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Naia opened her mouth to respond when Ronin strode into the room. His presence alone had her lips parting and the breath leaving her mouth in relief, followed by a twinge of warmth seeping from her heart into her stomach. As if the mere sight of him brought her internal happiness.
Theon pocketed his phone and fixed Naia with a thin look.
Ronin claimed a seat on the arm of the couch beside Avi, his posture rigid, analyzing her for a long second. It infuriated her how his eyes sweeping over her stirred a reaction in her bloodstream.
He had discarded his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his black button-up. Splotches of her blood marred the once pristine fabric. She frowned. His arms must’ve been covered in it after her encounter with Malik.
After he poisoned her and her siblings with his blood.
Naia met his piercing stare with a firmness set in her jaw. “Whose office are we in?”
She knew, but she needed to hear it from him.
“Mine.” His voice was as tense as his shoulders.
She scoffed, another round of betrayal and violation stinging her insides. “The Blood Heretics. You are their leader.”
She didn’t want to connect Ronin to what she’d heard in the lounge or the stranger’s terrifying accusation. The ghastly, tortured cries. Victims dismembered. Murdered. The organization of witches, led by the man who had taken her in, was responsible for it all. Moreover, he was a member of an ancient witch clan known for their blood’s ability to slay deities.
“And you’re Finnian’s sister,” he shot back, a bit of his nonchalant demeanor chipping away. “A goddess.”
You are so foolish for ever worrying about his life when he had the power to end yours all this time. She’d made a home in his hand, waiting to be crushed like a bug.
We despise gods, he once told her.
“Why not kill me? You had the chance many times,” she seethed, furious with her own bad luck and the ill-fate brought onto her by the High Goddess of Fate.
Ronin stared at Naia for a long moment.
“Theon,” he said without looking away from her. “Avi. Get out.”
Both exchanged apprehensive glances, but they didn’t argue with his demand.
Theon was the first to exit. Naia’s eyes narrowed on him, at the way he carried himself. With each step, he glided effortlessly, his feet barely making a sound.
Avi cast an apologetic look at Naia before he followed Theon.
Ronin’s intense stare made her skin tingle and blood boil with anger.
The moment they were alone, she shot off the couch, balling her hands at her sides. “Does your generosity sail on without a care for your life? Do you realize what you have done? Why didn’t you leave me on that beach? You are going to die for this!”
Her words were not what she expected, leaving her perplexed and mortified with herself. Even with all her knowledge of him, why did she still deeply care about his life?
Perhaps it was the idea of how he did not think twice about jumping in and defending her.
Ronin leaned forward on his knee, pieces of hair slipping down around his face as he did so.
“No, I’m not,” his voice was irritatingly calm.
“Your clan was massacred centuries ago for what your blood could do! The gods think your clan is dead. Now that my siblings are aware of your identity, they will inform our heinous mother. I have lived several lifetimes, but you have yet to live even one. I was not worth your sacrifice.”
“The gods tried to wipe out my clan hundreds of years ago, but they didn’t succeed. Me, Yuki, and Akane are living proof.”
The blood drained from Naia’s face.
She’d forgotten about them, back on the island. What would happen to his sister and niece now? What dangers would they face for simply existing?
Oh gods.
