Page 112 of Of Nine So Bold

Pain stabbed my hand like needles the moment I placed my hand on the metal. The surface was cold, but it burned like acid. With every second, the agony grew stronger, until it was all I could do not to scream.

Gods, how was Casimir enduring this over and over?

Gritting my teeth, I fought to force magic into the band. I’d been panicking when I freed Niko. Driven by pure terror that I would lose him. But vaguely, I recalled twisting the energy coming from me a certain way. Tearing it into the lock just… like…

Click.

The pain drained as the metal band fell. I lowered my hand, my body shaking, while the woman stared at me in wonder.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

Before I could respond, hands took my shoulders, pulling me aside. “That wasnotnecessary,” Casimir growled.

“Neither is you bearing all the burden of doing this your?—”

“Do you understand what it does to your men to see you in pain?” he hissed in a tone like I’d never heard from him. It was low. Furious.

Desperate.

I stared at him. His gaze held a feral hunger, and his attention twitched toward the side of my throat every few seconds before jerking away.

My eyes shot to Dex and the others. Ozias was shuddering so hard, it was all he could do not to shift. Roan’s teeth were bared, his skin taking on the decidedly gray hue of the demon. Clay, Lars, and Niko looked sick, while Dex’s hands were white-knuckled fists.

And Byron was so pale, his red hair looked like blood on his head. Short, sharp breaths made his chest rise and fall with jolts like he was about to suffocate.

Oh gods.

“Go,” Casimir ground out. His furious tone softened ever so slightly. “Please.”

Nodding, I hurried back to the others. Dex’s hand took mine the moment I came close, yanking me back into the thick of their group. Ozias grabbed me away from him, his hands shaking, and he didn’t let go. Without a word, Dex nodded and turned away, putting himself between me and the duke’s line of sight.

Like a bodyguard.

Peeking past my men, I cursed silently at the curious, considering look in the duke’s eyes.

“Is your woman well, Your Highness?” the man asked with blatantly feigned concern.

Clay muttered insults under his breath.

“Your people need my concentration, Duke Ensid,” Casimir replied tightly. “Not my conversation.”

The duke’s brow rose, but he didn’t appear remotely offended. More like amused, and the sight sent quivers of rage through me. Gods, what I wouldn’t give to justfixthis.

But then, that was the vampire side of me talking.

I might agree with it, though.

“Stay. Put,” Ozias growled like he’d read my mind.

Eternity passed until the last metal band hit the ground. With more self-control than I could fathom, Casimir drew himself up and walked calmly back to us. “Now,” he said to the duke, “for your part of our arrangement.”

The duke’s lip curled, coming dangerously close to a smirk. “Indeed.” He twitched his head at one of his men, never taking his eyes from us. “Go. See what the other end is like and then return with a report.”

Nodding fast, the man strode toward the wall. Like a rock dropped into a pond, the darkness rippled and swallowed him, stilling a moment later as if nothing had happened at all.

Clay whistled low. “Creepy.”

A noise of agreement came from Lars.

---