Lachlan’s cheeks reddened as he snarled at Damien. “Shut up.”
“Stop teasing!” I swatted Damien’s shoulder. “Since when were you guys going to Cursina?”
“I talked to Kian about it this morning. He said it was agreed to last night.”
“Oh, well, that’s good,” I murmured. It felt like they kept making big decisions without me lately. “I want to go with you both.”
“No,” Damien growled in my ear.
I spun around and pushed his hands off my hips. “What do you mean? Please don’t tell me we’re going to go through this again.” I felt the anger swell within me.
Damien ran a hand through his dark hair with a groan. “Rowan and Norman have me busy this weekend torturing a human specimen.”
“Why?” Lachlan asked.
Damien’s eyes glistened at the question. “They want to see if I can do more… inhumane torture and see if they’ll break and give up any secrets. I’m hopeful.”
I frowned, crossing my arms. “But that just means you can’t go. Shouldn’t I still get to go if I want to?”
“Little bird,” he whined, dropping onto his knees in front of me. “I want you to be happy, but I’ve not had you out of my sight for more than a few hours since I met you.”
“Wait, what?” Lachlan stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “Never mind. That checks out, but Damien, Kian and I can protect her.”
Damien’s shadows clung to his body, swirling around him. “I know, but I have to know she’s safe.”
“We’re bonded, Damien.” I reached out and cupped his face before bending down and kissing his soft lips. “You’ll always know.”
An impudent chuckle sounded as Nate stepped closer to us. “It’d be a real shame if she was snatched up without you lurking in the darkness.”
Damien stood up with a threatening roar as his horns and tail shot out. His shadows whipped wildly around him as he stepped in front of me. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
My shadow grew restless in my mark, and I pressed my palm over it.
Lachlan grabbed my hand and squeezed as he stood in between Damien’s back and my front, like a second line of defense from Nate.
“Oh, nothing. Just that if you aren’t always watching from the shadows, who knows what kind of horror could await a small, weak shifter?” His red eyes leered over me, sending an involuntary shiver down my body.
I couldn’t believe Trixie had found him attractive; he seemed like he’d become creepier since they broke up.
Damien moved in a blur and grabbed his face in his palm before smacking him down against the snow and ice beneath our feet. Damien leaned over him, and his eyes were cold. “Are you threatening my little bird?”
Nate just laughed as if he was truly unhinged, but then Damien lost it. He laughed in a more chaotic, disturbed way than Nate had before he used his powers, and Nate’s face started to peel off under Damien’s gift. Exposed cheek muscle was bared to us before Simmons stepped in.
“Stop,” he barked. “I didn’t give anyone permission to fight, and I’m not in the mood to deal with it today. Get it together. We’re not supposed to be fighting each other. We’re supposed to be fighting thehumans.”
Damien nodded once, and a tendril of his shadow sliced down and severed the piece of skin from Nate’s face that had been peeled back. Damien levitated it before tossing it over the walls of the training hall. “Good luck finding your cheek, fucker. Don’t eventhinkabout our mate, or I’ll crack open your skull and rip out your brain.”
He stood, and gasps rang out around us. The murmurs that followed Damien started, but they were drowned out by Nate’s screams.
Damien’s tendency to always be where I was comforted me, whether it was supposed to or not. It did bother me that he wouldn’t be with me if I did accompany Lachlan and Kian to their villages, but it didn’t stop that desire to go. Just like when Rhett and Damien went to the Demon Capital. I wanted to show support to all of my mates, regardless of the situation.
“Damien, stay back for a moment. Everyone else, dismissed.” Simmons stared at me before turning toward Damien.
“Not happening,” he muttered, stalking over to me and kissing my forehead.
I placed my hand on his chest and stared up at him. “Damien, just talk to him. You shouldn’t keep avoiding your professors and classes.”
“I know everything they’re teaching anyway.” He pouted.
