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Takeshi’s words played back to her as his fists colored themselves in red.

She visualized him as a child.

Drawing pictures with his mother. Smiling at her with those innocently beautiful black eyes. Watching the person he loved most disappear and being forced to guard a deadly prison.

That inherent need to protect had morphed into something unforgiving, and it was laid bare for everyone to witness and judge.

As splashes of red streaked across his face, she realized one brutal truth.

It wasn’t Takeshi’s fault for how he adapted to a brutal life he never chose.

Apollo stole his passions. Khalani refused to let this cruel world take away anything else.

“Takeshi.” She stepped into the circle, drawing multiple eyes. His fist froze midair at the sound of her voice, and he turned his head.

In that moment, she barely recognized him. Drops of someone else’s blood splayed across his face like war paint. His teeth were clenched like some wild animal she read about as a little girl.

A scared part of her wanted to let his demons take over and forget the dangerous Captain entirely.

But no matter how much they fought, or resented one another, Takeshi never ceased to protect her in the most visceral way possible.

Ruining himself so she wouldn’t have to.

Khalani lifted her head, anchoring her feet to the ground, refusing to walk away.

“Takeshi,” she said louder. “Let them go.”

“They hurt you,” he rasped. His grip around the man’s uniform tightened, ready to continue the onslaught. It was clearin his mind that their mere involvement in Khalani’s suffering warranted death.

“Yes. And they’ve learned their lesson. Please stop.”

Please come back to me…

Those words hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them to the deepest pits of her heart.

Takeshi hesitated, teeth clenched, like thelastthing he wanted to do was stop. But he didn’t break away from her unrelenting gaze.

She stared right back, letting him witness her belief that Takeshi was stronger than the deaths that forged him.

Just like her.

Takeshi inhaled sharply, rising to his full height as he slowly backed away from the two men on the ground. She sighed in relief when he moved toward her, but he paused, looking around at the crowd of prisoners, seeming to make eye contact with each one.

“Those two are alive for one reason, and that’s her.” His strong voice lifted across the circle as he pointed at Khalani, and even she held still at the force beneath it. “If anyone so much aslooksin her direction the wrong way, you’ll resent your mother for giving birth to you.”

The tension in the air thickened, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly, the high-pitched alarm pierced the air, and everyone flinched. At first, no one moved as they stared back at Takeshi with wide eyes and pale faces, but they slowly began to disperse.

A few prisoners helped drag the unconscious man away. The man with a broken arm quickly stood, practically running as tears streaked down his red face.

The sight shouldn’t have brought her satisfaction, but it did.

Takeshi stayed still as everyone moved around them, and no one dared to look in her direction.

She bit her lip, shifting on her feet at the renewed friction.

“Takeshi…I—”