpour, the thin, breathable material I wore suctioned to my skin, trying to shield me from something—fromher.Craning my head to the side, each vertebra popped, attempting to soothe the tension that was nearly drowning me.
We were departing from the port at the first sign of dawn, and with how things had gone, I knew I had little time left to acquire the bitch I’d bought.
Abitchwho lured me in for gods knew what reason.
Allowing the frigidity to level me, I moved, prowling down the cobblestone corridor. The sword, forged only for my touch, bounced against my waist, my sharpened knives chiming with each stride. Every second-nature skill I’d refined surged forward, and I slipped on the mask I preferred over any other—the mercenary.
The atmosphere absorbed my wrath, and with darkness working on my side, something metallic scraped against stone. A bin filled to the brim with trash rolled from around the corner and into my line of sight, its contents spilling into a heaping pile of wretched filth. As if my billowing indignation commanded the wind, the slightest gust encouraged a strand of scarlet hair to sway out from the jagged edge of the building, giving away her failed hiding spot.
