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A growl poured from my throat, possessiveness lashing through me. Ark? FuckingArk?Only I got to call him that. He wasmywraith,mymate!
"That's enough," Arkan said, but nowhere near firmly enough. I shot him a betrayed look, and he quickly explained, "Bel is Taj's cousin, and I grew up with her around. She's practically my little sister."
"You wish I was your little sister," Bel retorted, finally releasing me. I was gratified to see she had to spit out bright strands of my hair, too.8"Your sister's a serious—acquired taste," she said, very obviously changing her description at the last minute when Arkan gave her a chilly stare.
Ark skimmed his knuckles down my cheek and tucked me back into his side while I processed the fact Jezebel—theJezebel—didn't want to steal my mate, but had grown up with him. I wish I'd known what it was like to have a sibling. Walsh didn't count, and not just because we fumbled around when we were teenagers. He was a piece of work, piece of shit, and every otherpiecephrase.
"So," I said to Bel, jumping at a roar of voices when Hell's Fanciest Circle did something impressive. Losers. "You don't want to fuck my mate."
Bel's whole face scrunched up, her gold-brown eyes pinched with disgust. "Hard pass. No,hardsounds gross. Regular pass. A nice, platonic, non-yucky pass."
"You're making it worse," Arkan remarked.
"Can we just…" I blurted, flapping my hands, reaching the end of my patience. "You. Explain why there's a fancy army on my front lawn."
Bel gave me a look like I was crazy. "Because half our guards were wiped out by a homicidal maniac, and no one knows when that maniac will come back for the rest of us."
Right. Shit.
I exhaled hard, weakness making me slump.
"And we need all the backup we can get," Bel went on. "So I've been calling in everyone who owes a favour to Uncle Devil and building as big an army as possible. Eidolon won't catch us off guard again."
Uncle Devil…? That was … yeah. Wow.
But I blinked in surprise at the viciousness in her voice, Arkan's words coming back to me. She was Taj's cousin—which probably meant she was Koa's sister. My kidnapper killed her brother. She should rightly hate me.
"Ark told you everything that happened in the throne room, right?" I asked, exhaustion pressing on me.9
Bel nodded, her brown eyes gleaming with rage and revenge. If I'd been able to feel a single Emotion™ I might have liked the woman, even if her classy, figure hugging dresses, killer makeup, and perfectly straight hair set us worlds apart. As it was, I was using all my energy to not pass out. Probably because anxiety made it hard to breathe. Makeup and styling my hair wassonot on the menu right now.
"Good," I breathed. "Find someone to search for the infernal relics. We need to find them before Eidolon does or he'll—"
Or he'll what? He already killed X.
I bit the inside of my lip hard, clinging by a thread.
"She knows what's at stake," Arkan said gently, his eyes on me and worry wrapping around my soul.
He and Bel exchanged a significant look, and a thread of urgency rocked my soul from him.
"What?" I narrowed my eyes when Arkan said nothing, wiping away a sneaky tear. "Tell me."
He cupped my cheek, his hand warm against my skin, and murmured, "I can't, princess. Not when I can feel the pain torturing you inside. I can't make that worse. Let me handle this."
I sighed, leaning into the touch. "As long as it doesn't take you away from me—fine."
His pale blue eyes flickered.
Great, it would take him away from me.
I clenched my jaw. "Just tell me. Fuck this pain; I want to know, and I want to knownow,Arkan."
Bel murmured, "I think I love you," but didn't otherwise interrupt us.
Ark's pale throat bobbed, and it was so rare to see a sign of his discomfort that I squeezed his hand and managed my panic.
"There's a storm moving from the west towards the black armoury. It's magical in origin, and according to reports it's a sickly sheen of green. There's a day, max, before it reaches the armoury. Just long enough for someone with the ability to travel fast to get in and out."
