Page 122 of Third Offense

But I need Auric’s sword. His presence. His—

I stilled again, the scent I’d been tracking curling around me in a welcoming kiss.

My lips nearly curled, my steps reigniting into a jog as I followed that musky tendril to a wall of books.

I grunted.How fucking original.

They had a tunnel passage hidden in a library. It seemed like something Sefid would do, too. A world of darkness hidden behind an lush wall of elegance.

I started pulling books off the shelves, not caring if there was a rhythm or a pattern that I needed to follow. I just wanted Auric. I wanted those stairs. I wanted to godown.

A growl stirred inside me when the case didn’t move, just pages and books splattering all over the ground with inadequate thuds.

I punched one of the shelves, furious.

Only for my hand to go through the wood into a cool chamber behind it.

My brow came down, my eyes narrowing.

Then I started ripping at the hole, my monstrous side demanding destruction of this barrier between me and my prey.

Die. Die. Die.

My wings spun, the razor blade cutting through the wood with ease, just like the cupboards in the kitchen. Except there was no satisfying blood here. Just air.

And Auric’s scent.

I roared in triumph, my feathers creating a hole big enough for me to fly through, and I soared down the wide stairs before me.Built for angel wings.

There was probably a more civilized entryway, but the one I’d made felt more appropriate. It resembledme. My way.My reign.

I landed at the bottom of the staircase on silent feet, my wings ready to kill anything and anyone who stepped in my path.

Except all I saw were cells.

So. Many. Fucking cells.

And they included several familiar faces.Kyril. Gaia.And a few other Noir who exuded power that I could taste, but not feel.

Enchanted bars, I thought, eyeing the iron around them.Hmm.

My nose twitched again, Auric’s scent luring me closer to Gaia’s cage. She sat beside him with a cloth, dabbing the wound on his brow, his blood making me growl.

She jumped, her eyes widening upon finding me lurking outside her cage. “Novak,” she whispered.

“Novak?” Kyril asked, turning around in his cell to see me. “Thank the gods.” He rushed forward. “They’ve enchanted—”

I cut him off with a slice of my wing through the air, the motion meant to be threatening. Because my eyes were on my commander’s unconscious form and the blood trickling over his skin.

Mine.

No one else was allowed to make this man bleed. Only me.

And maybe Layla, if she so chose.

A flashing image of her playing with a blade graced my mind, making me think,Definitely Layla. But not now. Not with the palace crumbling and that army approaching.

Auric needed to be freed.