All I can do is wrap my hand around my throat and focus on catching my breath.
“She’s nothing but trouble, Aerix,” Cierra says, although she stops fighting him, which might be the only reason he hasn’t snapped her neck by now. “You’re so obsessed with her that you can’t see it, but she’s not good for you. Just because she looks like Kallista doesn’t mean sheisKallista.”
I freeze at the unfamiliar name, and Aerix’s expression darkens further.
“I know exactly who she is,” he says, his voice so low that goosebumps rise along my arms. “And if you lay a finger on her again, you will beg for a death as quick as Jake’s.”
“How unbecoming.” Cierra laughs, even though he’s yet to let her go. “The mighty Prince Aerix, weakening for a human. You should know better than to overstep. Especially when we’re so close to joining the Blood Coven and becoming Revenants. It’snot going to end well for any of us if you don’t control yourself and your precious human.”
Aerix stiffens, his eyes flashing with something dangerous. “I’m not the one who needs to be controlling themselves right now,” he warns. “You’re speaking of things that shouldn’t be mentioned in front of her—in front ofanyof them.”
“Maybe it would be easier to kill her than to risk her repeating what she’s heard.” Cierra smirks, as if she’s already won.
“The solution here is simple—keep your pets away from her,” he says simply. “And if they or you so much as lay a finger on her, Jake won’t be the last to bleed out in this court.”
Finally, he releases her, stepping back with a fluid grace that shows he’s ready to stop her if she tries anything again.
Cierra rises slowly, and her midnight gaze finds me, burning with hatred. “You will pay for what happened today,” she says. “Both of you.”
With that, she spins on her heel and storms out, the door slamming behind her with enough force to make the walls shudder.
It’s so quiet now that all I can hear are my ragged breaths and pounding heart.
Aerix’s expression softens as he kneels in front of me and reaches slowly for my neck. His fingertips, cool against my overheated skin, send fire surging through my veins, each touch igniting a trail of sparks that threaten to consume me on the spot.
I suppress a shiver, but from the way his lips curl into a subtle smirk, I know he notices.
“Hold still,” he tells me. “I’m checking for injuries.”
“You don’t need to,” I say, although I’m barely able to get the words out. “I’m fine.”
But he doesn’t stop. His fingers brush my jaw, then linger at the base of my throat, just where my pulse pounds the hardest. It’s like he’s daring me to call him out—daring me to break this electrified silence.
I don’t.
“She went easy on you,” he finally declares, his hand retreating, leaving a void in its place. “Nothing’s broken.”
I exhale sharply, relieved the moment is over, yet unnerved by how much I’d wanted it to last.
“I assumed as much.” My voice is hoarse, but at least I’m speaking. “Given that if she broke my neck, I’d be dead.”
The final word echoes around the room—a reminder of what Aerix did to Jake.
The connection between us vanishes, and I flinch away from him, scrambling to put space between us. “You killed Jake,” I say, praying he’ll deny it.
“He threatened you,” he says simply, as if that’s supposed to explain everything. “He hurt you.”
“That doesn’t mean he deserved to die!” I snap, standing as the image of Jake’s lifeless, mutilated body flashes through my mind again. “I could have handled him myself.”
Aerix stands as well. “With your rake?” He chuckles, low and dark, as if he saw it all play out himself. “The question is… if Aurora hadn’t intervened, would you have continued to defend yourself with it? Would you have done what you needed to do to survive in this court?”
“Jakeis hardly the one threatening my survival,” I shoot back.
“Was,”Aerix corrects me. “Past tense. Jake’s dead.”
The unnecessary reminder hits me like a punch to the gut.
“Which he shouldn’t be, since he wasn’t a threat to me in the first place,” I say. “He was confused, upset, and hurting.We were having normalhumanproblems. But clearly, you don’t understand how those work.”
“And clearly you don’t understand how the Night Court works,” he replies, closing the space between us so suddenly that I’m backed against the wall. “You’re in our territory now. You’remyresponsibility. You will follow our rules, and you will let us to handle situations the way we see fit. Especially when we’re doing everything we can to protect you and keep you safe.”
