Page 29 of A Spark Of Revenge

“Mi Sol!” Valen shouts, the first one out the door. I look over my shoulder and inwardly cringe at the determination in his eyes. He looks like he's ready to go to battle with that fierce expression on his face. Lennox is only a step behind, with Creed leaving Razar to trail after everyone, his hood back in place, hiding his beautiful features.

“No. I’m not doing this right now. I'm taking a bath and sleeping. I'm so past caring about anything that I don't even care if Nox stabs me in the back or Razar suffocates me with a pillow,” I mutter dramatically.

“Duly noted,” Razar rasps before his hand snaps out, catching the fist Creed tries to launch at his face. Razar tsks under his breath, and Creed curses, yanking his hand away from Razar to follow us once again.

I pick up my steps, get to Creed's door, and shove it open before whirling on the four men who have caught up to me faster than I thought they would. “Anyone who steps a single toe in this room tonight is getting their balls cut off,” I hiss, meeting each of their eyes with mine, making sure they know I need a moment to myself.

Nox is already shaking his head, and Valen looks like I have kicked a damn puppy. Creed won't meet my eye, and Razar is staring at Milo, who I have cradled in my arms. I tighten my grip on my little orange friend, turning away from him while shaking my head. “Milo is mine!” I snarl at Razar. Stepping back into Creed's room, I slam the door in their faces, and for the first time since entering this castle, I relax a little, hugging Milo to me as my arms tremble. The adrenaline from everything I just overheard is slowly bleeding from me until I feel like a hollow shell.

Closing my eyes, I keep my back pressed against the wooden door and slowly sink until I’m sitting on the floor. Milo purrs, his bright blue eyes watching me as I press my cheek to his tiny head.

“I missed you, buddy,” I whisper as I tune out the angry voices outside the door. They can wait… Then maybe with a bit of sleep and time, I can attempt to sort out what the hell just happened.

FOURTEEN

Lennox

“Pertinax mulier!” I growl, running my hands through my long hair and yanking at the strands, the small bite of pain helping clear the lust and anger that threatens to overwhelm me. That girl is the most stubborn, hard-headed woman I have ever met. I simultaneously want to wring her neck and kiss her until she finally gives in to me. The need for her submission is like a physical itch. The thought of her letting go, of her curvy, soft body melting into me, makes my cock throb and swell in my pants.

I almost groan when I remember the fiery anger that lit her beautiful eyes when I grabbed her, pressed her to the wall and pinned her there. Molding her body to mine like I’ve been longing to since that kiss outside the wall.

She thinks her anger and hatred will keep me from her, but little does she know it will only encourage me more. It's like a damn shot to the groin when I see my Little Demon fight back. The way she stays strong, even though she is heavily outmatched? At first, it annoyed me, but quickly became endearing, and now I’m obsessed with the little spitfire on the other side of the door.

I want her to fight me. I need her to have the strength to go head-to-head with me. It gives me something to look forward to, something to rely on. I don't want her love; I know it’s something I’ll never deserve… but I crave her hate. The sudden urge to break down the door and demand that the frustrating woman inside listen to me is strong, and my hands shake with the effort it takes to hold myself back.

“That is an understatement,” Valen says darkly, glaring at the closed door like it personally offended him. “Is she always like this?” he asks. The first flicker of worry and maybe excitement fills his pale eyes, and it’s enough to calm the raging beast inside me. My lips slowly curl up as I sigh and nod.

“Worse, actually. I'm surprised we all left with our balls intact. She's remarkably good at crushing them, even with her lack of strength,” I say with a low chuckle.

Razar grumbles something under his breath that I don't catch, and I choose to ignore him, not liking how he somehow got to Meyer before I had. Had he hurt her when they were on their own? Had he said something that would have scared her off even more before I arrived? It looked like he and Valen might have been fighting before Creed and I showed up.

Shit! I’m going to have to pull him back into my office and interrogate him, then lay down some ground rules where Meyer is concerned.

I have no doubt he’s going to try to run her off or kill her in order to avoid a messy situation with the four of us and her. It’s not like I’m blind, I have seen Creed and Meyer. They are close, or rather, they were before everything happened. And the way Valen looks at her like she holds the damn world in her palm has me clenching my teeth so hard I’m worried I’m going to crack a molar.

Valen frowns at the door, then looks at me with the smallest of smiles quirking his lips, reminding me of all our talks and time together when we were kids. It's been years since I last saw him, and suddenly, everything comes rushing back.

“I’m glad you're back. I… We were worried,” I offer, stuttering over my words like an idiot as Valen’s smile grows.

“Yeah? I’m fairly sure I had it under control,” Valen says coolly, making the light feeling inside me drop, and I scowl at him.

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” Valen only laughs and nods before moving over and wrapping his arms around me, squeezing me tight in a weird hug that is somehow okay. I hug him back seconds before a heavy weight slams into our sides, and Creed's arms wrap around us like a damn monkey.

“Fucking hell, Credence! Let go!” I snarl. His enormous arm yanks on my hair, and I swear he’s putting his entire weight on the two of us. Valen laughs in amusement as Creed shakes his head.

“Don't ruin this for me, Noxy boy. I need a hug, and the person I want to hold won’t even look at me,” he grumbles. Valen looks over his shoulder at Razar, who immediately shakes his head and pivots on his heel, practically running away from the weird bro hug we have going on right now. Sighing, I let the grown-ass man hug us for a moment longer before I reach up and facepalm him, shoving him off us. “Rude!” Creed complains when he falls to the ground with a loud thump, but he quickly jumps back to his feet to give Valen another hug.

I smile a little, glad to see some of the light come back to Creed's eyes. Creed and Valen have always been super close, and it destroyed Creed when he found out Valen had been taken. Razar and Archer had to physically restrain him from crossing the veil to find Valen until we could find a general location on his last magic signature. That had taken almost three years.

Whoever helped Axford take Valen had covered their tracks well. If it hadn't been for Razar coming to North America looking for a legion of Beastia that crossed and were rumored to have killed an entire town, we would have never picked up on the traces of Valen’s magic that the Hunters were using.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Valen mutters to Creed, answering whatever question I missed. Creed sighs and lets Valen go, running a hand through his curly hair, making the already frizzy curls stand even more on end.

“So, what did you do to piss her off? From the way she's been bad-mouthing you…” Valen trails off with a dark look, and I glare at him. Out of all my brothers, Valen and Jesthren are the only ones who ever push back against me. Valen only when he thinks I’m being stupid and Jesthren because he hates that I was born.

“What did she say about me?” I growl, leaning against the wall across from her door, trying to catch any noises coming from her side of the door. Valen laughs and moves to stand next to me, leaning a hip on the wall and crossing his arms over his chest as he too, stares at the closed door.

“I’m not telling you anything she said,” Valen says, not bragging or boasting over the fact that he knows more than I do, simply stating that he won't betray Meyer's confidence, which royally pisses me off. I open my mouth to protest, and Valen shakes his head, not looking at me once. “Nope, don’t pull that crap with me, Garthelaun,” he scolds, making me wince at the sound of my birth name. I always hated it, and my mother is the only one who actually uses it. I much prefer one of my other Demonic names, though Nox is quickly becoming my new favorite name. I think I may keep it.

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