Page 108 of Lethal Souls
Caz can’t help but grimace. “The what?”
“Turi,” Hassha answers. “The most powerful tribe of Gilded.”
“I’ve never heard of this tribe,” Caz counters. “He’s clearly lying.”
“Just because you’ve never heard of us doesn’t mean we don’t exist.” Valden flashes a smug grin at Caz. “We prefer keeping ourselves hidden. It’s for the best, of course.” His eyes shift from Caz to me, and his head tilts. “What a gorgeous woman. If I weren’t wrapped up, I’d take your hand and show you my respects, my lady.”
Um. What?
Caz’s nostrils flare as he takes a step toward Valden and glares him down.
I’ll rip his fucking head off. Feed it to the wolves. Arrogant bastard. My mate. Mine.
“Caz?” I call.
He ignores me, locking on Hassha while pointing a stern finger at him. “We need to kill him.”
“We will do no such thing, Caspian,” Hassha says back.
“Why not? He came into my territory without warning, nearly hurt your daughters, and now he’s flirting with my mate and expecting me to tolerate it. If it were up to me, he’d be dead already.”
“Well, it’s a good thing his fate isn’t up to you, isn’t it?” Hassha strolls toward Valden while nodding at Korah.
Korah releases him from the invisible grip, and he sighs as he rises to a stand. He’s nearly as tall as the Regal sisters with skin as tan as Alora’s. I see the resemblance in the shapes of their eyes and the color of the strands of hair peeking out of his helmet.
“He’s here to gather information.” Hassha scans him thoroughly. “It is true that he wants to fight with us in this war against Selah.”
Caz shifts on his feet. “How can we trust him?”
“We learn to. And if you can’t do that, you use him. The Turi Tribe may be small, but they are known to be incredibly gifted and very hard to kill.”
“Well, I don’t give a shit what he is. Until I contact Alora, I don’t want him roaming my territory freely.”
Hassha’s head turns a fraction as she looks over her shoulder. “We won’t let him roam free. But you don’t have to contact Alora to find out who he is. I read him on the shore, and I’m reading him now. He does not lie.”
A growl builds in Caz’s throat as he glares at Valden, who simply grips his chin and pushes his head at an angle so his neck cracks.
Caz takes my hand and after one more glare at Valden, leads the way to the manor.
“You don’t think he’s here to hurt anyone, do you?” I ask when we’re inside.
“I don’t know, but I already don’t like him,” Caz grumbles, finally releasing my hand. He stalks into the kitchen where Makoto is chopping vegetables. The pots on the stovetop are bubbling, and there are several baskets spread around the counters.
“This is a lot of food, Makoto.” I eye the baskets, noticing each of them is stuffed with breads, fruits, vegetables, and other miscellaneous things.
“It’s for the Kessel tribe. Maeve suggested I prepare food for everyone,” Makoto informs me, cutting a glance at me. He does a double take, eyes rounding. “Oh—what happened to you?”
“Long story.” I sigh.
“Where is Maeve?” Caz asks, planting a hand on his waist.
“The garden.”
“Right.” Caz leaves the kitchen as quickly as he came in, and I follow him.
He doesn’t stop until we’re walking through the gates of the garden, and Maeve appears. A red scarf is on her head, concealing most of her hair, and a pair of large sungoggles covers her eyes.
“Caspian,” she greets, lifting a basket from the ground.