Page 160 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

“The born want free rein to treat mortals as playthings. To torture, rape, and kill under the guise of religion.Thatis the world Conrad and Aster are building. Not one oforder.”

“I know that,” I said, fisting Kylo’s shirt as I steadied myself. The fabric was still slightly damp with blood. “Of course I know who Conrad and Aster are. I know what they want for me and the rest of the realm.” I searched his eyes. “Is the girl okay?”

Kylo nodded, gripping the back of my neck as he stared down at me. “She was stable when I left. She’s in good hands now.”

A shaky exhale rolled through me. “I know, Kylo. Iknow.”

“Then fightwithme,” he whispered, urgent and intense. He gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, using more of his dominance as a weapon of persuasion. “You’ve been extraordinarily brave. You’ve uncovered so much more about Conrad and Aster’s positions than we ever would’ve known without your help. And we now understand more about Juliette too. Let it be enough. We can take themtogether.”

I didn’t know what was right anymore. The visions, the competing intuitions and goals. The tangled web of connections and manipulation I’d found myself in the center of.

Kylo’s love was one of the few certainties I had.

His presence was all-consuming, drug-like in its intensity.

“Okay. Together.”

Kylo released his hold on my face and kissed my forehead. I didn’t miss the tremor that racked through his lethal form.

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

He shut his eyes. Our shadows intertwined. I sensed his hurt, his panic, his bottomless wrath. Most of all, his fear that I was capable of making him helpless to protect me.

“I know why you did it, but I feel what I feel,” he said.

“What do you feel?”

Our shadows locked tight. Over and over, I saw Kylo rehashing the expression on my face when Aster tasted my blood. The tremble of my lip, the shock of shame and fear in my eyes. It was a reconstruction of the memory he’d felt through our bond. A projection of what I might’ve looked like when I’d said the wordno.

His hand moved to my waist. “Tormented.”

“I’m sorry.” I rested my head on his chest.

“Please stop apologizing. Areyouokay, angel?” he asked, peeling me off him to assess my face. “I’m not merely upset for my sake—I’m mostly upset because you didn’t let me care for you after someone hurt you. I can’t imagine how triggering that was, and you carried it alone.”

“Oh,” I said with a frown. “I don’t want to think of it like that. As I said, it wasn’t that bad. I don’t want his behavior to ruin anything about me orus.”

Anger flashed in Kylo’s eyes. “You have to take care of yourself, too, Evie. I fucking demand it.”

My shoulders sank. “I’m fine,” I said quietly, even as tears burned my eyes.

“He hurtyou,angel. That’s the most egregious part of all of this.” Kylo shook his head. “He is incapable of ruining anything about us. And certainly nothing aboutyou.You are perfect because you were born perfect, with a soul that humbles me with its radiance and capacity for love. That will never change.”

My mind spun. I was struggling to stay grounded. “This is a lot.”

Kylo sighed, stroking my face. “It’s war.” He dropped his hand and moved away from me.

The words fell over us as he peeled off his bloody clothing, first his shirt and then his pants. I swallowed a gasp as he towered over me, rippling muscles painted with crimson. The sight of his semi-hard cock made my mouth water, one of the few parts of him without splatters of blood.

Our shadows’ whispers coalesced into a focal point of clarity.

From born blood we rise.

Kylo returned to me. His forehead touched mine. We shared the same breath, the same thirst for vengeance, the same wounds and fears. Mirrors and shadows.

“You need to feed,” I said, because I could feel it. He’d expended power on his killing spree.

“Not from you.”