Page 77 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

The fact that Kylo had so much as kissed someone else before me pissed me the fuck off. I didn’t care if he was eighty yearsolder than me. He should’ve known I was coming and waited like a godsdamned gentleman.

Kylo laughed again, and with a frustrated snap of my fingers I forced that thing to stop its whorish vibrations. Its purpose had become excruciatingly self-explanatory.

Even as I wiggled and pretended to swat him away, Kylo pulled me close. “See? If I’d had an annoying girlfriend when you’d met me, you would’ve killed her too. We’re the same, baby. That’s why we’re written in the stars.”

My glare broke, and Kylo’s hand found my rapidly beating heart.

“Don’t pretend your little pussy isn’t intrigued by the idea of me tying you to a chair like that and forcing you to come over and over until you’re screaming and begging for me to make it stop…”

I forgot it all—why we were here, the mortals and vampires in the surrounding rooms, the impending war. My thighs shifted together; my breath hitched. Kylo’s hand didn’t move from my heart. In turn, I placed my hand on his.

I cleared my throat. “Like I said. Yourcreative juicesare fine.” I wrinkled my nose. “Also, I really don’t want us to keep saying the wordjuices.”

“Fair.” Kylo took a step back as he chuckled. “Come on, break over.”

I hated the absence of his warmth, so I was quick to loop my arm through his.

“Good girl, baby. Stay close,” he whispered.

My stomach fluttered. As we moved closer to the site of such an unspeakable horror, our humor and lust dried up completely.

The expression on Kylo’s lips alternated from overwhelming emotion to the unshakable stoicism of a clan leader. I held onto him through it all.

“You don’t have to go in with me,” I told him. I didn’t want to force him to relive something so awful.

Now that we were alone in the private hallway in the back of the dungeon, Kylo dropped his mask, and I followed suit. His brows were drawn incredulously, as if my offer was incomprehensible.

“I just?—”

“Hush, angel,” he said softly. “We face the darkness together. Always.”

My hand found his again. We stepped into the cursed room. A chill crawled down my spine. The air was noticeably colder, and though the room had been cleaned, and a month had passed, the scent of death lingered.

I held my breath as if that might help the barrage of etheric input slamming into my heightened witchy senses. Kylo noticed I’d come to a dead stop. He swallowed, exuding strength for me as his deep blue eyes bled grief.

“You okay?”

I nodded. I’d be strong for him, too.

I forced air into my lungs, inhaling slowly and deeply. The witch lights were dim, and I commanded them to brighten for us. My feet carried me to the wall from which Princeton had been crucified.

A warning blast of magick slammed into me the moment my fingers touched the still-stained wallpaper. I gasped as I skidded back, arms flailing for balance. Kylo caught me as the wind settled.

My wrathful indignation was suddenly stronger than my fear. I shrugged off my pink leather backpack and grabbed my blessed jar of salt. Teeth grinding together, nerves pulsing with the strength of someone else’s magick, I salted the doorway first. I gently nudged Kylo into the center of the room, pleased by his wordless compliance.

I sprinkled a circle around us. I lit a bundle of protective, cleansing herbs, letting the smoke disperse through the room.

When I sat, Kylo sat, watching me work as if he were a protective, devoted sentinel.

The energy was lighter, my clarity renewed. I stared at the wall with a curled lip.

“Reveal yourself,” I commanded, my voice the harsh crack of a whip.

A ghostly mist seeped from the floor. Kylo combed through my hair.

In the next blink, the mist shot forward in silky tendrils, bouncing off our protective circle with a high-pitched screech. I flinched, the back of my head thumping against Kylo’s chest.

“Excellent foresight, baby,” he said.