Page 84 of Scarlet Mark
Trust me.
You’re my salvation.
His tongue whispered responses across my lips, inside my mouth, grounding me with each stroke. The nightmares of my past may be present here, but I no longer lived in those moments.
I escaped on my own, had gone toe-to-toe with this assassin and won our first dance, then gave in to him after our second. And I’d not regretted any of it. He completed me in a way I never knew I needed, coaxing my warrior side to better herself and fight instead of run.
Now it was time for my warrior soul to play and to bask in the blood of her enemies.
I nibbled his lower lip, smiling. “I’m ready.”
“I know,” he murmured. “Where’s your target?”
He meant Clarissa.
Geoff would be handled after her.
“Upstairs,” I said without bothering to look around.
Killian had wanted to see how many people we were dealing with, which was the only reason we’d started in the living area. There were maybe forty patrons and six or seven auction items. Pretty standard attendance. Everyone wore masks to protect their identities, not that it mattered. They were all too far gone in their own depravities to care about anyone else, including our unexpected arrival. Of course, they all relied on the estate security to discern who could enter and who couldn’t.
Upstairs would be different.
Everyone would notice us there.
“Seems rude for the hostess to leave a party unattended.” He kept his voice low for my ears alone. Although, everyone else was too consumed with their activities to pay attention to us, anyway.
“She provides specialized demos for her most valuable clients.” I’d been a demonstration on more than one occasion, so I knew the procedure well. The only difference between me and the others was that no one had been allowed to fuck me. Touching, yes. Penetration, no.
Killian’s mouth touched mine, bringing me back to him again. “Shame we didn’t make the list.”
“We could always crash the party, make our presence known?”
“I adore that idea, kitten,” he replied. “As I imagine you won’t mind if a few of her precious clients are caught up in the mess along the way?”
“Oh, I’m counting on that.” Killian had brought more than knives to this party, and I very much wanted to see him in action. “But there will be a few innocents up there.”
“I have good aim,” he promised, kissing me again. “Lead the way.”
Taking his hand, I pulled him toward the back of the living area and into a corridor that led to one of the dining rooms. Beyond it was a kitchen meant for manor staff only. Given the majority were on the floor serving drinks and hors d’oeuvres, it left only a few meandering around in the background.
They were all servants of the illegal variety, not paid employees. Which meant they were all victims who had somehow survived the horrors of their lives, only to end up working in a kitchen serving the two demons who had ruined them to begin with.
It was a horrible cycle, one that needed to end.
They were too broken to care about our presence, barely even raising their heads to acknowledge us. So it wasn’t a surprise when none of them questioned us as I opened the door to the back stairs—the ones only the manor staff used.
Killian stepped along behind me, the space too narrow for us to walk up side by side. He caught my wrist as we reached the top—a door hiding the hallway beyond it from our view.
I glanced back to see him staring down at his phone with a frown.
“What is it?” I asked, whispering.
“A really weird text.” He showed me the screen.
K - I have to tell you about my date from last night. That frat guy, remember? Steve? Anyway, remind me to give you the deets later. Talk about a total douche canoe! Really, really bad. Almost unreal, dude. Please call me when you have a min. -R Bird.
“R Bird?” I repeated, my brow furrowing. Then my eyebrows lifted. “Raven.”
