Page 159 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

“Kiss them.”

The words rooted deep inside me, blending with the intensity of power and emotion engulfing us.

I bent forward and kissed each of Kylo’s boots. My lips became soft and malleable against leather.

Kylo released a sigh as he stepped out of his shoes. He finally touched me, tangling his hand in my hair and pulling me up to stare into his deep pools of blue. Staring into his eyes felt cosmic, eternal. Like two halves who were always meant to return to wholeness.

“I won’t declare war over his disgusting violation. I will wait to artfully torture him to the point of insanity and watch the life drain from his eyes. I will do what is best for you and what is best for the clan.”

Now it was my turn to release a breath.

“But you are not to return to him,” he growled. “Do you understand me, angel? Never. Again.”

50

EVIE

He was using his Dom voice as a weapon. I wanted to lean in, to nod my head and melt into his chest and feel his hands running through my hair. I wanted his praise so badly that I felt real hatred for the part of me that had become so strong.

The part of me that knew it wasn’t right of Kylo to make this order. And it wouldn’t be right of me to blindly follow it.

“It’s done,” he hissed. “We have what we need, and Iamproud of you for getting us a name we can use. The born can investigate for more proof themselves. It will have to be enough. It’s not worth the risk anymore.”

I hadn’t affirmed him. Kylo pinned me with a look that was unquestionable. The angles of his face appeared sharper, the size of him more imposing. The secret collar around my neck felt tighter than before.

I saw a vision of mirrors. Juliette, Aster, the sickness of their bond. I wanted to shut my eyes tight.

We weren’t them.

Juliette was the unhealed version of what I might’ve become.

“Do you hear me, angel?” Kylo asked, a balance of gentleness and authority. “It’sdone.”

I forced the words out of my mouth. “But I have something in motion to lure Juliette away. I can be quick?—”

“Evie, it is my duty to protect you. My intuition is never wrong, and I know in my bones that if you return to that place, he will not let you come back,” Kylo said, holding my face in his strong hands.

“That’s not an intuition. That’s a fear.”

Kylo frowned deeply. “I have never once questioned your instincts, Evie.”

No, he hadn’t. Kylo always took me seriously, even when so many others had cast doubts or told me I worried too much or found excess meaning in the fabric of reality. He believed in me even when no one else was capable of it.

“I have no way to communicate with Juliette outside of seeing her in person. I’m so close to something huge. With all of them. With Aster. And even with Conrad, who warmed up to me?—”

Kylo retracted his touch and turned away from me. I could feel his rage like a red, scalding fire close to my face.

“Damnit, Evie,” he cursed. It was as though he were struggling not to raise his voice or perhaps not destroy the wall he was now facing. “You are talking about a man who forcibly impregnated a woman and abused her for years. And another man who calls that abuser hisfriend. These demons want to do the same thing toyou. Please tell me you see that.”

He whipped around on me, shadows pulsing and eyes dilated.

“After we slaughtered the born who’d infested a human family’s restaurant, we smelled mortal blood below. Do you know what we found in the basement?”

I shuddered to guess. Dread pooled in my stomach as I waited for another brutal truth.

“Trafficked mortals, some of them teenagers. They were in sexual bondage, in various states of nudity—all to make them as appealing of a meal as possible. One of them was nearly dead, strapped to an altar where she’d been fed from and tortured and left to die. I carried her to a care center as she fought to stay alive.”

Nausea was swift. My heart hammered as my face fell.