Page 25 of Slay Me

That lust is ripped from me, though, when she releases the lyra and plummets to the ground. The gryffin flies toward her, and she lands on his back, straddling him. Her hands fist his feathers as he climbs higher into the air and then drops her.

My heart stops.

The beast in me begins to rattle its chains, and I let the partial shift take place. I’d rather expose myself than suffer the loss of—the gryffin swoops down and grabs her in his arms at the last minute, rolling to the ground in a puff of dust.

Every inch of my body has gone rigid, my hands clenched into fists at my sides as I wait for the dust to clear. I lean forward at the same time they both get to their feet, grinning widely at the crowd.

I’m going to fucking slaughter him for nearly killing her.Mistakes are not something I tolerate. Especially not when they riskherlife. Turning away, I stomp down the stairs, passing Uma wordlessly as she heads up to take her place.

By the time I reach the bottom, they’re already walking out of the main part of the tent and into the performer area.

“That was insane!” the gryffin says as he throws his arm around her.

Liv smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah. Interesting twist.”

“What in the actual fuck were you thinking?” I charge forward, hand closing around Apollo’s throat before I can even fully comprehend what I’m doing. My white glove is a contrast against his tan skin, but all I can picture is it covered in blood.

His blood. Because I’ve ripped his fucking head off.

“Ringmaster, wait!” Liv screeches. Her delicate fingers close over my forearm, and even through the fabric of my shirt, my skin burns for her.

I release Apollo so she’ll stop touching me. Then, I whirl on her. “He nearly fucking killed you,” I growl.

“We planned it that way,” she replies, cheeks pink. “It was my idea!”

Anger closes around my sanity like a vice. “You didwhat?”

“We wanted to breathe new life into the routine,” Apollo replies. He looks to Liv then straightens as though he’s a cock trying to puff out his feathers to impress her.

Fucking boy doesn’t even realize there is no competition here. I will win. Every single time.

“You have no right to change my routine. Especially not when the changes are so careless. One second. One wrong move and she would have died. Uma wasn’t even up there to slow her fall.”

“I slowed my own fall.” Liv crosses her arms, shoving those perfect fucking tits up. “I’m not powerless, you know. I used my abilities to keep myself from falling too quickly.”

“It. Was. Foolish.” I growl the words, still unsure Apollo will be walking away this time.

“But it got a rise out of them,” Apollo replies, a grin on his face. “Didn’t you hear how shocked they were? Bet you sell out tomorrow.”

“None of that matters if she dies, you fucking moron.”

Liv continues to stare at me, wordlessly, as though she’s trying to interpret every word that comes out of my mouth.

“If she dies, you lose a partner. I lose my prime-time performer.”

“Plus your favorite toy,” the gryffin spits out. “Tell me,Ringmaster,do you even care what happens to her? Or is it that, without her, you’d have no one to rub one off to.”

That does it. I come undone. Lunging forward, I close my hand around his throat once more and slam him down to the ground. “Do you truly believe you can speak to me that way? You are replaceable,” I growl.

Liv reaches out, but I glare at her. “Ringmaster, please! Stop!”

A crowd has gathered. I look up and meet the gaze of Valentina, who’s watching me with a sadistic smile on her face. The skirt she wears barely covers her ass, and she’s placed pink petals over her nipples. When she catches me watching her, that grin spreads, and she bends forward.

Fiona stands just beside her, crossing her arms, blue gaze sharp. The berserker is no match for me, but I wonder if she’d step in to save him. Based on the way she’s watching, arms crossed? Likely not.

“Please,” Liv whispers.

It’s that plea that has me releasing him. “Disrespect me like that again and I will rip every fucking feather off of your body before I tear you apart.” I stand and march away, desperately needing space between me and the one woman who doesn’t even realize she’s been slowly undoing me since the moment we met.

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