Page 124 of The Blackened Blade

“Never?” Ezra's eyes widen slightly as Annex chuckles. “Was the Fight night your first time?”

Annex’s grin grows mischievous. “Guess I’ll take this first from you too, Red.”

“What first?” I ask, my brows pinching together with his dark cocky grin.

“The first of many firsts I’ll take.” The look he gives me is almost feral and has a strange heat prickling my cheeks. His eyes begin to slowly trail down my front before Ezra reaches to his side and slaps Annex on the back of his head.

Annex just grins as he rubs the spot. “Don’t get it twisted brother,I can share…a little.”

Ezra rolls his eyes, a scoff leaving his mouth before they both share a strange look; something unspoken but quickly accepted between them.

Annex turns his gaze back to me. “I’ll need a checklist, Red. I wanna take em’ all.”

A checklist? For what? But before I can open my mouth to ask what he means, Ezra moves closer toward me.

He fixes his hold on my hand, lacing our fingers together as his gaze meets mine, with that strange new look taking hold of me as he opens his mouth.

“I want in on that,” A genuine smile stretches his cheeks, his turquoise eyes bright and alluring, “Count me in.”

“So, what have you done?” Asks Annex.

I really couldn’t understand the way their minds work. But I presume they mean in town?

I shrug, “I guess I haven’t done much. I mainly just stayed in the academy and trained or studied.”

They both look back and forth between each other, their grins turning into something more wicked.

“That means we get the lot right?” Annex’s smile couldn’t grow any bigger or darker. But the matching grin being worn by Ezra is the most surprising as he nods a reply.

Maybe I should be a little worried?

CHAPTER 33

ANNEX

Red’s eyes flicker from shop to shop as we stroll down the small avenue in town.

She had seemed off earlier; like something was bothering her. Her eyes had seemed a little darker and drained, and like she had been dealing with something probably best left forgotten. Or for me and my nine inch bowie and brass knuckles to deal with.

A small grin pulls at my lips.Later.Right now was about spending time with Red, and driving away any of those bad thoughts from that pretty rosy-haired head of hers.

We had hopped on a bus that runs by the academy once every hour or two and headed into town. And already I could see her brighten up. All she needed was to escape that shitty academy and all those dumb fucks.

I walk behind her, like a loose shadow, edging closer as she moves down the pathway.

Red had grown on me. And more than I ever thought any chick could. She seems to have crawled under my skin and carved out a place somewhere in me just for her. And fuck if some bigger part of me didn’t love it.

I had missed her this past week while we were gone, and even tried to sneak away from the boys to see her at night. But fuckingMalcaught me and ratted me out to Creed.

I had only wanted to go watch her sleep for a few hours and get my little Red fix, but Creed said I was being more demented than usual. He kept harping on about her being an ‘unknown’ and a ‘liability’.

But fuck was he wrong. Micai was special.

From the very first day we met I knew she was different; from how she sat beside me to how she stared me down with those pretty blue eyes of hers…And the moment she leaned into my blade like the badass she is, Iknewshe would be one of us.

But these boys…they were my brothers not by blood but by choice, and we were brought together by our dark pain and blackened pasts.

They were always secretly worrying about the darkness inside them; about it spilling out and burning everything around them down.

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