Page 97 of Psycho Gods

A dark corridor.

Glowing blue swords.

A bear roaring.

Infected dying.

High-pitched chittering.

A woman screaming.

I tripped and looked down.

It was a body.

CRACK.

“Snap out of it.” Cobra slapped me across the face, and the party (funeral) came back into focus.

I touched my lip, and my finger came back red. The cold liquid hardened into ice.

“Thanks,” I said sincerely.

“Don’t mention it.” He grunted and stepped away. “Seriously, never talk to me again. Better yet, forget I exist.”

“Who are you?” I asked with feigned confusion.

A slow smile curled his lips as he pulled Sadie to his side, tucking her under his shoulder protectively.

He looked at something behind me and pulled his mate into the crowd. Before the dancing bodies swallowed them, Cobra winked.

I cocked my head in confusion.

His meaning was clear a second later when long fingers grabbed my cheeks and pulled my face to the side.

The hand was freezing.

Harsh.

Unrelenting.

A tongue licked across my lower lip wantonly, and I was just depressed enough to enjoy it. I trembled.

“Why is my Revered bleeding?” Scorpius asked menacingly as he shook my head back and forth. “I heard a slap, is that what this is from? Who do I need to kill?”

He breathed roughly, and warm air puffed against the side of my face.

The blind king stood flush against me. He curled his body around mine like a dragon hoarding its treasure.

I’d noticed that he was doing it more often.

Shielding me with his flesh.

“It’s not blood,” I drawled, my cheeks pressed against his fingers as I forced my lips into a smile. “I’m just overflowing with existential dread, practically bursting at the seams.”

He didn’t release my face.

Instead, he rubbed his wide chest against my back and purred, “Seriously, who am I killing?”