Page 33 of Their Reckless Thief
I followed close behind, doing my best not to look out of place in a part of The Below that radiated hostility. My senses were on high alert. It felt like I was being watched from every dark corner, every shadowed alley.
“Stick close,” Luca muttered. “And don’t try anything.”
“Wasn’t planning to,” I shot back, though I wasn’t entirely sure I could keep that promise. My inner voice was screaming at me to make a run for it, to slip away while Luca was occupied.
As we turned down a side alley, the energy shifted. It was quieter here, but not the peaceful kind of quiet. No, this quietpricked at your skin and made your heart beat just a bit faster. Luca’s stride lengthened, his gaze narrowing as he focused on the end of the alley where a figure waited.
My pulse quickened. Something about this was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the air around us crackled with tension.
The figure stepped forward, cloaked in shadows so dense I couldn’t make out their features. Luca’s entire demeanor changed. He squared his shoulders, clenched his jaw, and the shadows that always clung to him flared to life, curling around his wrists like they were ready to strike.
I took a cautious step back, instinct kicking in. Whatever was about to go down, it wouldn’t be pretty. And if I were smart, I’d stay the hell out of it.
“Luca,” the figure rasped in a voice that was gravel scraping against metal. “You’re a bit late, don’t you think?”
Luca didn’t bother with pleasantries. His cold, calculating gaze fixed on the figure as he took a slow, measured step forward. The tension between them crackled like a live wire, sharp and dangerous.
“Give me what I came for,” Luca said, shadows swirling around him. “Or this won’t end well for you.”
The figure’s chuckle curled like smoke through the alley. Something about it made my skin crawl. “You think you can just waltz into my territory and make demands? I don’t care who sent you, Luca. You’re playing a dangerous game here.”
A sudden surge of magic crackled around us, static electricity crawling across my skin. My breath hitched. This figure wasn’t a low-level thug. The dark energy radiating off them was palpable, almost suffocating.
A hand flicked out from under their cloak, and instead of the flash of silver I’d expected, I saw something worse—a black, swirling mist that coiled around their fingers like it had a life ofits own. My heart leapt into my throat. They weren’t reaching for a weapon. They were conjuring one. The mist solidified, forming a twisted, barbed blade of dark energy that glowed with an eerie purple light.
The figure’s visage glinted with malice as they raised the blade, the edges humming with the threat of dark magic. Luca didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink.
“Didn’t know you were bringing dessert, Luca. Bet she’s got a mouth on her. How much to take her for a spin, huh?”
Luca’s shadows shot out, wrapping around the figure’s wrist like a steel trap. His opponent let out a strangled gasp, eyes widening in surprise, but Luca’s grip was merciless.
A sickening crack echoed through the alley as the shadows twisted the figure’s wrist, snapping it like a twig.
His shadows slithered higher, coiling around the figure’s neck like a snake. My breath hitched as I watched, frozen in place. The deadly precision, the effortless control… It terrified me.
Luca could kill this being in an instant.
Hell, if he wanted me dead…
The figure struggled against Luca’s hold, gasping for breath, but the cold sneer on their face didn’t waver.
Bile crept up my throat. The vulgarity of it made my stomach churn, but before I could react, Luca’s gaze snapped toward the figure, a deadly calm settling over his features.
“Don’t,” Luca warned, his voice low and lethal. “Don’t fucking push me.”
Despite being seconds away from death, the figure didn’t know when to quit. They wheezed out a sick laugh, their eyes dark with lewd hunger. “Bet she tastes as sweet as she looks. I’ll have her screaming my name instead of yours before the night’s over.”
Something inside me twisted as a mix of disgust and rage bubbled up. My fists clenched at my sides, but I didn’t have to move.
Luca moved faster than I could comprehend. His shadows snapped tight around the figure’s throat. The sickening crunch of bone breaking echoed in the narrow alley, cutting off the figure’s laugh.
One second, the figure was alive and spouting vile shit. The next, they were crumpling to the ground, lifeless, their neck bent at an impossible angle.
Before I could fully comprehend what I’d just witnessed, Luca turned to me, his face unreadable, shadows slowly retreating.
“You’re safe,” he said, as if that made everything okay.
I blinked at him in disbelief, my pulse still racing. Safe? Safe was the last thing I felt right now. I was standing next to a man who could kill with nothing more than a thought. And he expected me to feelsafe?
