Page 75 of Shattered Jewel
I don’t miss the opportunity.
“Having trouble there?” I call down to Kaspian.
Kaspian brushes off my mockery with an icy glare. “Just because you’ve managed to avoid your deranged mother’s hodge-podge of household product traps doesn’t mean you’ve won.”
Deranged? Fuck him. He’s the deranged one.
I scowl at him while he opens his mouth for another round of verbal death blows when a loud groan echoes from down the hallway. My heart skips a beat as my mind rushes to place the voice.
“Cav?” Kaspian turns and faces somewhere unseen. There’s an edge of amusement to his tone that makes my skin crawl.
“I’m fucking melting,” Cav snarls back.
Axe strides into the foyer from another wing, rubbing his back with a wince. “This place puts guns and knives to shame.”
The sight of Axe strangles any retort on my lips. “Axe … your face. Oh my god.”
I’d thought it was a dream or a newfound hobby of sleepwalking when I saw him at my window last night, a slash spanning the entire length of his profile. I convinced myself it was because I when blinked twice, and his silhouette was gone.
But here he is, his imposing figure coming into full view. But it’s the splash of red across his cheek, grim evidence of fresh violence, that weakens my knees.
That kind of gash will leave a permanent scar.
He wipes at it absentmindedly, his broad hand coming away stained with red. “It’s just a scratch.”
“Just a scratch?” I breathe out.
Axe shrugs. “I’ll deal with it.”
His nonchalance does nothing to ease my anxiety. I’m torn between leaving them here in their predicament and doing what’s right.
“Elara,” Wilder says, drawing my attention. “Help us out, or we will help ourselves.”
His threat is calculated, designed to instill fear, but it only makes my choice easier. They break into my house, don’t apologize when they get caught, and now rudely demand I help them?
I thought they were on my side, that we were working toward an end to the Sovereigns together. Yet here they are, implementing plans and sneaking around my house without telling me.
“Come get me, Wilder. I dare you.”
His signature smirk edges back onto his face at the mention of his favorite pastime.
At that moment of distraction, Kaspian moves with catlike grace, avoiding the traps on the stairs with an uncanny presence of mind.
Instinctively, I back away but I’m not quick enough. He’s on me in a blur of movement.
“Kas!” Axe warns in an attempt to stop him, but it’s too late.
Kaspian grabs me, his fingers gripping my arms with biting pressure.
“Like Wilder said,” he purrs into my ear, his breath hot against my skin, “it’s time to disarm these traps.”
The corners of Kaspian’s lips twitch into a hedonistic smile at my obvious discomfort, and he yanks me forward.
I stumble against his, and this time his smile is full and triumphant before it disappears entirely when something bashes against the back of his head.
“Stay away from my friend, you dick!”
Furious, Kaspian releases me and spins. I spot Sasha over his shoulder, holding the brass body of a lamp and already brandishing it for another blow.