Page 181 of Red Ruin

When the connection breaks, a surprising sense of loss hollows out my throat.

It’s just a symbol.

Lives are more important.

Fingers trembling, I force myself to toss away the piece of metal.“Now will you listen?”

My aim is dead on, but the badge never reaches Kevan.

A shadow snatches it midway. Remy steps beside me, reeling the badge into his sharp-clawed hand.

“Yours,” he growls, his eyes and veins pure black.

Godsdamnit.

He’s shattered back to caveman modethatfast?

“Wife.” Vhex wraps me in his hellishly cozy arms and hot-glues himself to my spine.

Kevan frowns. “What did you just call her?”

“Mine,” Vhex snarls.

I grab his wrist to stop him from launching a fireball.

Kevan’s Guide ducks behind him and sneers. “What a shameful way to treat the duke.”

“Haven’t you been introduced?” I snort. “Meet my Sentinels. Duke Vhex Trezzoran and Duke Remington Azrid.”

My casual claim of ownership sparks a delicious mix of violence and delight that ripples through their souls.

They must be rubbing off on me.

I want to watch the world burn, too.“Vhex. Remy. This is Kevan Kyorgos. Have I told you he’s my former fiancé?”

Vhex’s sanity falls off a cliff and rockets straight to MURDER.

Remy’s mental stillness is even more frightening.

He always felt like an abyss inside—only now, the abyss is looking back.

I can’t tell if he’s controlling the shadows or if they’re working on their own. The wisps that fucked me so attentively last night reel in my badge and gently pin it back—this time, to my lapel, in full view.

“Yours,” Remy repeats, then grabs my throat. “Mine.”

I shiver.

Sometimes, the one-word vocab justworks.

“Remy.” I grab his throat the same way he holds mine. “What’s my name?”

He lowers his head slowly.

His throat flames. He vibrates with tension. With desire.

His focus drifts to my mouth.

When he wants to, Remy can move faster than I can follow.

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