Page 47 of Red Dreams

While Ethan groans, Kaden explains to Cassie, “Here, you can immobilize the arms temporarily. Useful for subduing without leaving marks. You try.”

Cassie slinks around the table until she’s beside Kaden, then mimics his grip on Ethan. Ethan shouts in a nonexistent language as she applies pressure, droplets of sweat mixing with the blood on his face.

“Good,” Kaden praises at the same time he swipes my hands away when I try to pry Cassie’s off Ethan.

I’m still kneeling in front of Ethan and refusing to go anywhere—a mantra I keep reminding him whenever his one good eye manages to focus on me.

“Now, the neck. Carotid artery.” Kaden brushes Ethan's throat with his knuckles, where Ethan's pulse jumps erratically. “Steady pressure here will cause loss of consciousness in seconds. A little longer, and they'll never wake up.”

Cassie leans in to get an up-close look. “I like the sound of that.”

“The goal isn't to kill,” Kaden chides. “Not yet. Move lower.”

His fingertips skim over Ethan's sweat-soaked chest, his T-shirt no longer resembling any shade of white. Kaden again batsmy hands away when I try to rest them on Ethan’s chest and stop Kaden’s descent.

“Move,” Kaden commands, his attention finally,finallysettling on me.

I immediately wished it hadn’t. I don’t recognize the man staring down at me. The one who looks like he’d rather decapitate me than deal with my sad attempts to protect my friend.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say through the terror strangling my voice. “And I didn’t think you were, either.”

Kaden slides his gaze back to Cassie like I mean nothing to him.

“Intercostal nerves,” he says, pointing between Ethan’s ribs on one side. “Extremely sensitive. You can elicit all kinds of interesting reactions. Not only that, but precise strikes here can fracture the ribs, driving splinters into the lungs.”

His voice is almost dreamy, like he's describing a particularly beautiful sunset rather than a brutal technique.

Kaden presses down, and Ethan convulses, a choked scream tearing from his throat.

I surge to my feet, slamming my palms against Kaden’s shoulders again and again. “You fuckingbastard, get off him! He’s done nothing to you.Nothing!”

Kaden continues relentlessly, treating me like an annoying but harmless fly.

“Solar plexus. Celiac plexus. Lumbar plexus. So many vulnerable points,” he says while Ethan makes strangled noises of pure agony.

Until I slap Kaden across the face.

The crack of my palm against Kaden's cheek shocks everyone into stillness. Even Cassie’s eyes widen, her hand frozen mid-reach toward Ethan’s solar plexus.

And Kaden ... Kaden slowly turns to face me, a red handprint blooming on his skin.

“Layla,” he says, his voice deceptively soft. “That wasn't very smart.”

I lift my chin, meeting his gaze head-on even as my hand throbs and my heart races. “I don't care.”

Kaden studies me for a long moment. Then, without warning, he grabs my wrist and yanks me toward him, spinning me around so my back is pressed against his chest. His other hand comes up to grip my throat, applying just enough pressure to make breathing difficult.

“You still haven't learned, have you?” he murmurs. “Kaden’s gone.”

I claw at his hand, struggling to draw air into my lungs. “Please,” I rasp out. “This isn't you?—”

Kaden only secures his hold on me.

Tears sting my eyes, blurring my vision. I blink them away, refusing to let him see how much his words hurt. “No. I don't believe that. I can't.”

His chest moves with an unhurried chuckle. “Believe what you want. It doesn’t change the truth.”

Kaden releases me abruptly, shoving me away from him. I stumble, barely catching myself on the edge of the table.

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