Page 231 of The Queen’s Shadow

Her lithe body was coated in soft brown leather, her throwing blades strapped around each limb like little viper teeth. Her dark skin and large brown eyes complimented her waist long ink-black hair, which was tied in a slicked back ponytail.

She was as hot as the day I had met her and my dick had never gone flaccid faster.

“Hi baby.” She cooed, twisting a long piece of her pony tail in her fingers. Her gaze slid up and down my nearly naked body, taking in the gun, the knife and the towel. “You didn’t have to get all cleaned up for me. You know I like it dirty.”

Nausea rolled through me at the implication. I couldn’t believe I used to be into her. It was like a fundamental piece of my brain had shifted and all I wanted was to get this viper the fuck out of my house and away from Kasha.

“What are you doing here, Anaya?” I growled, trying to keep my voice low so Kasha wouldn’t hear. She pouted and coiled toward me.

“I wanted our reunion to be a little more private. I’ve been waiting for that clingy female to leave you alone for hours. What was her name… Kasha?” She asked and I snorted at the irony of her implication. If anyone was clingy it was me, not Kasha.

Hearing my mate’s name come out of Anaya’s mouth infuriated me. She had probably been slithering around out there in her viper form, spying on us, waiting to make her move. I was nearly shaking with fury.

“Get the fuck out of my house.” I snapped, and she smirked.

“Playing hard to get? Come on Rycon, didn’t you miss me? Where have you been?” Her hips swayed as she continued to wind towards me, ignoring the way I was growling at her in warning. I pointed the gun at her, hoping it would make her stop but she just gave me a sinister smile and kept coming.

“Ooh, you want to play with guns?” She grinned, and pressed her chest against the muzzle. My mind was racing. If I shot her, Kasha would definitely come out to see what was happening.

“I’m not playing, Anaya.”

She pouted, pressing closer into the gun, backing me into the wall. “Is this because of that marked female that was drooling all over you? Don’t worry, she doesn’t need to know.” She cocked her head to the side, her tongue flicking out of her mouth to taste the air between us.

She reached out for the towel around my waist and I fucking snapped. I dropped the gun and wrapped my hand around her throat, flipping around so she was the one pressed against the wall. She smiled at me like she had just gotten exactly what she wanted.

I slammed the shadowstone dagger into the right side of her chest, just under her clavicle and she hissed, moaning like she liked it.

“Ooh yeah, daddy, harder.” She spat and I snarled.

“Try to touch me again, Anaya, and I’ll make a snakeskin purse for Kasha to keep all her shit in.”

Her eyes flashed and for the first time since she had shown up, she looked pissed off.

Good.

“Cute that you want to play house with that fucking daemon, Rycon, but Korrick is looking for you. He’s pissed.”

I twisted the blade in her chest and pressed in closer to her, fury tearing through every fiber of my being. She barely flinched.

“Tell Korrick to get fucked. If he has a problem he can take it up with me himself.”

Anaya narrowed her eyes on me. “You can’t mean that.” She said and I let her see that I did. She was looking at me like I had grown an extra head. “Who are you?”

“Rycon?”

FUCK!

I whipped around to see Kasha standing in the hallway in nothing but my t-shirt and a pair of boyshorts. I watched in horror as the blood drained from her face. She took in the scene before her, which involved me dripping wet, in a towel, pressing a strange female against the wall. I didn’t even know if she could see that I had a godsdamned knife buried in her chest. Before I could react, Anaya saw the opportunity for what it was and took it.

She wrapped her hand around the back of my head and slammed her mouth into mine. I heard Kasha gasp and run. The sound of her bedroom door slamming shut hit me moments before my fist collided with Anaya’s face.

Anaya laughed, slipping out of my grip. My instincts were suddenly at war. Part of me wanted to fucking kill her and the other part wanted to hunt Kasha down and force her to hear me out. As Anaya darted out the front door, the part of me that needed to chase Kasha won. I bolted to her room, only to find she had locked the door from the inside.

Kasha

This was exactly why I had stopped things earlier. He hadn’t gotten what he wanted from me, then literally two seconds later, I found him trying to screw someone else.

Perfect.