Page 131 of Her Blood Revenge

She gestures to the symbol, then the book.

‘Nothing matches. The symbol isn’t in here. But it’s an earth grimoire. These are blood magic marks. I need to look in the blood grimoire.’

She blinks and points at me.

‘I don’t have it,’ I tell her. ‘Neve does.’

She visibly gulps. A very appropriate reaction.

‘Didyou know that the blood goddess Hel is real?’ I ask.

She slowly shakes her head, a deep fear taking root.

‘I saw her,’ I whisper, the memories of that woman and the beach straining my words as good as a fist furled around my throat. ‘She’s terrifying.’

All that blood. All those souls.

‘I saw Athir, too.’

Her eyes widen and light up.

What was he like?She writes.

‘Oddly comforting. Powerful. He seemed kind.’

She smiles warmly at my description.

Thalia’s gaze drifts past my shoulder, and she’s on her feet in an instant. Looking over my shoulder, I see a very pissed-off shifter storming towards us. His whole attention is on Thalia.

He strides past me as I get to my feet. Thalia starts to run, sprinting towards the trees and squealing in fear.

His hand grips the back of her neck, and he lifts her. Thalia’s feet keep moving, but she’s not going anywhere. It’s borderline comical.

‘Please put her down,’ I groan.

‘I smell your blood. She made you bleed.’

‘I’m fine. She stabbed me a little bit. It was just… a misunderstanding.’

‘What kind of misunderstanding leads to a stabbing?’

‘One in which she hates me because we held her prisoner and cut out her tongue,’ I remind him.

‘Ikept you prisoner.Icut out your tongue. If you want to stab anyone, you should be stabbingme,’ he growls, looking at her with pure malice. ‘Wanna see what happens when you stabme, mud witch? I assure you. I will not react as kindly to it as my girl did.’

My girl.

Those words make me feel warm and wanted. I guess I am. No one has cared or defended me like these three lunatics do. Sure, they tend to tear out throats first and ask questions… well, never. But there’s something powerful in being protected by extremely powerful men who desire you more than anyone else and who would happily tear apart anyone who even thought about hurting you. Watching him stand up for me… It’s fucking hot.

Thalia starts to openly sob, shaking her head so violently that her hair whips across her face.

His teeth sharpen more than the usual fangs, and his eyes morph from human to his yellow wolf eyes. The rest of him stays as he is.

‘Archie. Put her down,’ Leo says, stepping into the clearing. ‘This is a place of no violence.’

‘Tell that to this bitch. She stabbed Pix.’

‘You know she will be healed quickly enough if you give her your blood. Please, mate. Put her down. She’s no threat to you.’

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