Page 138 of A City of Flames

“Yes.” I spin around but he’s already facing me. A burnt rümen lies where he’d used his powers to kill it and my brows narrow as I look up at the mock amusement behind his eyes. “Does that hurt your ego?”

“Not at all,” he drawls his words into a whisper and leans his head closer to mine. “But to answer your question, he stayed to look after your brothers and those lovely witch friends of yours.”

I exhale a long breath out of my nose at the mention of my brothers again. Darius must notice the sudden drop in my expression because he says soft and quietly, “The three of them are fine, Goldie.”

My head snaps up at him, and I hardly nod. I know they are safe, but I’d also kept so much from them.

“Your older brother though—” Darius huffs a laugh and looks off to the side for a moment. “Was adamant that if you get hurt, he’ll shove a sword through my skull.”

That makes the corner of my lip pulls into a smile. “And what did you say?” I ask as his eyes cut over my shoulder and then a wave of shock floods me as he places the palm of his hand against my lower back, pulling me to his chest.

I furrow my brows, letting out a startled noise as I gaze up at his half-smile before he blasts a whorl of fire with his other hand behind me. A shriek rattles my eardrums and then Darius stares down at me, his gaze swallowing me whole as he says, “That for as long as I live, immortality or not I will make sure nothing ever happens to you.”

His words leave me breathing slower and I urge myself to think of something worth aggravating him for, but the truth is I’m speechless. My eyes drift to his lips, the reminder of that night—our kiss, it’s such a wild memory.

Darius’s fingers brush my hair away from my face. “Have I told you that—” His head dips to the side of mine as he whispers, “you look like an absolute mess today, Goldie?”

That breaks me out of the unwanted trance, and I hum a short laugh as he leans back to look at me. His eyes speckled with humor.

“And has anyone told you how that mask doesn’t favor you at all?” I lift my brows and smirk at him.

His lips curve into a grin, looking as if he is about to respond but the ground rumbles beneath us and I glance up as the leader of rümens barrels toward us.

I get out of the way as its claws slam down on the floor and Darius and I are separated.

“You have to be kidding me,” I say under my breath as it roars its shrill cries and heads toward me.

I run.

My shoulders slam against walls as I swerve corners and I don’t look back, but I know the rümen is on my tail. Three pathway walls come into view, leading to the center where shifters and venators fight among one another.

Feeling relief, my steps pick up and the rümen starts to sound distant but as I’m about to reach the middle pathway a force knocks me to the ground. The blade slides from my hands and a buzz fills my ears, as I blink away the haze of dust clouding the air.

For what feels like eternity I can’t process what just happened until I’m rolled onto my back and hands grasp my neck.

My eyes widen, coming face to face with the general hovering over me and all the air starts waning from me as I take ragged breaths.

“You just never stop.” Fury ripples from Erion’s voice as my head spins and I claw at him. “I should have made Lorcan kill your whole family that day.”

Anger builds up in my chest but I can’t release it as his fingers tighten around my throat.

“You corrupted Freya’s mind.”

I thrash underneath him.

“You ruined everything by siding with the shifters.”

My lungs start to ache.

“Lorcan became too weak because of you.” His eyes now burn with emptiness. “And now? You will be the one at fault for destroying our world.”

Clawing my fingers at his hands, I strangle out the word, “no,” and gain some strength as I say, “you and the queen already did that.”

He glares at me, hazel eyes wrathful as his grip slips the slightest. I take the chance to drive my leg into his abdomen. He lets go in an instant and I gasp for air as he falls to the side, releasing a low grunt from his lips.

With the hideous burn of his fingers imprinted on my neck, I rise to a seated position and try to recover as I spot my blade at the end.

Stumbling on my hands and knees, I reach out for it when Erion yanks me back by the hair, grabbing the blade before me as I cry out with a wince.

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