Page 23 of Light in Your Eyes

"So, Layla, you might be stupid for telling people that you're Kellan's caregiver, but your face is surely better than your brain," Luca says. "You're quite pretty."

My body shudders as he eyes me from head to toe like a hunter looking at his prey.

"Not pretty enough to fool any man," a girl shouts in the background.

Luca steps forward to me while I'm struggling to break free from the two people holding me. My clothes—my cardigan and jeans—are soaked because I was struggling to get away from the water.

I'm already shuddering, but the way Luca stares down at me makes me shiver even more.

"Our king might want you dead," he says with the cockiest smirk. "But I'm sure that he won't mind if we use you for a while before that."

My heart jumps like a wild stag because of the fear consuming me.

"No," I stutter, my mind already figuring out what he has in mind. "Please let me go."

Excitement becomes more obvious in his expression. "Not that easy, filthy little liar."

He tips my chin up with his finger. My lips tremble as another tear drops from my eye.

"I don't know," he whispers in a voice that makes me want to disappear from this world. "I'm thinking about turning you into a slave. What say you?"

That would be the worst way to live. My worldcrumbles.

"Say that again," a cold, threatening voice echoes through the night, and everyone suddenly turns dead silent.

Chills run down my spine as my gaze lands on the person I'm supposed to take care of.

Kellan Romero.

The younger king of Black Wings enters the site. Everyone is on alert.

"Kellan," Luca's eyes widen as he watches Kellan walking toward him.

Kellan is blind, but he has an excellent orientation of where he's heading, just by using his hearing and his other senses.

"I said..." Kellan clenches his jaw. "Say that again," he repeats in a menacing tone.

"Well," Luca begins nonchalantly, but I can hear the slight shake in his voice, a sign that he's intimidated but trying to hide it. "Since you practically announced that you wanted her gone, we were discussing how to get rid of her."

I can feel the air getting tense. Everyone is holding their breath. The silence that follows after is so gripping, one would even hear if a pin dropped.

"We figured out that it would be better if we could make her our slave." As if he can sense that Kellan is about to counter that, Luca quickly adds, "She could be useful. You don't even have to feel her presence around. We will make sure that she won't bother you."

I never felt this low.

I feel so humiliated and degraded. Do they even see meas a person?

Kellan opens his mouth, and what comes out surprises us all, "And what made you think that you shouldn't offer her to me first?" he asks in an icy voice.

Luca stares at him with a lost expression. "But you didn't want her anywhere near you."

Kellan scoffs, facing the crowd. "Right. I wasn't being completely fair to you. If you want her that much, we shall decide it in a fight. I'm your leader, and I'm now giving you equal opportunity."

The crowd goes loud, wondering what that means.

"Whoever wins the fight will get her," Kellan says.

My heart almost stops. It will be better if they bury me alive. They don't even think of me as a human being. They're stomping my dignity and feelings like I'm a piece of trash.