Page 21 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

He was getting sloppy and fell over the body of a dead fae. I smiled triumphantly as I sent my shadows for him. They wrapped him up, ready to crush his body into dust at my command. My eyes shifted to Wisp, who was suddenlyin front of me. Her flames flashed from dark green to purple.

I don’t know what that means, little viper.I watched her for a moment before turning my attention back to Palo. I stepped forward and sneered at him. I raised my dagger toward him, but Wisp got in between us again, this time flashing red.

“Any last words, Captain?” I hissed.

Wisp expanded at my tone. What was she so damn worried about? I glanced around, hoping that Thea was here for some reason. Why else would she be freaking the fuck out? I didn’t see Thea. I took another step toward Palo, but Wisp refused to let me get close.

Then Wisp expanded and exploded between us, ripping my shadows from Palo and shooting me back. Fuck, I landed on my back and tried to catch my breath as I stared at the stars. The wind blew across my face, letting me know I lost my helmet. I stood, fucking furious that Wisp was being a psycho over Palo. Jealousy that Thea’s soul was protecting another man made me enraged.

I stood up, ready to go kill Palo solely on the fact that Wisp was attached. She was mine. I wasn’t sharing her affections with anyone. My eyes landed on Palo as he stood. He was fucking dead, and I would make it painful. He hadn’t lost his helmet in the explosion, but it was clear hewas watching me. I took a step toward him, but I stopped when I felt a rush of lust and desire through the bond. Gods, it was crippling as I tried to walk to Palo. I physically couldn’t move because of Thea’s emotions; she pumped down the bond.

What the fuck was Thea doing that made her feel like this? A new layer of jealous rage coated me as I stood frozen on the battlefield, staring down Palo.

Chapter 7

Thea

Fucking Cassius. His damn shadow magic had me in a death grip. They tangled around me so tightly that I dropped my weapon. He stood, towering over me. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smiling, but not in a kind way. My darkness inside that had protected me all week did not stir with concern. It seemed content to be this close to their captain. My eyes shifted to the floating orb of light behind his shoulder. She was burning bright green, which I had come to learn was her being happy.

Why was she happy? Did she want me to die?

“Any last words, Captain?” He muttered softly. Fuck, his voice was perfect. Strong, cold, and indifferent—powerful. The floating orb was between us in a flash. Her color turning from green to purple. I knew I was mistaken, but I swear Cassius was watching her. He glanced around before turning his attention back to me.

“Fuck you,” I answered, but the floating orb expanded so large around us that she exploded, and he didn’t hear what I said. His shadows ripped from me as all the fae went flying from the explosion. My head pounded as I lifted myself off the ground. Sitting up, I looked around the field of dead guardsmen. Red and blue uniforms littered the field and the forest surrounding it. Shit. How many men did I just lose?

My eyes caught a movement from my left. Cassius stood in his black armor. His helmet had been lost in the explosion. Fire blazed behind him, only adding to the pure rage on his face. His black eyes flickered around him. When he faced me, I could have sworn my soul left my body.

Of course, he was a handsome bastard. His tanned skin glistened with sweat. Blood ran down the side of his face. But it was his shadows that swarmed around him that made him look like the most beautiful monster I had ever seen. Stars above, I couldn’t look away from how beautifully menacing he looked. Cassius looked like a god standing in hell.

His jaw tensed and his hands fisted so tightly that I knew I would not be able to overpower the wrath that was currently consuming him. He started to take a step toward me, then stopped for no particular reason. Something dark stirred deep inside me. It practically purred at the sight ofCassius. Fuck, I was practically drooling over my enemy. My darkness wanted him to come over here and touch us.

He took a small step toward me before stopping like he couldn’t move.

“Crimson!” His deep, terrifying voice boomed into the dead silence. “Fall back!”

I was too busy gawking at Cassius to realize some of my men had also stood, and they rushed to me. At least this damn helmet kept my face hidden from them as I admired our enemy.

“Captain, let’s get the fuck out of here.” They helped me stand. But Cassius just stared at us without attacking. Why didn’t he keep attacking us? I headed for Kaida, but the bastard grabbed her reins with his shadows and stole her. He took my damn horse, and something about it just felt like a slap in the face. Probably because she went willingly, looking happy as she nudged his black horse, he climbed on. He gave me a sneer as he turned and left.

We retreated quickly to our base camp.

?????

I sent a few men to let my father know what happened and hoped he would send more guards before Cassius decided to attack us in our weakened state. That was days ago. Most of the men who survived were wounded, and I was surprisingly unharmed. My eyes darted around thewoods to see if anything was lurking, but so far nothing. My mind kept replaying Cassius standing so terrifyingly in the field. Lust was consuming my thoughts, and I needed to realize Cassius was not someone to swoon over.

“Thea.”

I turned with my viper-handled dagger in my hand and nearly stabbed it through Jesper’s eyeball. The thought made me happy.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I looked around and realized I had been so distracted by that Crimson prick that I hadn’t even heard Jesper. The sun had come up, and I hadn’t noticed. I was exhausted. I was distracted by Cassius. Over Jesper's shoulder, I saw the man with brown eyes watching us concerned.

“Your men came back and said it was bad. I brought Kizar men and wanted to check on you.” His eyes looked friendly, and everything about Jesper appeared friendly, but an overwhelming sense of hatred consumed me at the sight of him. My darkness did not like him, and that made my guards go up.

The floating orb appeared behind him, her color a wisp of black. She was pissed.

“Isn’t being in a war below a king?” I raised my browat him.

“Yes,” he agreed. “I was just worried you were hurt and needed to see for myself how bad the damage was.”

---