Page 45 of Taken By Touch and Torment

At the call of firebirds, Millie and her shadowbird brothers and sisters growled and called back ferociously.

Sadie glanced their way, admiring another of her darkly beautiful creations—blasphemes of Helia’s natural order.

I, on the other hand, went perfectly still. I cast out my hearing, listening for her voice. I hadn’t known it was possible to want anything this badly, especially not after Sadie had crafted me into a finely tuned weapon of restraint.

Scarlett was the only thing in this world that could melt steel into water, carve gaping crevices into my heart and soul.

Footsteps and hushed voices grew louder. I could barely focus on the content of their words, only that each tenor was masculine.

Yet I knew he’d brought her, because for the first time since she’d been stolen, Scarlett’s location had shifted. She’d been heading straight for me, the invisible leash growing shorter and shorter.

Until she was right behind me.

Sadie laughed. Mason’s foot brushed mine, perhaps the most comforting move she was capable of giving.

Scarlett’s intoxicating scent filled the air. Summer heat, berries and sweetness, violent storms, and sex—all of it coated with the unmistakable fragrance of her terror.

My fangs ached despite the substantial amount of rancid blood I’d forced down my throat before we’d arrived.

“No.”

It was just one single word. Yet it was enough to crumble me to my core, to rid my mind of every last thought but the sound of her raspy voice and her erratic, frightened heart.

I turned.

My gaze locked onto those piercing blue eyes, those pools of feelings as vast and beautiful as the sea.

Her pupils dilated, and she screamed.

If I’d been crumbled by her voice, her wail of utter horror fucking shattered me. I would’ve shot up from my chair if Sadie hadn’t sent a burst of pain across my cheekbone to snap me the fuck out of it.

Durian didn’t miss my flinch.

Scarlett backed up into him, away from me. He whispered something to her, and she went silent. He clutched her to his chest, his fingers brushing across her bare midriff as she shook with fear.

And that was when I saw it—the ugly red marks carved into Little Flame’s stomach, as if by a blade.

Durian, the marks spelled.

He’d done more than hurt her. He’d fucking brutalized her.

If not for Sadie, I might’ve rotted every single person in this field, including Scarlett herself. That was how little control I had left.

But I was not just any man. I was not a man at all.

I was Scarlett’s God and Valentin’s ruler. And I refused to give Durian what he wanted. He would not leave this plane a martyr, assuring a bloody war with both the born and the kingdom. Nor would he see me lose control of my emotions and gain even a semblance of satisfaction.

We knew that if Durian brought Scarlett, he wouldn’t merely show me that she belonged to him. He would provoke me by any means necessary. I’d allowed Sadie to see into my mind, to help fortify my strength in acting intelligently and not out of rage and whim. We’d done mental training every day since Kole had given us a meeting location.

Watching Scarlett cower away from me in the flesh, evidence of egregious violations carved into her skin, was nothing like the exercises and possibilities Sadie had prepped me with.

The only strike against Durian I could make in this moment was to guard my features, keep my screaming, bloodthirsty shadows to myself, and turn back around in my seat. It was the most excruciating movement I’d ever made.

“Durian,” Kole said, gracefully moving to the head of the table to my left—closest to Uriah and Sadie. “I hope your flight was a pleasant one despite the weather.”

I bloody hated politics. Though my face was blank when I stared at Kole, I couldn’t stop myself from raising a single condescending brow.

Kole cleared his throat and gestured to the unoccupied side of the table. “Please, sit with us and introduce your friends.”

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