Page 72 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

Our inner circle needed to know these facts. Even if my tattoos burned at the mention of Lord Aster’s role.

Evie released a breath. “Now, Aster knows not only that I’m alive but also that I’m responsible for what happened in Isolde all those years ago.”

Harmony regarded Evie with shock and with tender compassion, and Blade’s eyes softened as his own tattoos trembled with rage.

Phineas was the only person in the room who remained entirely unchanged. He was a brutal beast, but he was also the most effective and invaluable eye in the clan.

“I would say something was missing here, but that would be an understatement,” he said curtly. Then he merely closed his mouth and looked away, as if he was done with this conversation and refused to elaborate more.

Temperamental, ornery creature. I sighed. “Well, that was helpful as always, Phineas. Anyway,” I said, earning a snicker from Blade. “We’ll turn every qualified recruit in the queue this new moon. We’ll send them through basic training, which will overlap with our grand unmasking. We will finalize plans, continue gathering supplies, countering propaganda, and bolstering alliances. Born will be systematically captured or slaughtered as we gather as much intel as possible on the lords and their motivations, tactics, and weaknesses. In two months, we will rise and take Etherdale. And Earle will officially declare war.”

Evie’s heart was hammering now, but she didn’t protest. No one did. I kept my voice level, strong, unfazed. Even if my perfectionist brain was already parsing through my master plan and fine-tuning variables.

Too many wheels were spinning at once as I analyzed. Phineas’s words had dug under my skin, worsened by Evie’s bold declaration that she would find the witch who can turn water into blood and destroy a building in a matter of seconds.

This was most likely the same witch who carved Princeton’s eyes from his skull, impaled each of his limbs, and sliced his mouth into a demented smile.

My spine tensed as I considered that this same witch had taunted Evie and called her eyesbeautiful.

“Ow, Kylo,” Evie gasped.

She squirmed in my arms, and I immediately released my bruising grip on her. I hadn’t realized how tight it had become.

“Sorry, baby,” I murmured close to her ear. “I got cute aggression and forgot my own strength.”

She glared up at me, an unconvinced brow lifted as her lips curved.

I was still getting used to Evie’s acceptance, and even thirst for, violence and war. The darkness in her soul had overtaken the fear in her blood, and it was a mesmerizing transformation to behold.

Blade and the men at the other end of the table were discussing the finer details of our presence on campus.

Harmony put her chin in her hands as she noticed Evie and I staring at each other. “You two are so adorable! Myheart!”

Phineas rolled his eyes violently before slipping beneath a shadow glamour and leaving the table. As we watched the door open and slam shut seemingly on its own, Evie broke into a fit of giggles.

She turned back to an equally amused Harmony. “Maybe that’s his problem. Phineas needs a lover.”

Blade snorted, and the rest of the table paused to share in the moment of comedic reprieve.

Harmony nodded. “You’re absolutely right. But what’s he into? Any guesses?”

“Oh, that man is a sub if I’ve ever seen one,” Lachlan drawled with a charming, easy grin.

This drew a bark of laughter from my own lips. “Agreed. He needs a Domme scarier than he is to finally get that overburdened mind to chill the fuck out.”

“Full gimp suit,” Harmony said. “Plus a human furniture kink. That’s my final answer.” She lifted her hands up and sat back in her seat.

“No, no, no.” Brooks shook his head. “He’s a repressed Daddy Dom. All bark and no bite. Underneath all that rage and melancholy is a big teddy bear who just wants to love and be loved.”

The entire room was silent for one beat before erupting in howls and guffaws.

“Princeton wouldlovethis conversation,” Blade said through fits of laughter.

Evie smiled. At all the kink talk, her cheeks were adorably rosy. “He does.”

The use of present tense made my stomach flip and my face soften. For a moment, the grief in the room was light and connective, something we all carried together. Smiles didn’t drop at the mention of our maker; they only widened.

“To Princeton,” Lachlan said, lifting a chalice of blood.