Page 96 of The Reign of Blood

“Don’t fucking speak to me,” Vallie grunts, pointing a finger at me, and I roll my eyes as the human from earlier steps toward us.

“George?” I ask, and he nods. “Addi. Are you ready for this?”

“I know who you are, fae bitch,” he snaps, baring his teeth at me, which is utter entertainment to Vallie, who laughs like a hyena while Kryll and Raiden instinctively step toward him, ready to defend whatever honor I have.

“Let you die if something attacks, got it,” I muse with a wink before turning my attention back to Tora, but I can’t see him. “Hey, where’s your brother?”

Kryll frowns, glancing around, eyes sweeping the ground for the second time before he comes to the same conclusion as me. “That fucker,” he mutters, shaking his head in disbelief.

“We better get moving then,” Raiden grumbles, pressing his hand to the small of my back to move me forward, but I step out of his reach, folding my arms over my chest as I start to take the lead through the trees.

“I’m not following you,” Vallie calls out, her shrill whine irritating me.

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “Do what you please, Vallie. I don’t care, but I’d like to make it back today.”

“You can’t let her speak to me like this, Raidy,” she grumbles, the nickname getting under my skin, but it has nothing to do with me. They have a deal, that’s what her father said, and I want nothing to do with it.

“Vallie, shut your fucking mouth before I do it for you,” Raiden grunts, appearing at my side a second later. “Are we talking yet?”

I rub my lips together, desperate to hold back my grin at the dismissal the annoying bitch just received. A part of me wants to let him back in with open arms, just for the hope of pissing her off, but I’m a stubborn bitch and he left me to deal with their shit. I’m not forgiving him so easily.

“Why don’t you go and talk to Vallie, Raidy? She actually wants to spend time with you. I don’t.” I hate that it tastes like a lie on my tongue, and I refuse to acknowledge it.

His fingers curl around my arm lightning fast, tugging me into his side as he presses his lips against my ear. “You can be mad, Adrianna. You can be mad all you like but do not try to push me into her grasp. Those aren’t the games I play.”

“No? Do you just deal with the ones where you kiss me while you have some kind of agreement with her? The girl I despise more than any other? Unfortunately,Idon’t playthosegames. Find someone else who will,” I snap back, annoyed that my irritation is on full display. “Now let go of me before I use my magic to do it, just like last time,” I threaten, recalling when I threw him across his room.

He must recall it, too, because he releases my arm a moment later. The sigh that rumbles from his throat is enough to make the ground shake as he tries to bottle his anger. “Evermore is vampire territory, I lead the way. Keep up or fuck off,” he grunts, his harshness not piercing my skin like it did the first time he snapped in front of me.

Raiden is complex as fuck. That’s clear enough for anyone to see if you look hard enough. I don’t think he’s ever heard the wordnobecause every time he doesn’t get his way with me or I push back too hard, he has a little temper tantrum like this.

His tongue gets sharper, his words get harsher, and his entire demeanor turns more tense.

When he’s ready to climb back down off his little mountain of superiority, then maybe we can address some things. I know I should probably hear him out, but I’m not ready to yet, not with others present, and especially not with him still looking down his nose at me.

“Exactly, Raidy should lead us. He was born to be a leader,” Vallie praises, making me roll my eyes again as I catch a glimpse of Kryll out of the corner of my eye. He looks about as impressed as I feel, which is reassuring.

“Nobody likes an ass licker, Vallie. Use your vampire speed to do a perimeter check. I want to know how far we are from the edge of Evermore forest, then I can coordinate our way back from there,” Raiden orders, and to my surprise, she nods without a single word, snarky or sickly sweet.

She takes off, and I heave a sigh of relief for the reprieve, even if it is only for a moment. Glancing over my shoulder, I notice George is still with us. Anger tightens his jaw and irritation dances in his eyes.

Part of me wants to console him, give him a pep talk or whatever, but that’s a bit difficult when you know you’re also the source of his rage.

All too quickly, Vallie’s back, her hand on Raiden’s arm as she rises up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

“Adrianna Reagan, is that a hint of green I can see in you?” Kryll whispers, making my gaze whip to his as I glare, but he simply chuckles like I amuse him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, pursing my lips as I continue to stomp after the two vampires, who remain close for a few more moments before they come to a halt. Before either of them speak, Kryll moves in closer, lips ghosting over my ear.

“He wants to claim you, you know? Maybe you should go easy on him.”

I rear back in shock and my jaw slacks as I process his words. That’s not true. It can’t be. Besides, that’s not what I want… right?

Fuck. I can’t think about anything other than getting out of here.

“Professor Tora put us on the farthest side of Evermore, that sneaky asshole,” Raiden states, giving Kryll a pointed look like it’s his fault. “Unfortunately for him, we’re not going to waste our efforts getting out of here like he hoped. I know where we are, and I know the easiest way back to the academy; we just need to use our speed to get it over with quickly.”

I blink at Raiden, surprised it could actually be this easy when the human scoffs from behind me. “Please, that’s great and all, but not all of us have speed.”

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