Hazai looked so fucking excited; he was literally quivering.
“Remove their gags,” he said, and Gabe smirked, immediately obliging.
He ripped the tape off Remus first. Rem spat out the cloth in his mouth immediately.
“Harper!” he bellowed, straining against his collar to get to me. “I’m so fucking sorry! Fuck, Harper, have they touched you?”
I tried to show him with my eyes that it wasn’t his fault. It was mine. I should have known better than to trust a fucking man.
“Shutup,”Gabe drawled, casually backhanding my brother so hard he yelped in pain.
Romulus snarled against his gag, but Gabe rolled his eyes before tearing the tape off him next.
The second Rom’s mouth was free, he roared and clamped his jaws down on Gabe’s hand. I swear his teeth grew into fangs right before my eyes, and blood exploded out of Gabe’s flesh. Satisfaction erupted through me as Gabe barked out a shout of pain, trying to pull away from Rom. My brother just chomped down harder, burying his teeth deeper into his hand.
Hazai booted Romulus in the ribs so sharply that I heard a sickeningcrack,and my brother let out a dog-like whine as he shrunk away.
“Fucker!”Gabe swore, and for the first time since I’d met him, he looked angry.
He shook out his bloody hand, and Hazai looked both furious and concerned.
He set the blue bottle down and carefully took Gabe’s injured hand in his. With gentle fingers, he peeled the now shredded glove off so he couldexamine the wound.
I tried not to smirk at how deep the gash was.
Serves you right, you sick fuck.
“Fuck, baby. He got you bad,” Hazai murmured, carefully raising Gabe’s hand to his mouth and kissing the wound softly, his tongue darting out to taste the other man’s blood.
“Does that hurt?” he whispered, rolling his eyes up to meet Gabe’s.
They looked at each other for a long moment before Gabe reached out and gently brushed some of Hazai’s dark hair out of his eyes.
“Yeah, baby, but I’ll be okay.”
Hazai nodded and dropped another kiss on his partner’s hand before turning furious green eyes on my brother, who was looking at them with a smug, bloody smile on his face.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Hazai growled at Rom, and my skin turned to gooseflesh at the man’s threat.
Fuck. He was terrifying when he was angry.
Uncertainty flickered across my brother’s face as Hazai snatched back up his blue bottle while Gabe replaced the glove Rom had shredded through.
“No one hurts my little bird but me,” Hazai said, his soft voice somehow making me shiver with fear.
The dark-haired man crouched before Romulus, who snarled at him in defiance. He pulled the stopper off the strange bottle and let out a deep rumble that almost sounded like a purr.
“You’re going to make it up to my little bird, Sköll. Then, your brother is going to get yoursisternice and wet for us.”
Romulus’ eyes widened in fear as he eyed the bottle that Hazai was carefully tipping over his head.
“Don’t—” Remus whined, jerking forward in an attempt to prevent Hazai from drizzling Romulus with the strange oil.
“And the best part is, you’re going tobegus to let you do it.” Hazai laughed before letting the first drops of liquid fall.
Shemhazai was in his element, and it made my heart swell with happiness to see him having so much fun.
When I’d found him at that shitty tavern, there had been a darkness in his eyes that scared me. He’d looked haunted, as if there was some unseen force hurting him, and I was filled with this overwhelming need to protect him from whatever it was.
