His muscles tensed with annoyance. “Drop it, or I’ll step aside and let my lieutenant do as he promised.”
It was getting harder to breathe. She swallowed hard as Callum crossed his arms. Like he was waiting for the chance. Death, she was prepared for tonight. Torture—not so much.
The captain slightly turned his head to speak to his companion again. That’s when she felt it. The slight give in his grip, the minor inattention toward her knife.
She took her opportunity, wrenched the kitchen knife from his hold, and rose to plunge the tip into his bulky neck.
He stopped the force of her hand midair.
The swiftness in his rebuttal was unsettling. As he seized her wrist and squeezed, she couldn’t help but open her own grip, letting the weapon fall to the ground. Helaina gasped from the pressure on her wrist. His grasp remained firm as he bent down to retrieve the blade, sheathing it somewhere in his belt.
“Very brave, but very,verystupid,” he chided, keeping his voice low.
The lantern suddenly relit, the fire taking life without anyone being near it.
How did that happen?
She could see them all clearly now, but she focused on their leader.
Seeing his face only magnified her fear. Stubble lined his angular jaw, and unnerving eyes peered into hers, one as light as ice, the other a collection of orange and copper. Half of his dark-as-night hair was knotted at the back of his head, the other half feathered around his shoulders. She had never seen anyone so exceedingly lethal, yet so impossibly perfect.
The massive man stood, pulling her up by her wrist to join him. He held up her arm, then the other, like he was inspecting her. He grabbed one shoulder, while the other hand found the angle of her jaw. He turned her head side to side.
“Stop it!” She jerked her head back on instinct. He released her, sending her stumbling back.
He strode forward silently, stealing back the space she had created between them.
“Who are you?” She could barely choke out the question as she recovered her footing. She squared her shoulders and craned her head up to meet his stare. She had been sent with an entire brigade of soldiers. Where the hell were they?
He wasn’t listening, his expression stoic, yielding only a hint of surprise as he surveyed her features.
“A soul... eclipsed in moonlight,” he whispered. His eyes flickered as he studied her with such unsettling intensity.
She’d heard that phrase before. Something to do with her curse, although it was never fully explained. These men knew exactlywhatshe was.
“She has the mark?” Callum asked.
What mark?
The captain nodded, letting his eyes roll up and down and back up to her petrified face.
“If it’s money you’re after, take anything from the trunks, it’s yours. Just please...”
“Please what?” She could see a flash of white teeth when he spoke.
“Please what?” he repeated when she didn’t answer.
“Please... don’t kill me or any of the others.” Pathetic. This was so pathetic. But she couldn’t take any more blood on her hands. She had enough for a lifetime.
His expression turned entirely predatory. “Don’tkill you? I thought you wished for death tonight, planned for it even?”
How did he know?
“My lieutenant says you practically begged him to deliver you to the ether.”
He unsheathed a blade, much larger than her kitchen knife, as he stepped forward, invading every breath of her personal space.
She felt a strange sensation in her core. This should be absolutely terrifying—but with the lack of feeling she had experienced in recent months, the sudden jolt of emotion was vibrant, powerful. Like she was seeing colors for the first time.
