Page 25 of Marked By Night

Oh, yeah. Simple, do not poke it.

12

Dante

Iforce my anger down as I lead Sadie through the crowd and away from those motherfuckers. I don’t know the whole story between them, but I don’t have to. I saw the way they looked at her, the possessiveness in their eyes when they saw us with her.

Take a deep breath, Dante. Anger is for the violent. You are not.

My fingers run through my hair as I exhale. I may look like the happy-go-lucky guy of the group, but I’ll wring their necks as swiftly as the others. And if those dicks think I’m going to let them treat a woman like that, they’ve got another thing coming.

“You guys are some crazy motherfuckers here in Kentucky!” Brandon pants through the microphone. “This will be the last song of ours—” The crowd roars their disapproval, interrupting his speech. Brandon sticks his hands up in surrender. “—I know, but take it up with the schedulers, not me. We’ve enjoyed playing for you tonight! Now let’s get rowdy to help welcome the next band!”

Sadie’s eyes light up in excitement, diminishing the wariness there previously. The sight of her smile is fucking distracting.Moons above, when did I become such a sad sap?For all her bravado though, I sense more underneath the surface of her. She looks tough and she acts even tougher, but there’s also a reserved quality about her.

Quite like me, I guess.

Then again, humor is my crutch, my second skin, my armor. The thing is, if you don’t show you’re bothered, then they can’t continue to rile you up. Make a joke, take a jab, it doesn’t matter. Let it roll off your back until one day it truly doesn’t faze you anymore. Or it’s buried so deep, it no longer matters.

Maybe it’s why she resonates so well with me because I recognize the same behaviors I use to deflect. The way she wraps herself in snarky quips and comebacks like me. Goddess, what is this woman doing to me?

I know Kaos seems to think she might be our Link—even Elian acted weird when he found us with her—but I’m not getting my hopes up. There hasn’t been a true Link in years. Why would this girl be any different?

On the other hand, there is something different about her, but I haven’t been able to put my finger on what yet. She has a sort of silent power in the way she carries herself, the way she smiles, the way she laughs. I can feel the potent energy rolling off her in waves. Although, she seems none the wiser to the magical presence circling all around her.

Could it be true?

Could she truly not know?

She grins, tucking a lock of her gorgeous blonde hair behind her ear and turning her face toward mine. Our eyes lock and she looks down at my lips. We’re so close it’d be easy to kiss her, but I don’t. I pull away because I’m not ready yet. If Kaos is right, she’ll be ours.

Our perfect mate.

Our true Link.

And that’s a lot to process, especially for someone who sucks with emotions.

Realemotions.

13

Sadie

Dante leans in close, whispering against the shell of my ear, sending a shiver of lust down my spine. I turn to catch those amber eyes of his sparkling mischievously.

A puff of air tickles my lips and I glance down at his plump ones. He watches me closely, leaning in until our lips are a hair’s breadth away. His eyes flash and he turns away suddenly, leaving me disappointed. That’s silly, right? I barely know the guy.

My phone vibrates three times in a row, which never happens. No one ever texts me and I don’t think it’s from Red since we just talked. I yank it out of my pocket and hit the unlock button thinking, please, whichever God is listening, don’t let it be an emergency.

Bestie: Holy fucking shit!

Bestie: That show was incredible.

Bestie: Brandon is so hot.

I blow out a relieved breath that it’s not serious. Ash’s rapid texts make me chuckle. A fourth text comes through before I can even type out a response.

Bestie: Oh shit. He’s inviting me back to their bus. *wiggles eyebrows* Will you be all right with the two hotties by yourself?

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