Page 97 of The Blackened Blade

The crowd's cheers pull me from my thoughts as I take a couple of steps closer, making my way through the crowd and nearer to the cage. A hand suddenly slides down my lower back and grabs my ass from behind.

The asshole in question places himself beside me, his dark hair slicked back and his beady eyes pretending to watch the fight as his hand gropes me.

I take a slow breath as his grin grows wider, a sleazy satisfied look spreading across his face, as if he thinks I’m enjoying his old greasy fingers fondling my ass.

Then suddenly his grin falls, his face twisting in pain.

He turns toward me as I tighten my grip on his hand and with another flick of my wrist, I snap another one of his fingers. He groans in pain before gritting his teeth. His other hand lashes out toward me, trying to grab me, but quickly falls when I snap a third finger.

“Bitch.” He spits out between whimpers.

I yank his hand forward, twisting it behind his back as his knees give way. He tries again to hit me as we move but I dodge it, swiping his nearest knee and snapping his wrist as he falls forward.

“Fucking whor–” His words are cut short as his eyes widen in terror. Black marks quickly form around his neck and look almost like smoke, coiling around him like a noose. He begins to gasp and struggle for air as a large shadow falls over us.

“Who do you think you are, causing shit in my domain?” Creed's face is like stone, a fury and rage in them I hadn’t seen before.

A dark energy forms around him, emanating power and dominance. My eyes instinctively fall to the floor for a brief second before I remind myself that I no longer fear anyone or anything.

I pull my eyes from the ground and look around me to see the room. The crowd has fallen silent, their heads turned away or turned down. I turn back toward Creed and am met with two black swirling orbs with silver irises.

A shiver runs down my spine, my instincts screaming to turn away, but a louder voice in my head telling me to stare him down.

Creed's brow furrows as his dark eyes continue to gaze toward me, only turning away when a gurgling noise rings out beside us.

Right, the sleazeball.

I look at the black coils tightening around his neck with Creed's fierce gaze on him.

Was this Creed's ability, his power…these black coils?

I hear a rattling nearby and the clang of metal, followed by a few gasps before a huge dark figure jumps toward the man choking on the floor. I watch as a foot kicks the man in the face and sends him tumbling into the people around us, all of them falling like bowling pins with the force of it.

Annex turns to me, his eyes scanning my body before turning and narrowing toward the man gasping on the ground just mere metres from us.

“Annex?”

He whips back around to me, his face a mess with blood dripping down his torso and fists. He looks as if he just walked off a horror set, except I know the blood isn’t fake.Or his own.

“Yeah, Red?” His brows are still drawn downward, but his expression slightly softens as he gazes at me.

I hear a shuffling sound and a low whimper, and try to peer around Annex’s bloodied body to where the sleazeball fell, but he was gone.

Mallyn heads over to us from that direction, giving Creed a small nod.

Creed's stony face begins to relax, his black and silver eyes fading into his usual golden amber shade.

A warmth surrounds me from behind, a sweet calming scent instantly hitting me; like honey and lavender mixed with a slight salty undertone. It tickles my nose as an arm wraps around me and turns me toward it.

Ezra's brows are synched together, his face wearing a strange expression as his gaze trails up and down me. The longer I stare at him, I notice he now wears lipstick stains on his shirt, his hair is dishevelled, and a new unnaturally sweet scent is mixing with his own. It makes me feel sick the longer I smell it.

I shake his hands off and take a step back from him. “I’m okay.”

His face slightly pales as I move away from the sickly smell, and turn back toward Annex.

“...Make it slow.”Is all I hear from Annex’s conversation with Creed before he notices my gaze.

“Red, it's never a dull moment with you.” The grin he wears is almost contagious.Almost.

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