It’s not the gore dripping down his face, or the two crimson pools spreading out from the bodies, lying in a heap on the concrete.
It’s their skin.
There, covering every visible inch, the markings West carved glow with that same unsettling silver-white light. Hundreds of them, each one pulsing like a heartbeat.
There was no way to see it before, when they were just a collection of bloody slashes on already bloodied flesh. But now, with each one glowing like a winter moon, there’s no mistaking what they are.
“Auggie,” she breathes. “Did I… Did I do that?”
I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, trying to calm her with a gentle touch. “Yes.”
“What… what are they?”
I close my eyes, wishing I could unsee it all. Wishing she’d never come here tonight. Wishing I didn’t have to tell her the truth.
But I can’t.
She did.
And I do.
“Fuck,” Jude whispers, crouching down for a closer look, all his earlier lust and rage replaced with pure terror as the realization settles over him, too. “Fucking hell.”
“Auggie?”
“They’re runes, West,” I finally say, that cold, terrifying wind howling inside my chest. “Dark fae runes.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
DRAEGAN
The woman Jude’s carrying across the underground parking garage is barely recognizable as the woman I delivered here earlier.
Blood is smeared across her forehead, her eyes wide with shock. Even before they reach me, I can tell she’s trembling from head to toe.
Fear slams into my chest, and I’m out of the car in a heartbeat, my glamour dropping away, claws bursting free as I round the other side. “Fucking Jude! What the fuck happened?”
Ignoring me, he opens the passenger door and lowers her onto the seat, tucking her legs in. “There you are, darling. Safe and sound now.”
Staring blankly out the windshield, teeth chattering, Westlyn nods, but doesn’t utter a word. I’m not even sure she realizes where she is. Who she’s with.
He kisses her blood-stained face, leaving another smear of it in his wake, and gently closes the door behind her.
The moment he turns to face me, I’ve got him shoved back against the door, seconds away from tearing out his throat. “You weresupposedto look after her. You assured me—”
“Relax.” Jude raises his hands in surrender, his own face so filthy with blood I’m not sure I’d recognize him if not for the wild blue eyes—eyes that are now glaring at me, as ifI’mthe one in the wrong here. “Things just got a bit intense, is all.”
“Intense? She’s practically catatonic!”
“She’s tougher than she looks, Draegan. Give our girl a bit of credit, will you?” He flashes his manic grin, then extricates himself from my hold and heads back toward the door that leads inside. “Got some loose ends to tie up here, then we’ll be along. See you at home for the recap later.”
He disappears inside the building, not giving me a chance to get in another word.
Probably for the best. Right now, Westlyn is the priority.
I’ll deal with Jude later.
Taking a deep breath, I slip back into my glamour for the long drive home and get behind the wheel.
