Page 78 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I nodded, my gaze still fixed on the wall in wait.

It didn’t surprise me that I was meeting resistance. It only confirmed what I already knew. And when faint outlines of sigils began to bleed from the wall—white chalky paint that only I could see—the satisfaction of being right paled in comparison to the heavy weight of dread compounding the longer I stared.

The sigils were in a formation around where each of Princeton’s limbs had been impaled. They weren’t recognizable, most likely the original creations of a chaos witch.

Still, the answer seemed obvious to me in the context of all that had occurred. The reason why this chaos witch had only recently flexed their power, the purpose of Princeton’s missing eyes and meticulously orchestrated death.

“I fucking knew it,” I hissed.

“What is it, baby?” Kylo’s exhale was shaky, but he continued to rub soothing circles on my back.

Angry tears pricked my eyes. Rage crawled up and down my spine in a familiar heat.

I leaped to my feet and screamed at the top of my lungs, arms spread wide, one hand holding a small key totem for Hekate and another holding the smoldering herb bundle.“Get the fuck out of this room!”

The mist multiplied and screeched in a final death march. My shadows broke the circle, overpowering the pale smoke and driving it back from whence it came. The room went dark for a few beats before clearing completely.

The scent of death released. The air was quiet and still. The witch lights flickered back to their warm stillness.

I was lightheaded for a moment, leaning against Kylo as I caught my breath. I slowly turned to face him.

“This was the work of a death witch, a particular brand of chaos magick,” I explained. “They’re harnessing power through ritualized murder of powerful beings. This isn’t their own power we’re witnessing. It’s stolen.”

Kylo became a mirror of my wrath, piecing together the gravity of this injustice. They’d not only taken Princeton’s life, they also had harvested from his corpse and spirit like a foul vulture.

“Maybe Lillian is involved, or other beings of the underworld. It doesn’t matter. This witch is making sacrifices and bargains with forces likely beyond their control, and Princeton catapulted them to levels they’d never been able to access before.”

“My oldest friend is dead because someone wanted enough power to play god and torment the city,” Kylo hissed. He shook his head, bleeding shadow as the floor shook. “And now his soul can’t even find peace in the afterlife, because his death is being used to attack everything he built, everything he believed in and devoted himself to.”

I watched Kylo fight his own urge to explode, lips in a disgusted sneer.

“We can spend nearly a century constructing a vast underground city, carefully assassinating born elites, rescuing and protecting mortals from the slave trade and senseless murders. Eighty years of education, resistance, community-building, and more fuckingrestraintthan anyone will ever know… But the evil we’re fighting can kill a few hundred innocents on a weekday afternoon because theyfelt like it, usingourfucking powerto do it.”

Kylo’s tattoos trembled, his fists clenched. He closed his eyes as a muscle in his jaw feathered.

“It’s a lot easier to destroy than to create,” I whispered. I reached for one of his fists, bracing against the magick that instantly rattled my bones. “What this witch is doing isn’t Princeton’s legacy. Princeton isn’t a part of them, only his death. Princeton is a part ofus.He’s lives on in this city we love and the magick in our skin and every move we will make against the born and for the good of Ravenia.”

I sensed him here with us now, a gentle hand on our shoulders, a mischievous, knowing smile.

Kylo relaxed an inch as my words washed over him.

“Feel the anger,” I said. “We’re going to use every drop.”

“Exactly what that fucker would say to me right now.” He opened his eyes. He looked down at the hand I’d unraveled from a fist to rest in mine.

I melted into his chest, and he held me tight, still racked with fury.

“I miss him so much. Like an ache that never ends,” Kylo said into my hair.

I nuzzled closer, inhaling his comforting Kylo scent. “I’m so sorry, Kylo. The ache might never fully fade, but it’ll get easier. It’ll be different. This is still so fresh. Grief is love’s shadow, and your love for Princeton was powerful.”

“I love when my adorable little monster speaks like a wise elder,” he whispered, his waves of anger and heartbreak coming to a gentle lull.

“I have my moments. Or maybe Princeton is possessing me.”

“Hewishes. That fucking pervert.”

My nose wrinkled, and I giggled. Pulling away, I stroked Kylo’s soft strands of dark hair. Those blue eyes never failed to make my stomach drop like I was falling.