Page 76 of Shattered Jewel
“Fucking hell,” Kaspian growls, leaping sideways as Sasha steps in front of me. Her eyes are wide, but a determined set to her jaw briefly warms my aching heart.
She stalks toward Kaspian like a protective lioness in plaid pajama shorts, her eyes slitted. Before she can land another blow, Axe materializes and catches her wrist.
Kaspian’s eyes glint with annoyance at Axe’s interference. He studies Sasha, looking her up and down as if trying to find a reason not to end her.
“Back off,” Axe warns her. Or Kaspian. I can’t be sure.
Sasha’s focus moves from Axe to Kaspian, her grip on the lamp not loosening.
“Let go of me and maybe I will,” she says to Axe.
He releases her wrist slowly, stepping back but keeping an eye on the advancing Kaspian. Sasha moves in sync with him, placing herself between in front of me, a fierce guardian ready to strike again.
Meanwhile, I can hear Cav’s muffled curses from wherever he’s stuck. Everyone stills as another loud crash reverberates through the manor.
With every second that passes, Farrow Manor feels less like a sanctuary and more like a battlefield.
Wilder seizes this moment to free himself from the trap. He sidesteps a vicious-looking dart and leaps onto a safer patch with a fluidity that hints at years of combat training.
Dusting himself off, he approaches us, his lupine gaze fixed on me.
“Elara,” he begins smoothly, “you’re out of your depth here?—”
“Am I?” I cut him off sharply. A rush of courage floods through me. “Did you think you could just invade my home without consequences?”
Wilder says in a tone that’s meant to be soothing but only irks me further, “We didn’t come here to fight.”
“No?” Sasha steps in before I have a chance to retort. Her voice is hard with anger. “Why are you here, then? To play catch?”
Wilder ignores Sasha entirely, focusing on me. “If you don’t help us disarm your mother’s traps and let us search this place undisturbed,” he cautions, “we might have to find more persuasive ways to encourage your cooperation.”
“There’s no time for a standoff,” Axe says through stiff lips.
I note with horror he can’t move his mouth as he should because of the gash continuing down his cheek to his jawline.
If the Sovereigns did that to him just for failing to procure the Heart in time, what would they have done to Maverick for finding it, breaking it, and interfering with their sadistic plans?
Nausea hits me, fast and relentless. I refuse to blink in fear of the backs of my eyelids showing me the various ways they could’ve tortured my brother.
If they found out about Maverick’s snooping, I have no doubt they are his killers.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Sasha retorts to something Wilder said while I slid into an abyss of worry. Her sharp voice brings me out of it.
“Besides,” she continues, “Why should we trust you? All you guys have proven is that you don’t deserve nice things. Including my best friend’s attention.”
Wilder glares at Sasha and opens his mouth to reply when Kaspian beats him to it. “Because we’re all trapped in this house right now, and you two aren’t going anywhere until we do.”
His voice swarms over me like strangling vines, stirring unwanted memories of his previous manipulations.
Kaspian’s casual indifference toward our safety only proves how little regard he has for anyone.
“We are not damsels in distress,” I seethe through clenched teeth.
Kaspian leers at me. “Yet here you stand,” he points out, “hiding behind your friend.”
I know he’s trying to bait me, to make me lose my temper. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Kaspian during our time of forced association, it’s that he gets a sick thrill out of seeing people lose control.
Either in bed, or out of it.