Page 18 of The Wraith & Her Killer

“And this,” I swing my arm out in over dramatic fanfare, “is Calix.”

Oh, what the fuck?I bite back the growl building in my chest because when I look over my shoulder, I see that Calix is blushing fiercely all because my littleWraithoffers him the faintest of smiles.

Fuck, no.

Nope.

Not doing this shit.

Calix has Rune, and I have them, and Odessa has me, and it’s a big fucking clusterfuck and I’m not doing this right now. Fuck, man.

Outside of some drama that had gone down prior to my arrival, I don’t think Calix has had relations with awoman before, but I can read his every thought about Odessa as clear as day on his face. I’m about to break his dick off for making his thoughts so loud about her.

“Adris—” Rune snaps. I look at him. “I don’t know of you’reaware of this, but you’re actually fucking growling, man. Calm the fuck down.”

“I am not,” I snap, but he’s right. I totally was.

Rune sighs and turns his attention toward Odessa. “What did you mean I won’t have to?” He hedges and she shifts nervously on her feet. It’s a tic that grates on my frayed nerves, so I pull her to a chair and into my lap as I sit down.

She swallows, sinking her body back into mine. “I think I know where he goes when he needs to hide out.”

“And where would that be,Wraith?”

She turns to me, biting her lower lip for a moment before she speaks. “He only spoke Italian around me, but there were certain words he would say that sounded close enough to English that I understood. Just before he…” Her voice cracks and she tries to retreat into herself but I give her a squeeze in warning. In an instant, her spine straightens and her eyes snap up to mine. “Before he left tonight, I heard the wordrifugioa few times when he was speaking with his underboss over the phone. I’m assuming the word means something similar to ‘refuge,’ or maybe a safehouse?”

I nod in confirmation and she continues. “I think he’s in Italy somewhere.Isola di Lipari.That’s the name he had repeated, at least. He left a few hours before you arrived. He could still be in the States, but… I don’t know.”

Rune starts tapping away on his keyboard, his lips set in a firm line while he works on narrowing it down to a more precise location, I’m sure.

“He left you alone for hours? Why the fuck didn’t you just leave?” I snap at her, but she gives me a look that screamsyou know why.

“Ah, right. My little death-seeker had planned on meeting her maker tonight. Too fucking bad I spoiled your plan, isn’t it?”

I’ve no sooner finished my sentence when Odessa disappears from my lap and a loudSLAPreverberates around the room, my head snapping to the side after connecting with her palm.

A deafening silence laced with malice fills theroom. The taste of blood fills my mouth as I slowly turn my head back to the woman who finally worked up the nerve to defend herself. Too bad I don’t tolerate that shit. Amidst the fury burning in her eyes, the color drains from her face and a look of horror crosses her features when I slowly rise from the chair. She looks like she wants to bolt, and as much as I want to throttle her for raising her hand against me, I won’t. That’s not my ultimate goal here.

Odessa is forcing me to fuckingfeelthings I don’t think I’m fully capable of feeling in any normal capacity. While it may make me want to stab her for making me feel out of control, I don’t want to cause her more pain and suffering. It’s obvious that Santino was hurting her, and to what extent, I don’t know. Yet.

I don’twanther to crave death. I want her to become addicted to my darkness and chaos, and to learn that I can breathe life into her by taking those very breaths away.

She remains rooted to the spot when I move until I’m standing chest to chest with her. I’ve got more than a foot of height on her so she really has to crane her neck to meet my eyes. One hand tangles in her strands at the back of her head while the other slowly slides up her neck until I’m gripping her throat. I don’t squeeze, though.

Bending down until my lips ghost over hers, I murmur quietly, “Don’teverfucking raise your hand against me again,Wraith.”

I’m pleasantly surprised when she doesn’t cower, but instead meets me with her own ire. “Says the man who has done nothing but manhandle me from the moment he stepped into my room.”

Rune says something, but I’m not listening. I continue to stare at the woman before me, my face just a fucking whisper away from hers.

“Need I remind you of how hard you come, or how loud you scream my name when you’re subjected to mymanhandling?”

“Adris—” She tries to admonish, but my name turns into a yip and a moan when I lower my lips to the junction where her neck meets her shoulder and bite down hard.

Her hands fly to my hair and she grips the strands. I chuckledarkly against her skin before straightening again, forcing her to release me.

“I found him.” Rune repeats, gaining my attention.

I turn, noting that Calix is watching the two of us closely, and he’s trying so hard to mask all of the emotions that are currently running rampant across his face. His hands are folded in front of him, covering up the raging hard-on currently straining his sweats.

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