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Between passersby, he spotted a thick hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her into an alleyway.

Jarek called upon the Serpent. Manifesting in the passage ahead of them, a black tendril formed from the abductor’s own shadow, wrapping around his legs and coiling up his body. Jarek caught Lilith by the wrist and drew her away as the man was pulled against the wall.

Shadows slid up to the man’s neck, squeezing the entire way. He choked out inaudible words as his breathing grew shallow, his fear growing dark—darker than Lilith’s now. The only light came from the adjacent street. The alley was almost pitch black, and Jarek was still losing himself to the Serpent’s voracious hunger for this man’s fear.

He’d happily let it take control.

“What are you doing? I said, stop!”

The mad rush of the god slowed under the sound of her voice. Tearing his glare from his victim, he both damned her empathy and praised it in a single breath.

Jarek had Lilith pulled tight to his side, his arm wrapped around her middle, though he couldn’t remember placing it there. She was turned toward him, gripping his coat with tight fists. Her glasses were nowhere to be found, allowing her gaze to freely search for his own.

She sighed when she found it. “There you are.”

Jarek’s anger shifted. “What am I doing?” he seethed. “He had his hands on you. You were panicking!”

Her aura dimmed with every inhale. “I’m fine.”

“That doesn’t mean he can get away with that!”

“You still shouldn’t go straight to killing him!”

Damn it, she was right. He knew that, but it was difficult to concentrate long enough on one thing while he was completely surrounded by her—the sting of her voice, pressure from her balled hands pushing against his chest, the nutty aroma of her scent, the purple intensity of her eyes… All with a suffocating man caught in his soul’s grasp, and—

What in Ettan’s name am I doing? He pulled himself into the shadows while near the crowd of people, a crowd that was still within eye and ear shot. He’d never acted so brazen, not even in his first life.

Jarek forced himself to breathe. “I wasn’t thinking…”

“No shit. Leave that to me, please. One of us needs to remain in their right mind.”

Not possible. I haven’t been all day.

Lilith noticed their proximity—specifically the placement of her hands. She stifled a gasp, then pushed herself away from him. Jarek did nothing other than notice the cold breeze pass between them.

“I’m not… your fuckin’… Stalker!”

Jarek snapped back to his catch, no longer held in life ending constriction.

“It’s me. Lily! I… swear it!”

Lily? “You know him?” Jarek asked.

“I might,” she said, watching him carefully. "I was telling him to prove it."

He was burly, but Jarek had seen more intimidating men. He wore a ratty green coat, and his unkempt brown hair and beard couldn’t hide the blue glow of his eyes. Certainly no one he recognized.

Jarek released the shadows enough so the man could speak. “Give her what she asked for.”

He took a long inhale, flicking glances between the two. “You… you were there. The day I met Rey. Two… no, three years ago, by the eastern gates, during the innovator’s festival. You told me to get lost.” He paused, searching for the right words. “That ‘she was too pretty to be seen on the arm of a dealer.’”

Lilith shot a breath out of her nose. “Aarin.”

“Like I already said!” He looked over himself. “Now, let me go.”

“Let you go?” Lilith laughed in time with a burst of bright red mist exploding from her skin. She took a step toward him, then another, spitting a string of curses that erased any virtue she had left. Jarek ushered her away by the shoulder so he was between them.

“Explain to me what is going on.”