Page 98 of Broken Souls

I turn my entire body, pivoting wildly, expecting the pain and wanting to transfer the energy into a spin rather than taking it all as a solid block to my jaw. But it never hits, and I complete my three-sixty to face her again, my arms up, my heart pumping. Her leg is still in the air. Perfectly held to where my head just was.

“Your hand-to-hand needs work,” she says. “I can tea–”

She ducks and dodges as I swing for her. Rapid punches that never hit. And I’m getting exhausted all too quickly, the blood Varius drank from me heavily felt in its absence. As the last of my energy starts to go, I lunge at her, no thought, no technique, just primal fury to catch her off guard.

My arms wrap around her waist as I tackle her to the ground. There is a soft tap on the back of my head right before we hit, and I know the bitch’s telling me she could’ve just ended me. But I don’t care. There’s no such thing as a dirty fight, and just because she refuses to hurt me doesn’t mean I’m going to hold back when I beat the shit out of her.

So I shuffle up her body to straddle her chest with my legs. Fisting her hair at the back of her head with one hand, I punch her in the face with the other. Blood sprays from her lips and nose, and her eye becomes swollen as she lies there and lets me hit her. But if she thinks not putting up a fight will make me stop sooner, she’s wrong. I do not care if she doesn’t fight back. Don’t care if that means I have no honor. She tried to come between me and Varius; she helped break what we could have been, and for that, I will hit her until she passes out.

The utter fuckingbitch.

But before I can give her a concussion,I’m hauled off her by two strong arms, then held against a chest I know all too well. The fact that I’m holding a huge bloody chunk of her hair and that Varius doesn’t go to see how she is pleases me a little, but then I recall how fast she heals. She’s probably already sitting up, not even nursing a bruised jaw.

“Get off me,” I snap as he carries me away.

“This isn’t good for the baby.”

“This is terrific for the baby! She’s learning what to do when some utterbitch,” I yell over his shoulder, “tries to –” I stop suddenly, swallowing down the words,get between her and her man.Varius isn’t my man. I can even smell another fucking woman on him. His dick must be soaked in it. Or did he eat her out, and it’s his godsdamn breath that I’m smelling?

“What did she do?” he demands as he climbs the stairs to the second floor.

“None of your fucking business.”

“Did she hurt you?”

“Fuck off. I’m not yours to protect anymore.”

He swings me off him and pushes my back against the wall, then lifts me up until I’m staring into his eyes. “You’ll always be mine to protect, little monster.”

And fuck, his gaze is too damn intense.

So I inhale deeply, holding the scent of another woman’s pussy in my nose.

Leaning back, he opens his office door and enters with me still in his arms. The door shuts behind us, and I bite my tongue before I can ask him what I’m doing here. I don’t want to give him anything when he still smells like a hoe.

“You stink,” I say, trying not to sound like it’s bothering me, like I’m just stating a simple fact.

He growls low, then says, “I was about to shower when I smelled your blood.”

I glance down at my hands. “It’s Sau’s.”

“I know the difference, and it’s yours.”

He sets me down on his desk, then grabs one of my hands. I try to jerk away, but he holds me firmly. Then he licks his thumb on his other hand and wipes it across one of my knuckles. Sau’s blood comes away, and beneath it is split skin.

“You couldn’t possibly smell that,” I say.

“I have enhanced senses.”

“What are you?”

“Don’t you know?” he asks softly.

My eyes narrow. “If you make me do aTwilightscene, I will beat you better than I did your mom.”

A small, humorless smile flicks at his lips. Then he drops his hand and steps back. Crossing to the door, he pushes on it to make sure it’s shut and the silence rune is activated. Then he locks the door, and my heart jumps into my throat at thatclick.

He turns slowly.