Page 70 of Inked & Bloodbound
23
CASSINI
The sight of her crumpled against the filthy bathroom wall, unconscious and bruised, sends something feral clawing up from the depths of my chest. I should have sensed her distress sooner—should have been here before this piece of shit even breathed in her direction. She asked for space, but that’s not the reason it took so long. My abilities are dulling, weakening faster than ever, and now she’s paid the price for my negligence.
The bathroom reeks of stale beer and piss, but all I can smell is her fear lingering in the air like smoke. The music from the main bar might as well be on another planet. All I can hear is the rush of blood in my ears and this bastard’s pathetic whimpering as he tries to back away.
Not a fucking chance.
A guttural noise rips through me, my hands clamped on his throat, crushing until sinew and cartilage grind under my palms. Each ragged breath he manages drives my fingers deeper, tightening around his windpipe like a boa constrictor tasting the panic of its prey.
I bare my fangs and lean close enough to see every single one of his sweat-soaked pores, my voice a growl against his skin.
“You will not touch what is mine.”
His feet scrabble uselessly, dangling above the ground as I haul him up by his throat. His bloodshot eyes bulge with terror, silently begging as his mouth works like a caught fish—lips forming desperate shapes that produce nothing but a wet, pathetic rasp.
“You feel that?” I hiss, my voice barely above a whisper. “That’s centuries of power coursing through these fingers. You’re nothing but a leech to someone with my bloodline. A pathetic little pest buzzing for scraps. I could crush you to dust if I wanted to.”
His hands flutter frantically against my forearms, nails scraping uselessly at granite-hard muscle as he tries to pry himself free. It’s like watching a church mouse try to topple a cathedral.
Newbloods. They’re always so overconfident.
When his bony fingers scrape against my bicep, searching for something to grab, I snatch his wrist and wrench it backward until his knuckles kiss his forearm. The wet snap of bone echoes through the corridor like a gunshot, followed by his breathless shriek of agony.
He whimpers pathetically, but it just makes me push harder.
“You like it, don’t you?” I snarl, my words dripping out slowly like molasses. “The fear in their eyes. The pain on their faces. Tell me something. How does it feel to be the prey for once?”
His pulse hammers against my palm like a caged bird. I can smell his sweat, his desperation, the sour stench of a predator suddenly stripped of all power.
“You’ve spent so long hunting the vulnerable,” I continue, “but you forgot something crucial—there are always bigger monsters.”
Cass…stop
“Lucky for you, I’m feeling generous tonight. So here’s what’s going to happen,” I hiss. “You’re going to crawl out of here and never come within a hundred miles of her. You’re going to spread the word that she’s under my protection. She is not to be touched. And if I ever—ever—see you near her again, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of eternity learning whatrealpain feels like. I will bind you in silver and put you in a place where no one will ever find you. Trust me.Lay a finger on her again, and I’ll have you begging for the final death.”
I release him, and he drops to the floor, coughing and clutching his throat. Smart enough not to retaliate, at least.
“I-I didn’t know she belonged to anyone,” he stammers. His expression is shell-shocked and vacant, and his voice carries only pure, unbridled terror. “I’m s-sorry.”
If Lily were not right there, I would have torn his spine out of his body, but something stopped me. The idea that she’d see me like that and see what I was truly capable of was too much.
Cass, please…
He scrambles away without another word, leaving me alone with Lily in the bathroom. When I turn to see her collapsed body, I soften immediately.
“My darling, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I crouch to comfort her, but her tear-streaked face twists the knife in my chest.
When I reach out to touch her, she flinches—and the last traces of red mist clear in an instant.
I’ve terrified her. She’s looking up at me with those bottomless eyes, blinking away a steady stream of tears. Her whole body shaking like she’s afraid to be alone with me, like she’s already questioning every choice that brought her here.
“Amore,” I breathe, pulling her to my chest slowly like she’s a wounded animal. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay,” she mumbles into my shirt, but her voice is wavering. “I’m okay now.”
But she’s not okay. I can see it in the way she’s desperately holding herself together, the tremor in her hands giving her away. This is my fault. I brought her here, pushed her to use her brittle abilities in a place full of predators, and now she’s paying the price.