Page 20 of Contract Marked (Interdimensional Beings #1)
Chapter Twenty
Cal
I was seconds away from snapping. My usual calm and collected self, unraveled by some Lower Realms’ being.
The arena had transformed into a pit of chaos. Tatianna’s face took on a venomous expression, her eyes narrowing, sharp teeth barring much like the snake coiled around her body. She barked orders at the guards who entered the private box. At one point, she snapped at me to do something about the Lower Realms’ beings escaping. Had dared to order me, until I cast her a deadly look that had her reeling back and storming out.
Onlookers stirred, a hum of voices and roars gradually growing in strength as the two Lower Realms’ beings fled the arena. I stood, hands folded behind my back, as my gaze roved over the splatters of blood decorating the dirt ground, over to the three-headed beast that resembled a clotted mess of flesh and blood against the arena wall, before finally landing on the fleeing Lower Realms’ beings, highlighted by the spotlights.
“If that stupid girl had gotten herself killed …” I cursed under my breath. She couldn’t die here. Not yet. Dez needed to be the one to dirty his hands with her blood, to watch the life drain from her. To bring him back to reality, back to his former self, and away from the reclusive fantasy he had been living in for far too long.
Erin and the other girl had disappeared into the woods, and I had no way of knowing if they made it. I frowned, remembering the enticing way Erin’s dress had hugged her curves, the slit extending up her thigh where I had craved to slide a hand up and feel her squirm beneath me. Her feet had been covered in dirt, her heels long gone, but she hadn’t cared. Her wrists had been rubbed raw, the tender flesh pink with dried blood, and unexpected anger had uncoiled within me. That another had left their marks on her before I could. That I had missed the pain breaking across her face as she struggled, her pupils dilating in fear as tears welled in her eyes. The same eyes that shone with determination as she outsmarted Tatianna to save her friend.
The Council arrived, an embodiment of the beings of The Higher Realms, with no physical body when working together but their presence unmistakable. They appeared in a chorus of voices echoing throughout the dimension as rainbows streaked the skies, slithering down and around the arena in a kaleidoscope of colors. A heavy pressure blanketed me and the crowd, freezing everyone in place.
Orders from the Council entered my mind, demanding an account of what happened. Before I answered their call and appeared at the center of the arena, where Tatianna stood seething with rage, I reached out to Naito. Sensing his presence nearby in the swarming crowd, I telepathically slid instructions for him to follow Erin. To make sure she was safe.
I shouldn’t care if she lived or died, but I did. I told myself it was because of our pre-existing contract, that Dez had to be the one to kill her, but I’ve been alive long enough to know when I was lying to myself.
The question is: If she lives through this, will I still let Dez kill her?