Page 108 of Scarlet Wars
Too close.
Levi was clearly a man who believed himself the gods’ gift to women, and I cursed myself for ever thinking I could pull off something as simple as a casual fuck with a guy like that.
Not when Caden?—
I shifted back a step, ready to end this before it became anything uncomfortable. My eyes flicked down to the inside of his wrist, more to avoid him than anything else, and noticed a welcome change of subject.
A tattoo, special enough to invoke a question.
A golden snake with obsidian eyes, its body twisted tight in red chains, gleaming faintly against his skin.
“Interesting tattoo you have there,” I murmured. “Any special meaning?”
Levi’s grin faltered. The ease drained from his face in an instant, his jaw setting hard. “How the hell can you see this?”
His gaze crawled over my face, searching. “Only…” His mouth twisted, his whole demeanor shifting into something darker. “Only those who are sworn in, can see this.”
Sworn in?
Before I could react, his hands shot out, clamping onto my arms hard enough to bruise. “Are you one ofus?”
The anger at his closeness ripped through me, and my red haze lashed out before I could think. Invisible and silent, it knocked him back like a wave breaking against stone.
He hit the wall with a grunt, staring at me like I’d just sprouted fangs.
“Your translation isn’t visible in the Human World?” He sounded equal parts in awe and repulsed. “What kind of freak are you?”
Okay. Mostly repulsed.
Mothaflapping crap on a hellish cracker.
I didn’t get the chance to answer though.
A blur of movement cut between us, faster than my brain could register.
One second Levi was standing there, sputtering his horror, and the next… His head was gone. Sheared clean off in a single, brutal strike.
The body hit the ground with a wet thud, and the alley filled with the thick, metallic scent of blood and something heavier: finality.
I froze. My breath came shallow, pulse roaring so loud it drowned out the rest of the world.
Thenhisvoice cut through the silence, low and edged enough to send a cold ripple through me. “I see you decided to test my patience.”
Caden stood over the body like it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience. His Chela hung loose at his side, catchingthe dim light filtering through the closest window. His mouth curved, not quite a smile, more like the shadow of one.
I crossed my arms to try and keep my hands from shaking. “Not everything is about you,” I retorted calmly, even though my heart was trying to escape my chest.
He tilted his head, expression dark and infuriatingly calm. “I highly doubt that.”
My gaze dropped to Levi’s body as the pool of blood spread around his boots. I should’ve felt something. Guilt. Shock. Horror. But there was only this strange, hollow calm. “Was this really necessary?”
Caden’s shoulders rolled in a slow shrug. “He touched you,” he said simply, as if that explained everything. His tone wasn’t angry, only matter of fact, as if he were reciting a law older than both of us. “I told you what would happen if he did.”
In his defense, hehadwarned me. And Levihadtouched me, barely, but still. Caden had never been the type to bluff.
I glanced up at him again, blood splattered across his shirt, still burning with that same, dangerous heat from inside.
Did that mean he was about to make good on therestof his promise? Drag me off somewhere dark to spank me like he’d threatened, and maybe fuck me until I forgot my own name?
