Page 60 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

“You charged me first,” Evie snapped. She kept her outstretched arm steady as she flipped it over.

Evie’s clan tattoo broke through her glamour for a few brief seconds before she lowered her arm. Claudette swallowed.

“We were doing what we were trained to do,” the brunette said.

She was relatively new, and her name escaped me.

“It seemed like the right call after a natural disaster rotted hundreds of people alive,” Claudette added. “But we didn’t know the context, we didn’t know?—”

“That this was Princeton’s successor and my partner?” I whispered harshly. The entire clan knew who Evie was.

Both gazes fell back to the ground. Rage rippled through me, and Evie looked relieved I was standing up for her.

Which irritated me even more. Of course, I trusted Evie’s word. She didn’t deserve to be treated this way by those who were supposed to be on her side.

“I’m sorry, K?—”

A shrill, surprised laugh broke through the air.

“Born,” Claudette hissed.

I moved in front of Evie instinctively, and my comrades flanked me. Though we were masked, Evie was not. I fought the urge to curse. To onlookers, she was a random mortal. To the born, they might’ve even mistaken her for a human, given her alluring, human-scented blood.

Still, it was safest for Evie to only be spotted with us when she was glamoured. Or when we appeared as humans.

Soon none of this would fucking matter.

The whole realm would know my name.

I made a mental note to ensure Claudette and the brunette faced consequences for how they’d treated Evie. A reprimand wasn’t nearly enough of a punishment. But for now, I shoved that wrath aside.

A group of five born kept their distance, watching us from afar. The three in front were clearly guards, dressed in wine red, and the two behind…

Evie made a strange, strangled noise from behind me.

“No,” she breathed.

Her heart hammered fast and hard like a rabbit on the run from a wolf.

My own chest clenched when I recognized one of the men obscured by his guards. Lord fucking Conrad.

But that wasn’t who stepped forward. The man who stepped forward was grinning wide as his nostrils flared and pupilsdilated. His flashy, archaic clothing oozed wealth the same as the lord next to him.

He stared forward, lips parting in shocked glee. “It really is you.”

Who was he talking to? He was almost looking at me, but not quite.

“You’re alive.”

I fought the urge to glance back at Evie, who was clearly struggling for air. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the enemy.

The born elite threw his head back in pure delight. His amber eyes were nearly red, a contrast to the cool blond of his hair. He looked like an arrogant politician, oozing charisma that was rare to born scum.

I shoved my confusion to the side as I plotted out what was about to happen. Could I take them out? How many more born had gathered nearby, waiting for us to make that attempt?

We weren’t ready to kick off war. Everything had to happen according to plan. Or what I’d built for nearly a century would be for nothing.

No one moved. Lord Conrad smirked. The three guards were stoic. They kept their distance, tracking us with subtly exposed fangs.