Page 105 of Empire of Dark

What?

No.

I froze at her words.

Venetia slipped hard and went down onto her right knee.

“Don’t be weak, Venetia, get to your damn feet to take this.” Ada didn’t slow, didn’t stop in her swings at Venetia’s neck.

Barely blocking the blows, Venetia scrambled backward on one foot and one knee. Ada went at her brutally, forcing her back, shoving her down. Green energy ebbed from Venetia’s hands as Ada reached for her dragonfly dagger strapped to her calf.

Too far.

Ada was going to kill Venetia.

A red haze slipped into my vision as I sprang forth, tackling Ada away from Venetia and slamming her against the wall.

Her sword fell from her hand and all the air left her body in a gush. For a second, I could feel her body go limp. A second where I forgot that a blow like that couldn’t kill her, even if I wanted her dead.

A gasp and her body jerked between my arms.

Before she could move, I bent to grab Ada and I tossed her over my shoulder, stalking out of the room.

“Venetia, get to your safe room. Now.” My last word was a roar. One I knew she would listen to. She knew what the safe room meant.

People were going to die.

I didn’t bother to look behind me as I listened to her footsteps rush off in the other direction, headed straight toward the hidden stairs that led upward to her safe room in the upper part of the south tower. Surrounded by five feet of iron, the room could hold her safely away from the worst of my enemies. Her Uncle Cletus being enemy number one.

And now Ada.

Ada’s legs strained against my steel lock on them, her fists beating onto my back as I carried her up the circular stone staircase and didn’t stop until I was in the library.

“Damen—stop. Stop,” her voice screamed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You need to stop. I need to get back to Venetia. Damen—stop, dammit. Stop.”

My feet stilled and I threw her down onto the couch, when I really wanted to throw her through the damn stone floor.

She landed with a grunt, half on and half off the couch.

She scrambled to right herself, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction or the time to do so. My hands clasped onto the back of the sofa, my arms caging her in. “What in the fucking hell do you think you’re doing? You think you’re going to kill her? You think I’m going to let you?”

The slap across my face was instant. “I’m not trying to kill her, you bloody bastard. I’m helping her. She saw your damn brother and is freaking out.”

“No, you’re not—I saw what you were doing—ready to slice her head off.” My voice vibrated with deadly intent.

“I’m pushing her to fight harder than she ever has before,” she screamed in my face. “Did you not see the energy dripping from her hands? She was going to explode if I didn’t dosomething. She needs to be ready for what your fucking brother will do to her. And you’re the fucking asshole that let your brother into the castle.”

“No, you’re pushing her to an edge she can’t handle. An edge where she will kill you or herself or everyone within a mile. You think you’re fucking invincible and you thought to beat her into bloody submission.” I reached down and ripped the titanium cuff off her upper arm and threw it across the room. It crashed into the marble mantel and dropped in front of the fireplace.

“Damen, you don’t actually want to hurt me, do you?” Her words hissed, her jaw dropping with the words.

“You’re lucky I haven’t already dismembered your arm and torn out your insides from there to feed them to the ravens.”

She wedged her foot up and kicked out hard into my gut, but I didn’t budge, holding her in a cage of my body.

Her face went into mine, yelling, “I need to get back to Venetia. You don’t understand—you don’t understand the pain she’s in right now.”

“And you fucking do?”

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