Page 78 of The Kingdom of Ruin

“I already got your food, Dagger.”

I frown but don’t stop walking with him. “Why?”

“Because.”

“Because…”

“Get your ass over here and eat, Dagger,” he says with a sigh, maneuvering us through the crowd with ease.

“I said yesterday that I wasn’t doing this,” I point out, and he shrugs.

“And then you fucked me.”

He says it way louder than necessary, making me glare at him. “To get it out of our system,” I bite out through clenched teeth, and he smirks.

“Not out of my system, remember?”

“That’s not what you promised,” I retort, floundering under his close proximity yet again, but if he notices, he doesn’t seem to mind.

“I didn’t promise shit. Besides, then you got handsy with the big bad wolf. I feel like this only serves to work in my favor.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to sit here,” I scramble as we come to a stop beside the table.

“You can sit where you want. It just has to be at this table,” Cassian grunts from his seat, not bothering to glance my way. I sigh, looking around the room to see all eyes pointed our way.

Dammit.

I can cause a scene or eat the bacon, sausage, and egg on the plate that Brody’s pointing to.

“My friends are coming too.”

“They can do what they want,” Kryll answers, and I quickly search them out, waving them over before I take my plate and move around the table. I leave a spot beside me open but drop down closest to Raiden. If anyone is going to leave me alone here, it’s him.

Flora and Arlo appear a moment later. Flora takes the spot directly across from me while Arlo sits between her and Cassian. The table falls into silence as everyone eats. I can sense the uncertainty from Flora and the need to check that I’m okay, so I offer her a small smile. It will have to do for now.

I’m halfway through my food when a shadow falls over me from the edge of the table, and I don’t need to look up to know it’s my least favorite vampire.

“Move,” Vallie bites, and I look into her eyes to see venom dancing in her orbs.

Sighing, I ignore her as I turn to the table to find all four guys staring my way. “Do you see my predicament? That’s all I want to do, but now that she’s demanding it, it makes me want to dig my heels in more,” I grumble, irritation zapping through my body.

“Good. Keep going, Vallie, this is working in our favor,” Brody says with a victorious grin.

Ass.

“I said, move,” she snarls, only this time she grabs my hair and drags me from my seat.

What the fuck? I knew I should have put it up in my usual crown braid this morning, but I was too distracted.

She manages to drag me to my knees before I can get a handle on the situation. I slam my fist into her stomach before swiping at her legs to knock her down with me. Her grip on my hair tightens, yanking on where I hurt it in the bathroom yesterday, but I use the pain to fuel me.

“Stay down, bitch!” she yells, making me snicker at her bullshit as I repeat the movements again, jabbing her in the stomach before hitting her thighs. Her chest hits the floor, but her hold on my hair only tightens more, so I push up to my feet, fighting against the pain as I get a better angle to slam my fist into her face. I do it twice before she relents, releasing me to cup her face.

Hovering over her, I want to keep going, pummel her into the ground and get some rest from her bullshit once and for all. But once again, my father’s voice in my head stops me.

Mercy.

Fucking mercy.

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