Page 50 of Hunted By Darkness

“—then I have several exhibits of evidence to present to the court,” Ryker went on, his voice warped by a weirdly professional tone. Guess Lev and Silas weren’t the only Normie show lovers. He’d been subjected to the same stuff as I had over the last half year while a guest inside my head.

“This isn’t a courtroom, and she isn’t a judge,” Salvator complained with an irritated breath.

“I’ll be the judge of that, Sally.” Ryker smirked, his arms crossed and eyes aimed at his previous host, as though Salvator could see him at all. “Exhibit A: I’ve caught Sally more than once using his wolf form to sneak around the house to keep an eye on you.”

Ryker was absolutely an agent of chaos.

“I’ll kill you if you say another word.”

“He hid in a closet once when your ridiculously attractive and immensely scary boyfriend nearly caught him doing it,” Ryker added with a little grin my direction. “Ended up watching you undress when he couldn’t escape right away and became a shade of red I’ve never seen on the man.”

I’d come to terms with the fact that Tometi and Ryker had seen me naked several times already, but this was news to me. When I peered over at the shifter, brow raised, it was the first I’d ever seen him look ashamed and apologetic.

“It wasn’t intentional,” he said under his breath. “I can smell Rilas better in that form.”

So, he was worried about me.

Silas peered down in question, and I gave him a little smile to assure him it was nothing. I mean, it wasn’t nothing, but he’d see it as a reason to draw blood, and I didn’t want to be in the middle of another fight.

“Exhibit B,” Ryker went on. “He’s marked you with his scent.”

Marked me with his scent? What did that mean?

I wasn’t given time to ask because Salvator bristled and snarled at the phantom blonde. “Touch him, Nika. Do it now. Let’s see how confident he is to mouth off when there’s nowhere to hide.” His voice bellied a rage I hadn’t heard on him in a while, but it was Lev who cut in before things could unravel into violent chaos.

“In case you guys have forgotten, we’re in public with humans and you all look crazy.”

My mercenary, his arm still securely wrapped around my waist, didn’t seem to agree. “No, no, lad. I wouldn’t mind letting this little row run its course, yeah? Let the two of them handle it like men.”

“You would say that.” Lev sighed in open distaste. “But tonight’s about Nika, not you emotional animals incapable of putting a pin in it for one night.”

Apparently the gloves had come off.

“Only two of us here are animals,” Tometi corrected next to Lev like my friend could see and hear him.

“Not anymore,” Ryker said with another one of his secret grins. “Unless you’ve found your inner beast?”

Tometi was suddenly sad and looking at the ground. A long breath escaped him. “I haven’t.”

Finally turning to Lev, I sassed him with a grin. “And here I thought this night was all about you.”

He stuck his tongue out at me but didn’t deny anything. He couldn’t. I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t insisted, and he knew it.

With a glare at the two unseen animals-turned-men, Salvator asked Lev, “Why are we really here, boy?”

“Like I said earlier, Niks has never been to a human club. I thought it was time to live a little,” he proclaimed for the second time that day. “The end of the world can wait one more day. She deserves one night where she doesn’t have to worry about all that bullshit.”

“Live a little” was the pitch he’d made when I first told him no. I was worried about going into the city with everything still messy at best, but both he and Silas insisted it wasn’t going to be a problem, and against the two of them, I didn’t stand a chance of winning.

I was mostly surprised Silas was on board. He’d been anti-anything that put me in danger. I didn’t know what Lev said to get him to agree, but the big brute hadn’t complained about being out in the heart of the city at all since we’d left.

It was suspicious.

“What does Lev have on you?” I whispered to the silver-haired assassin wrapped around me. “Did you lose a bet?”

Silas gave me a sneaky grin and shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean, love. I just thought it was a good night to live a little.”

Lev snickered next to me. “Well, and I told him that you’re an incredible dancer. Even the Dark Fae Society fell silent in collective awe when you put on a show for your father’s birthday that one year. I still remember that asshole Devion’s face. Total captivation. Pretty sure you’re the reason he died out on assignment the next day.”

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