Page 67 of Fated In Blood

I heaved out a sigh of relief around my bone-shaking fear. They didn’t know I was here.

Not yet, at least.

Again, Blake’s eyes flicked to the top of the steps, lines of annoyance fanning from the corners of his eyes. Fuck me, but I shook my head, not even knowing if he could see me.

“Freshly fucked and safely tucked into my bed, right where she should be.” Blake’s pompous, entitled attitude should havepissed me off, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to get us both out of here alive.

I could go after Collum as a distraction, giving Blake an opening.

I’d beaten him before, and I was stronger now, with the element of surprise. But those guns were a problem, and we were outnumbered with Bosch and Laurent in the mix. Why the fuck were they here at Valentine’s, anyway? Before my rescue mission gone bad, I’d done my homework, and Tyrell never ventured out of his castle.Ever.

“What are you doing in Nocturne territory, traitor?” Blake sounded bored, that lopsided smirk never faltering. “Last I heard, you were banished to the desert for being a cunt.”

“Lucky for me, I’ve been brought back into the fold.” Collum sneered and Blake’s eyes widened; the kind of surprise that told me this was a turn of events he hadn’t anticipated. “Laurent has decided Riordan’s caused enough problems. It’s time a real king took his place.”

For the first time since he’d learned my name, Blake dropped his hard-ass act. His fear bled into me, tangling with my own until they were indistinguishable. The combination was paralyzing, stealing the air from my lungs.

Run, Slayer. Get the fuck out of here and warn Riordan they’re coming for him. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.

He moved to his right, forcing Collum to change position. The twins followed suit, shifting away from the exit, creating a narrow aisle between me and the steps. The crowd stayed clear of the threat, huddled against the far wall, one loud noise away from bolting.

Blake’s inner turmoil raged as he lifted his brow. “And who would that new king be? Surely not you, you fucking piece of shit. You couldn’t rule a?—”

“That’s enough.” Tyrell stepped forward, Bosch glued to his side, Vincent watching all of this play out with the kind of focal intensity the greedy bastard usually reserved for big piles of money or a nice pair of tits.

“Enough of these games; enough wasting time. Show some respect, dog.” Tyrell lifted his hand and Blake jerked like he’d been struck. A tremor of pure power slammed into my chest and traveled straight through me, along with an overwhelming compulsion for me toobey.

To bow, to kneel. To submit.

I’d never experienced any force this profoundly dominant before, never withstood such a catastrophic loss of control, where my mind screamed, rejecting Tyrell’s control, but my body was softening, aching to fold and bend to his will.

I doubled over, trying not to vomit.

Blake was fighting Tyrell as hard as me, but even through the shield I heard the crunch when he crashed to his knees onto the concrete floor, phantom pain tearing up through my legs as if my own kneecaps just broke.

Shaking, I lifted my head, teeth grit, combating Tyrell’s merciless compulsion with every bit of strength I had.

This bastard controlled my sister, but he’d never control me.

And Blake…like he had his hand braced in the middle of my back, heshovedme toward those steps, toward freedom, pain squeezing my chest so tight I could barely breathe.

“Blake Marten, you are guilty of allowing your spawn to fight in public, to reveal our existence to the humans, and to attack her elder with no provocation.”

You fucking liar, I wanted to scream, but self-preservation pinched my mouth closed.

Ever so slowly I forced myself upright, every aching limb trembling from the effort, nothing but a bug caught between two mighty, opposing forces. Tyrell trying to keep me pinned down,and Blake shoving me toward those steps with unrelenting urgency.

These two were going to tear me in half.

Go to Crimson House. Warn Rohr.Blake’s rough voice shook from the effort of getting out those six words, of forcing me toward the steps and fulfilling his command.

My thighs shook when I lifted my foot onto that first stair tread, muscles screaming from the sheer effort of fighting against Tyrell, from Blake’s unbreakable control. God, Laurent was more powerful than any being I’d ever imagined, but Blake was equally determined to get me out of here, even if this killed me.

“You know what the punishment is, Blake.”

That was Collum’s gloating voice, and while I couldn’t turn my head to look, I winced at the meaty smack of a fist hitting flesh. Pain rippled through the side of my face, my jaw went numb, and the vision in my right eye blurred, then went black.

Collum was so smug when he gloated. “You don’t know how fucking long I’ve been waiting for this.” The next blow was like a knife to my gut, filling my mouth with a coppery tang.

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