Page 24 of In the Shadows

Kaos’s eyes turn wild, and he storms toward Bishop and Crew. He looks murderous as he allows the anger to take over, but stops dead in his tracks when Camilla steps into his path, her body the only thing standing between the two of them.

“Camilla!” Bishop snaps. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to diffuse this idiotic situation. Lord, you’re not always like this, are you? You’re like a bunch of children fighting over a toy.” She pauses as something occurs to her, and then her head whips around to each of us. “Wait a minute, I’m not the toy, am I? Please tell me I’m not the reason you’re fighting like this.” The last few words come out in a horrified whisper. Interesting. My little lamb doesn’t like the idea of us fighting over her. But doesn’t she realize I’d go to the end of the fucking earth if it meant I could keep her here with us. Where she belongs.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CAMILLA

Perhaps I should have stopped being surprised about literally anything that happens in my life. I mean, when I was ten, I watched my father cut off someone’s hand for stealing from him. When I was twelve, I watched him put a bullet between a man’s eyes, and when I was fourteen, I saw him torture someone. When I was sixteen, he put a gun in my hand and ordered me to kill a man for crossing us. He was selling intel to one of the other families. I think, honestly, I didn’t stop to ask questions, I did as I was told and pulled the trigger. And when I was eighteen, I found out all the things I’d done, all the lives I’d watched end were for nothing because he’d made a deal with Charles Davenport, and soon I would be nothing more than his baby maker.

But somehow, the men of the Legion fighting over me have shocked me to my very core. The men the rest of the city fear, even the bad guys, are brawling over whether or not I should stay with them or not.

They each stare at me like they’re not sure what to say, but the guilt is written over their faces, and I can’t help but roll my eyes. They probably think Camilla De Marco is some innocent wallflower, a little girl who thought she could face off against the baddest men in the city, but they have me pegged wrong if they think that.

“Well?” I demand. I’ve had men underestimate me all my life, and at times it’s amusing to play the role of the helpless little girl who just needs a big man to protect me, but this is not one of those times. These men are ruthless, and appearing weak in front of them, even just for fun, is a bad idea.

“Little Lamb.” Kovu steps toward me, his eyes flicking between me and Kaos like he thinks his friend may harm me. I haven’t completely ruled out the possibility, because if any of them were going to lay a hand on me, it’s definitely him, but something in my gut tells me he won’t. That despite his reservations and arguments, he’s just as intrigued by me as I am him.

A warm body at my back startles me, but I barely flinch as they wrap their arms around me protectively. “Don’t you ever put yourself between two men fighting, Little Menace. You’re going to get yourself hurt.” Crew’s deep rumble causes a shiver of need to rush through me. We’ve never been this close. In fact, I haven’t seen him since that night he told me not to leave my bed until I could walk on steady feet, so why is he touching me now? Why are his arms wrapped around my torso like he’s ready to spin me out of the way at a moment’s notice? And why are his thumbs rubbing gentle circles into my belly with a softness that soothes me?

It takes everything I have not to lean into him, not to allow his warmth to envelop me the way my body begs me to. But I shove at his arms with my good hand. It’s been less than a week, and I’m already sick of this stupid cast. It gets in the way constantly, and it really inhibits any plan of escaping I think to concoct. But Crew keeps his arms banded around me in a vise grip, managing to only touch the parts of me that have healed. “Like it matters,” I snap. “I’m sure Charles will beat me into submission every time I fight him on anything, so I might as well get started early.” The bitter words leave my mouth with so much venom I barely recognize my own voice.

Silence falls around me, but I’m too amped up to look at anyone but Kaos, who’s staring at me with wide eyes, horror dancing in the blue pools.

The arms around me tighten to the point of pain, but I don’t allow it to show. These men have the entire city kneeling at their feet, but not me. I’ve spent the last week watching and learning, and I’ll bring them all down if it means I get my freedom. I haven’t come this far and fought this hard to submit now.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

KAOS

Idon’t know why I stopped in my tracks when she stepped into my path.

I don’t know why seeing Crew’s arms around her made something I’ve hidden so deep inside myself that I thought it was lost forever bloom to life.

And I don’t fucking know why her words make the hole where my heart used to live ache.

Nothing about Camilla De Marco makes any sense. Her actions, the way she makes us feel, the words that come out of her mouth. It’s all foreign compared to the women we’ve been around in the past, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. In fact, it could very well be our demise.

But the vulnerability that creeps into her defiant eyes is intoxicating, and if I spend too much time staring into the gray, I’ll lose my mind the same way the other members of my family have.

Kovu steps past me until he’s standing at her side, his fingers brushing along her cheek. A shiver rushes through her body, but her eyes remain on me. She’s taunting me. Begging me to break. Asking me without words to throw away everything I’ve told myself over the last few years. “We’re not handing you over to him. We’ll find another way.”

“We haven’t discussed it,” I snap, but the fire I felt before is dull, the embers barely burning as I watch the only people in the world I would throw myself in front of a bullet for look at the woman between us like she’s the sun they revolve around.

Bishop appears at her other side, and I hate what the sight does to me, and more than that, I hate that I want to step forward and feel her against me. My body begs me to wrap her up in us so nothing and no one can ever hurt her again.

Camilla finally drags her eyes away from mine to look up at him as his fingers wrap around hers, and she’s connected to each of them. She could be connected to me too if I would just do what I crave. But if I were any closer, I would miss the surprise that slips onto her features.

“We’re not going to hand you over, Little Menace,” Crew says quietly, his lips just a breath away from her ear. “You don’t belong with a monster like Davenport.”

“I don’t belong anywhere,” she whispers, her voice barely audible despite how close we are to her. “I’ve never belonged anywhere.”

There’s something about the sadness in her voice that makes me take the step forward and capture her chin between my fingers. I pry her face up until our eyes clash, words I should never say aloud dancing on the tip of my tongue. “Maybe that’s changed.”

I feel their eyes on me as soon as the words fall from my lips, but I can’t drag my attention away from her. She’s fucking stunning. Her cheeks flushed and her lips parted with shock. A lesser man wouldn’t be able to resist claiming the pouty pillows and devouring the vixen standing before him, but while I may concede on her belonging here with us, I’m not ready to give her any part of me. I might never be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

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