Page 28 of The Beast Between Us
Iterupts.
Thunder crashes like cannon fire above us. Wind shrieks through the hall behind me, slamming a door somewhere deep in the manor.
And from within the shadows…
A roar.
Not human. Not even close.
“It seems I’ve awakened the Beast,” the man laughs, clearly amused by the chaos brewing above.
“You are a guest,” I snap, refusing to flinch. “And you are to showrespectto the people you visit. Now,apologizeto my friend.”
He chuckles, low and mocking. “Feisty little thing, aren’t you?”
Before I can step back, his hand lands on my shoulder. Firm. Unwelcome. He uses it to press me backward as he crosses the threshold.
“Why don’t I take you away from this cursed place,” he murmurs, stepping inside as if he owns it, “to somewhere full of life… and warmth?”
The floor beneath usshudders.
The candles in the hall gutter violently, flames bending toward the source of something vast and enraged.
And then…
A voice.
Low. Rough.Angry.
“You will remove your hand from her…”
A pause. Thick. Dangerous.
“Or I will removeitfromyou.”
Byron doesn’t flinch.
In fact, he smirks.
“I see the curse hasn’t dulled your dramatics, Thorne.”
He casually withdraws his hand from my shoulder…but not out of fear. More like amusement. Like he’s playing with fire on purpose, just to see how close he can get without being burned.
“You’re still brooding in the dark, snarling at every shadow,” Byron continues, voice full of mock sympathy. “It’s been what? A decade? You’d think you’d have learned to share your toys by now.”
Behind me, I feel Thorne drawing closer.
The air thickens…heavy with magic and barely restrained fury.
But this time, he doesn’t growl.
He steps into the light.
Massive. Shadowed. Half-beast, half-man. His presence consumes the space behind me like a second storm.
Then he’s right behind me. His clawed hand grips my side. Gentle. Careful.
He says nothing as he eases me back, guiding me behind him with a reverence that stuns me more than the storm raging outside.
