Page 188 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I cried for him like a child might cry for their mother. Begging, pleading, screaming until my throat was raw.

It was as if I were being split in two, half of my soul viciously slaughtered as I lay paralyzed.

I floated further and further away from my body. I couldn’t tell if my mind was protecting me or torturing me as the visions of Kylo continued. I saw visions of him reading to me as I sat in his lap, the way he bathed me and brushed my hair with devoted tenderness, his delicious wicked streak, and his quick wit that loved to spar with mine. I sawus.

All I could see wasusas Juliette carved me open and yanked Kylo out by the roots.

59

KYLO

Something was wrong. Evie’s heart was more distressed and erratic than when Aster had tasted her blood.

The extraction team was occupying a mortal ally’s home near the Nighswander Estate, a nondescript building we entered discreetly from the back. I had a clear view of one of the towers from the upstairs window, most of the structure obscured by trees.

“What is it?” Harmony asked.

I’d gone rigid, listening to Evie’s heart through the bond.

“Shhh,” I said softly.

I waited. Was she in the process of killing Juliette? Had something gone wrong, or was she merely fulfilling her mission?

There was no evidence of blood loss or drugging. But…

I strained, trying to understand the shift that had occurred. It was as if she’d been dimmed, like the snuffing of a candle flame.

I pulled out our linked note, writing to her.

Baby, please write to me. I?—

The sound of an explosion rattled through the house. Shouts soon followed. I didn’t have time to blink before the window shattered. I ducked as a ball of fire soared into the opposite wall.

A body slammed into mine, tackling me to the floor. Heat from the fire was scalding against my face. As I stabbed my born attacker between the eyes, I watched in horror as the note I’d dropped fell directly into the leaping flames. I threw the woman off me, but it was too late to salvage the now blackened ash.

“Everyone out now!” I bellowed.

Harmony coughed, her own dagger wet with blood as a born man lay at her feet.

The building didn’t have long. We fought our way down the stairs, where more of my men were fighting born soldiers.

How the fuck had they known we’d be here? Honestly, it didn’t surprise me. Conrad and Aster were stupid in their own ways, but they had to suspect Evie might have protection lurking nearby.

They were just as tired of us hiding as we were. Everyone in the city was starving for a fucking fight.

I relished the opportunity to unleash my repressed rage. I made my kills messy, deranged. I made art from born blood and bone.

We poured out of the back exit as the building began its booming collapse. These were my top fighters—we only lost one in the fight, a woman who’d been taken by surprise during the initial ambush.

“Lucetta,” Blade said.

“Fuck.”

I shook my head, quickly scanning the buildings encasing this courtyard. “We need a new vantage point.”

One of my women wielded her water magick, forcefully sending gusts of water from the earth toward the building to stop the spread of fire.

“I hear more. They’re luring us into battle,” Blade said. “We don’t have many options here.”