Page 36 of Spit

Gluttony. Obsession. Devotion.

My heart began to thump, my cheeks flushed, my skin turned cold, and sweat beaded on my forehead.

Everything sounded far away. It didn’t matter that my shadow had lashed out and swallowed every ounce of lust magic from the air, all that mattered was getting as far away from the threat as quickly as possible.

“Alexis! Ms. Boudaire?!” Legion snapped, turning to me. His eyes were wide with their own version of fear. He reached out to grip my arm, and I knocked his hand away.

The slap rang out, and shock painted his features. I stumbled back, waving like I was fending a swarm of wasps from my immediate person. A scream built in my chest; all I could do was try to make myself as small as possible.

Once the lust magic was gone, there was just cold. It always felt cold after someone had tasted my curse and decided they wanted more. That they wanted it all.

They wanted a taste of my lips. A lock of my hair. An eyelash. A finger.

“Breathe.” An unfamiliar voice crooned. A port in a storm. The command was so simple. I took a deep breath and then another.

My shadow circled my body like a shark in the water.

“There you go, lovely.” The unfamiliar man told me, “You can do this.”

I continued breathing. Blind and deaf to the world around me. Wrapped in my trauma and struggling to come back to earth.

“What did you do to her?” Legion demanded. Something crashed, and I looked up with unfocused eyes to see that Legion had a man by the throat, pinned against the wall without effort.

“I didn’t do anything.” The other demon could have been Legion’s brother for the similarities they shared. The same mono-lidded eyes, long lashes. His dark irises swallowed the light.

“Sev,” Legion warned.

Sev, the steward of Lust.

Sev didn’t fight as Legion’s fist tightened around his throat. His eyes connected with mine over Legion’s shoulder.

“Legion.” Sev gestured towards me with his chin.

Legion finally allowed the other man to drop to the floor and turned to face me. His brow quirked expectantly.

I wasn’t willing to explain myself, but I knew that Legion wouldn’t be so easily appeased.

Sev brushed his manicured fingers down the front of his shirt, erasing any wrinkles. The shirt was open, save for a few buttons at the waist. His tanned chest was exposed, and there was no hair on his exposed skin, but the line of his taut muscles and the V of his hips, visible through the shirt, marked Sev as distinctly masculine.

Sev’s hair was the same length as Legion’s, but where Legion combed his away from his face, Sev allowed his inky locks to run wild. His hair looked like he had just woken up and stuck his hand in a socket. It had enough wave that he could have had a perm—but I didn’t have the energy to ask.

I had almost broken down and lost it just because I thought someone might touch me.

“I’m okay.” I jutted my chin as if daring either man to argue.

They exchanged a wordless glance.

I waved my finger between both of them. “Don’t use your bond to talk smack about me.” My eyes narrowed.

Legion gave me a look.

Sev burst out laughing. “I like her.” He said, flicking his hair away from his eyes. “She has the most peculiar scent. You didn’t drop in to introduce me to one of your paramours, brother. Pray tell,whyare you here?”

Legion adjusted the cuffs on his jacket. “Mars and Quinn are missing.”

Unlike Trey, Sev immediately straightened. His eyes grew unfocused as he concentrated inwards—his mouth moving and his eyes darting as if he was trying to speak to someone using his mind. Someone that was nowhere to be found.

Sev cursed, pushing his fingers through his hair and tugging his locks from his scalp. “Death and Darkness, Legion. You think this is the same thing that took Camio?”

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