Page 206 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

Chapter 29

Corvus Malum

THE PARTY

Metamorphosis—Day 41, hour 23

“No. We need this.” I glared down at the blue-haired woman who’d somehow become the bane of my existence.

Arabella huffed.

She paced back and forth in front of the hearth in our bedroom and whined, “Well, I need time alone in the library. So figure it out.” She squared her shoulders and tried to look intimidating.

I swallowed a laugh.

I had at least a hundred pounds of muscles on her.

It would be so easy to crush her.

“No.” I tried to sound casual, but my voice came out rough and gravelly.

She rubbed her fingers against her eyes with exasperation.

Somehow her eyes were more bloodshot than they’d been after the first competition. Black-and-green bruises stretched across her delicate cheekbones and the sides of her temples. A deep wound curled beneath her left eye. Her blue curls stuck out in every direction.

Shadows covered her pale skin.

She looked tired and young.

Laughter died on my tongue, and my face fell.

A foreign sensation crawled up my chest, and I rubbed at my sternum to dislodge it. I hated seeing her like this.

Lately all my hours had been consumed with worry over Arabella.

She wasn’t taking care of herself. Her wounds weren’t healing. There was a darkness in her eyes I didn’t like.

Years ago, I’d seen the same dissociated look on both my mates’ faces. It was the look of someone who was suffering. Someone who didn’t have anyone.

Doe eyes widened at me. “Please, Malum?” Arabella stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

My name was Corvus, and Malum was the name of our Devil House, but for some reason, she only called me Malum.

It was infuriating.

“My name is Corvus,” I spat out more aggressively than I wanted to. I was trying to be calmer around her, but it wasn’t working.

I wanted to be gentler with her. She was still a woman and not just a fellow male soldier. But she was also a teammate.

It was confusing.

Each day that she persevered through these games, my respect for her grew.

Something had changed when she’d dragged my Protector across the field and risked her own life to save his.

How I’d thought of her as pathetic was beyond me. Her strength of will was impressive, and I was rarely impressed with people.

But for some reason, every time I spoke to her, my words came out rougher and harsher than I meant them to be.

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