Page 172 of Dance of Ruin

He’s also still standing pretty fucking close to Naomi.

My jaw grinds.

I know Ididbeat the fuck out of him a few hours ago. But still. There are limits.

Lucky for him, Vaughn walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He smiles wryly as he and his brother look each other in the eye. “We’ve got alotto catch up on.”

Val gives Naomi a hug. Just as I seethe past my breaking point, he releases her and turns to me, clapping me on the back.

Then, the two brothers—Val and Vaughn—walk out the busted front door.

Naomi turns to me slowly, hair mussed, blood on her clothes that isn’t hers.

Instantly, I pull her in, wrap both arms around her waist, and kiss her.

She melts—soft and warm and completelymine. Her fingers tangle in the back of my shirt as she leans into me, as if everything tonight didn’t happen. Like for a second we can justexisttogether.

She giggles into my mouth and pulls back, breathless.

“Hey, Nico?”

“Yeah, baby?”

Her smile curves.

“Could you take me someplace I can keep kissing you where therearen’tdead bodies all over the floor?”

I smirk.

“I can do that.”

38

NICO

The flamesin the cathedral torches burn steadily, casting shadows across the stone columns and masked faces.

The Black Court is now in session.

The Marquis stands in the center of the chamber, his posture straight and arrogantly defiant.

The fact that he’s not beggingreallypisses me off.

The Hound speaks.

“You stand accused by this Court of assassinating Boris Vabnik in order to avoid paying your debt, thereby violating a sacred blood marker.”

He pauses. No one says a word.

There is no defense, only judgment.

Five masks. Five votes.

Each “guilty” from our lips falls like a hammer.

No one’s made a fuss about my demand to mete out the punishment tonight. And of course, the Marquis doesn’t choose “flight”, because let’s be real: the motherfucker looks close to eighty. At his age, I’d get him before he even took ten steps into the labyrinth.

When I step forward, his proud, arrogant expression wavers just a little.

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