Page 75 of The Blackened Blade

My brows draw together with his words. Howdidwe not meet before? How had I gone this long in my previous life and never met Annex? With the way he looks and acts, how had I at least not known of him before? Was I that lost in my own little world and misery, that I never took the time to see anything or anyone else around me?

He pulls his bottom lip into his mouth, his eyes curving into soft crescents as he watches me, “But I guess you're here now.”

He was right, but not in the way he intended. I was back, and experiencing all new things with each passing day. This second chance wasn’t just about revenge anymore, but about living the life I should’ve always had. One where I choose for myself and live each day without regrets. Where I can experience things I never had a chance to, or was denied.

A small smile stretches my cheeks before my gaze narrows on the red flecks on Annex’s face, and then his hands.

Unless he was painting moments before he came, that dried liquid eerily resembles blood.

I grab his hand, pulling it toward me, trying to find the wound or cut it's seeping from.

“Not my blood, Red.” He smirks, wiping a few flecks from his face with his free hand.

“What happened?” I brush my fingers along his knuckles, not trusting his words as I continue to check for small cuts. He didn’t seem like the type to care even if hewashurt.

A small shiver runs up his hand with the slight touch. He clears his throat, his brows furrowing as he watches me.

“Just teaching some pathetic meat sacks their place.”

“Meat sacks?” Do I even want to know? I shake my head. “So none of this is yours?”

“As if it’d be that easy Red. I'm practically indestructible, you know. Not many get to make me bleed, and if they do, they usually end up being hauled away moments later in bloody pieces.” He chuckles, hitching a thumb behind him.

“Why do you think all these wusses are so scared? I’m not that easy Red. And either way, I won’t die from some measly cuts or bruises.”

I guess I shouldn’t have gotten worried anyway, itwasAnnex. It was probably the ‘meat sacks’ that needed the most help in that kind of situation.

I nod, letting go of his fingers. But as I slowly pull my hand back, he takes it in his, his fingers twisting around mine.

His gaze is fixated on our interlocking fingers as he opens his mouth again to talk.

“You’ve such small hands, Red.” His lips pinch into a straight line, “How can something so small and soft…” He mumbles, his words trailing off as he slowly pulls his hand back and gazes at it. Then he turns his gaze back toward me.

The creases in his eyes smooth out, the shadow of a frown tracing his lips replaced by a small grin, “Those eyes…” He leans in further, something deeper and intense growing in his gaze. “Never lose that, Red. That fight in you…Never let anyone take it away. With it, you can do almost anything.”

His sincere expression catches me, his words hitting deeper than I thought as a lump forms in my throat. Annex hadn’t even known me for long and yet he saw something in me, something no-one else did. Even with thismagicless bodyand these ‘soft hands’ he could see strength in me.

I shake off the emotion trying to well up inside me.

“Even kick your ass?” I ask as I try to reel my emotions back in.

A soft chuckle escapes his stretched lips as he leans back in his seat.

“We’d have to test that one out.”

Suddenly his grin fades, a more serious expression taking over his face–or his version of one–as he looks toward the board while straightening himself.

“You should really stop distracting me with all this flirting though, Red. Some of us are here to learn. You should pay attention instead of hitting on me.” He glances at me, a shadow of a grin lacing his lips before he schools it and looks back toward the board. His eyes are now fully focused on Mr. Finch as a shiver runs down the teacher's tweed blazer.

I almost choke on the laugh wanting to spill from my lips.Flirtingwith him?

“If by hitting on you, you meanactuallywanting to hit you, then yeah, I’ve got itbaaadfor you.”

He shifts in his seat before glancing at me, a slight tilt to his lips as he bends closer.

“Let's keep the foreplay for later, Red,” He pulls himself up a little straighter.

“I don’t mind an audience but,” he side-eyes the rest of the room, “I’d much rather play when it's just you and me.” The following grin he gives me is down-right sinful, a promise in his darkening gaze that sends a slight shiver down my back.

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