Page 158 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

“His friends will calm him down. He’s going to feel what he feels, and then he needs to deal with it like the rest of us. We cannot jeopardize the realm over a piece of bloody cake.”

My stomach sank. I hoped Vesper was right about that.

“Do you want me to go with you?” she asked.

“I’ll come too,” Idris said, which wasn’t really a question.

“No. I’ll be fine. I want to talk to him alone.”

My drive togo to Kylo was beyond instinctual. It was baked into every cell of my body. Cemented there through the intensity of our love, our kinky games, the power play and a bond that brushed the cosmos. Kylo had seen all of me. My spiritual innerworld, my wounded heart, my dreams and my buried desires. Just as I’d seen all of his.

When Allie told me he’d left with Blade and Harmony, my anxiety spiked. She told me they were rescuing a cell of trafficked humans and would return shortly.

So he hadn’t gone straight to Aster. He hadn’t declared war. At least not yet.

I waited for him in his—our—home. I pulled my knees to my chest as I sat on the couch in the living room. My legs bounced. My lower lip was sore from compulsive biting.

The wordhypocritewas a mantra I couldn’t shake, replacing the one Kylo had instilled in me. The mantra ofI’m not sorry.

Because tonight, I was absolutely fucking sorry. At least, that was how I felt. But honestly, Vesper’s assessment was more aligned with the truth than my current state of shame. I hadn’t wanted to lie to Kylo. I didn’t do it out of selfishness or even to protect him. I did it for everyone else.

That logic fell away the moment Kylo stepped through the front door. I was a wound that bled, desperate to earn back his love.

My feet took me to the foyer. Kylo’s form was rigid, his eyes burning into me with intensity. Everything about him made me want to fall to my knees.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” he said. “And for squeezing your throat—that was not intentional, and I’m deeply ashamed of losing control. I wouldneverconsciously hurt you out of anger.”

“I know,” I said.

“I don’t want to admit this,” he said softly. A muscle feathered in his jaw. His dark blue sleeves were rolled up, revealing his many sigil tattoos. Veins in his forearms pulsed. “But I sensed true bloodlust taking over in a way I haven’t felt in eighty years. It wasn’t just a small slip. I was on the very edge. If I had lost complete control, I would’ve killed you.”

That was why he had yelled at me to get away. Not because he couldn’t look at me anymore.

I stared at his feet. “I’m sorry for hurting you. I withheld information for the sake of our clan,” I said. “I didn’t want to be dishonest with you. It was tearing me up inside. But you told me what would happen if Aster hurt me, and it didn’t feel like enough trauma to justify triggering a war we aren’t ready for. The Serpent Clan will be here in a few weeks. I don’t care if you’re the one who kills Aster, but please Kylo, don’t put anyone in danger because of me.”

“Not enough trauma,” Kylo scoffed with a dry laugh.

I raked my gaze from his eyes down to his boots again. My body moved beyond my conscious awareness. I sank to my knees before his rigid form. When I began to untie his laces, I heard the faintest hitch of his breath.

“Evie, what are you doing?”

“Being submissive and adorable because I love you and I’m sorry,” I said.

Kylo’s next chuckle was less cold, even as I felt his power rattle the air around us.

I paused. My eyes moved back up his form. “You’re covered in blood.” In my heightened emotions, my brain had skipped right over it.

“I may have gone on a born killing spree,” he said, voice gravelly as he stared down at me.

“You didn’t answer my apology speech.”

Kylo moved his glare forward, keeping his hands at his side. I was so used to him touching me that the absence of it was like a slap.

The choked feeling was worse than ever. I diligently finished unlacing his scary combat boots, waiting for his next words.

“I love you too, angel. Like I’ve said on numerous occasions, I love you so much that it should terrify the entire world.”

The words soothed me, even if he still hadn’t answered my desperate plea.