Page 110 of The Umbra King

A shadow lifted the man into the air, and Lauren stood back, letting Caius have his kill.

“You dare touch your queen?” he snarled in the deepest voice Rory had ever heard.

“Q-queen?” the man stammered.

Before he could say another word, Caius grabbed the man’s jaw and ripped it from his face, tossing it on the ground as a strangled cry emitted from the man’s throat. “You will never speak of her again,” the king told him. “Tell Orcus hello for me.”

The man’s head snapped with a resounding crack, and his body fell in a heap on the floor.

Lauren dropped the bloodied bones in her hand and ran back to Rory. It was then Caius turned, and when he saw her, he ran, shadows flying erratically in every direction.

Rory trembled, wanting to back away as Lauren approached her, but she didn’t. She knew theAngelwouldn’t hurt her.

“Don’t pass out on me,” Lauren said as she helped Rory to her feet. “Are you hurt?”

“I—I think I lost a tooth,” she said absentmindedly, searching the floor for it.

Lauren wrenched open Rory’s jaw and looked around. “Just one. Nothing a potion can’t fix.”

Rory stood motionless, taking in the gore of it all. “I knew you weren’t a house cat.”

Lauren threw her head back and clapped as she laughed. “You’re fine. We need to ge—”

Darkness encased them in a shadowy coffin, cutting her off as Caius pulled Rory into his arms. “I saw him,” he rasped into her hair. “I didn’t think I’d get here in time.”

She held him, needing him to calm her nerves as much as he needed her to calm his. “I hope you like holes because I lost a tooth,” she mumbled into his shirt.

He pulled back and pried her mouth open as Lauren had done, and Rory swatted his hands away. “Lauren said she’d get me a potion.”

Caius’ eyes returned to normal, and the vein-like shadowsreceded from his skin. “Why did you look like that?” she asked cautiously.

He smoothed her hair out of her face where it’d come loose from her ponytail. “I have a temper.”

She ran her finger along his jaw where the dark lines once marred his skin. “Did you lose control?”

“I don’t lose control,” he said smoothly. “But I intend on killing anyone who hurts you.”

“Not if I get to them first,” Lauren said, making them both turn. She was inspecting her blood-covered nails. “Which I did.”

Caius’ arm banded around Rory’s waist. “I owe you my life,” he said, dipping his head respectfully.

“Youdidn’t almost die,” Rory protested. “I did.” Being able to joke after almost dying had to be a good sign. They say trauma makes people funnier.

She would likely throw up later to make up for it.

“What happened?” Caius asked Lauren.

Lauren placed her hands on her hips, and for the first time since meeting her, she looked guilty. “I was trailing her, as you asked.”

“Excuse me?” Rory cut in, breaking Caius’ hold.

He didn’t look sorry. “Go on.”

Rory tabled the conversation for later, but shewouldcome back to it.

“An enforcer stopped me in the foyer to ask about a disturbance,” Lauren went on. “By the time I broke away, I jogged to the throne room, knowing she would use the dais door, when I heard the struggle.”

“And then she turned into a cat,” Rory accused, offended no one had told her.

---