Page 101 of Third Offense

And promptly cut off by Novak’s snarl.

They froze, glancing at him. He still had his lethal wing draped over my shoulder, but that didn’t bely his lethal presence. He would kill them, and his expression confirmed as much.

The guards smartly stepped backward.

But somehow that didn’t feel good enough.

I didn’t want them tempting my last standing mate to murder. I needed him.Weneeded him.

A priority settled across my shoulders, my heart pounding a little faster in my chest. I swallowed again, this time the movement coming easier than before.

And I lifted my head.

“No one in this room is to touch him,” I stated, my voice calm, yet regal. “Except for Raven.”

Her gaze met mine, a note of panic in her midnight irises that I didn’t understand.

Is it Ketos? Is he too far gone?

But her eyes flickered to the windows and then back down to the Noir Prince.

Frowning, I followed the directions from her gaze, looking first at the ocean, and then down at Ketos.What am I missing?

She seemed panicked.

Yet determined, too.

Iston asked another question, causing Netiri to begin speaking again. But I no longer wished to hear her fucking voice. “Shut. Up.” Two softly spoken words, underlined with power.

Her lips parted, but no sound escaped them.

“She’s disturbing the evidence!” Iston snapped, his calm facade seeming to have disappeared now that he wasn’t questioning Netiri. It was like he’d just noticed Raven’s presence. “Stop her!”

Three guards stepped forward, causing Novak to bristle, but I pressed a palm to his chest and moved into their path. “Do not disturb—”

A hand slammed into my cheek, drawing a gasp from me and a snarl from Novak.

I blinked as one of the guards heads rolled.

Off his shoulders.

And onto the ground.

In a swift, unexpected movement.

One that I didn’t evenseebecause Novak had swung his wing that fast.

Novak’s brand of violence didn’t supply a warning strike. He simply acted.

And now he stood before me, blocking my view of the remaining two guards.

Zian and Sorin were growling from the other side of the room.

While Raven worked between us, her skin shimmering with a sheen of sweat.

It was all so surreal.

Iston snapped something, but I didn’t bother translating the words into coherent thought. I was too busy scanning the room for an explanation.