Page 102 of A Fate in Flames

“Don’t you think I deserve to finish what I started?”he growled.His thumb traced patterns against my skin, slowly inching higher up my forearm, each circle bringing him closer to the inside of my elbow.“Let me show you things you could never imagine.Make you forget your own name while you’re screaming mine.”

“Bold of you to assume I’d make any sound at all for you,” I countered, moving in closer.“What makes you think you could handle me?”

His eyes darkened to black pits.“Only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

Azmik erupted from my hair in a blur of motion, his body stretching to twice its normal length as he struck, a living whip of flame that split the air with an audible crack.

Jaruun recoiled, screaming—his chair scraping against the floor and hands raised defensively in front of his face.His complexion had drained of colour, skin ashen against the darkness of his beard.

It seemed Azmik didn’t like anyone touching me either.

Just my luck.

“Are you okay?”I asked, feigning concern.Though I couldn’t help but want to smile at how quickly his confidence had evaporated.

“He clearly do—” Jaruun’s words died in his throat, his eyes shooting up over my head before he quickly dipped his head.I didn’t need to turn around to know what that meant.I could feel Dalkhan’s overbearing presence behind me.

I couldn’t catch a fucking break.

Mira scrambled from her seat beside me, her cup toppling over and spilling wine across the table.She shot me a desperate ‘please don’t kill me look’ as she moved to another seat on the other side of Jasila, making room for Dalkhan.

Dalkhan slid into the seat like it was his rightful place, close enough that his thigh pressed against mine.I shifted away, but the movement only seemed to encourage him to follow, until we were once again connected from hip to knee.

“Am I interrupting?”His voice was deceptively soft, but the threat underlying each syllable was unmistakable.

“Yes,actually,” I replied, surprising myself with my recklessness.“Jaruun was just telling me how he planned to make me scream his name.”

Everyone around us stumbled back into their conversations, pretending he wasn’t there.Voices pitched higher with fear, fingers tapped nervously against cups.The forced normalcy was almost comedic in its desperation.The power he commanded without uttering single word hung in the air like a storm cloud.

“Is that so?”Dalkhan’s voice dropped an octave, each word dripping with venom as his eyes locked onto Jaruun.

“Merely idle conversation,” Jaruun said with forced casualness, but a muscle in his jaw jumped erratically and sweat beaded at his temples.

“It sounds more like a death wish to me,” Dalkhan said, his smile showing too many teeth.He rested his hand on the table, fingers drumming once, twice, three times—a countdown.

Azmik slithered back up my arm, his body rippling with smug satisfaction as he placed his head against my chest.His fiery tongue darted out before he shut his eyes, falling back asleep against the comfort of my now pounding heart.

Jaruun’s eyes were fixed on us, a toxic mix of lust and frustration distorting his handsome features.He pushed back his chair and sauntered off, annoyance clear in every shift of his body from the set of his shoulders to the tight fists at his sides.

This was the second time Dalkhan had interrupted him.

I waited until Jaruun was out of earshot before speaking.

“Why did you do that?”I hissed.My hands were clenched in my lap to stop from shaking.

He leaned closer.“Do what, little flame?”

His breath caressed my ear.I tried to suppress the shiver that ran through me.His eyes were fixed on my lips, tracing their shape.The urge to wet them with my tongue was overwhelming, but I bit the inside of my cheek instead.

“Why did you sit here?”I asked.“Why do you insist on ruining any chance I have to—” I shut my mouth, swallowing the rest of my sentence.

Shut up, shut up.

His jaw clenched, the muscle jumping beneath his skin.He raked his fingers through his beard in a rough drag.

“He touched you.”The words came out as a growl, rumbling from deep in his chest.

“And so what if he did?”I challenged, turning to face him directly.The movement brought our faces dangerously close.My anger surged.“Why do you care?Is it to annoy me, torment me?Why?”