Page 87 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

I couldn’t make out the hushed voices from the front door. But everyone could sense the resounding rumble of power through the space.

When Kylo returned, his eyes were pure wrath, his lips in a deep frown. In his hands, a white envelope with a golden wax stamp.

He hesitated before lifting it into the air, revealing the elegant black script on the front. The script that was addressed tome.

“It was delivered to Mena’s address,” Kylo said.

“Who is it from?” I asked, my heart pounding.

The seal had already been broken. Kylo made no move to hand me the letter, even as I stared at him expectantly.

Shadows circled his feet, one of them crawling across the floor to wrap around a chair leg.

All I could envision was the letter that had been left at Idris’s apartment, the one that told me the born had taken Idris. At the first haunting vision of Idris’s corpse, my breathing became shallower. I calmed myself by looking at Idris now, alive.

“Enough with the suspense, gods,” Idris said, holding my gaze.

The ground trembled, and still Kylo refused to pass the letter to me.

He placed the envelope on the table and sat back down. “If I read it aloud, I’m quite certain I will pull an Evie and accidentally kill all of you,” he said dryly.

“Hey,” I said, glaring at him. I did not like his use ofpulling an Evie.

Kylo was past the point of humor. His shadow was curled around my ankle now.

My hand was unsteady as I pulled the letter from its envelope.

I scanned the note in record speed as the whole table stared at me in wait.

Evelynn,

From the moment I learned you might be alive, I have been plagued by thoughts of you. Your beauty, your mysteries, your feisty spirit. Your dark appetites may ward off weaker suitors, but rest assured your promised husband does not scare easily. I yearn to know you. I request your presence for dinner at the Nighswander Estate this Wednesday evening. You will not be harmed, and you will be free to leave as you wish. You have my solemn word. Allow me to show you the truth of Lillian’s chosen and your lavish destiny, my dearest lost bride.

Oh, and no plus ones.

With warmth and intrigue,

Lord Aster

Nausea sickened my gut, a mix of rage and panic burning through my blood. It was hard to think, my brain moving swiftly into fight-or-flight.

“That’s tomorrow,” I heard myself say. It felt like I was suddenly floating above the table, no longer a part of my own body.

“It doesn’t matter what fucking day it is,” Kylo growled.

“Will someonepleasefill in the rest of us?” Idris snapped.

I locked eyes with my brother as our shared trauma rose from the grave. The color drained from his face. He rose from the table and snatched the letter from my hands.

After scanning the words, he tossed it back down for Blade and Harmony to read next. Idris sank into his chair. My hands trembled, rested in my lap as I wrestled with my mind to stay sharp and clear.

Kylo pulled my hand into his. “I’m sorry for raising my voice,” he said softly. “Look at me please, angel.”

I met his fierce blue eyes. His face was calm now, steady. An anchor to reach for in the eye of a storm.

“You’re safe,” he said. “And that isn’t changing.”

“He can go fuck himself,” Idris bit out. “I wish he’d been rotted away with the rest of them.”