Page 101 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

It’s Bran.

He’s got something clutched in his hand. A charm. Almost exactly like the one the rogue we captured had.

The second I see it, I tackle him.

We crash into the wall, claws out, snarls loud. I pin him and rip the charm away. Kendall shouts something. The others pile in.

He struggles, fangs bared. “You idiots don’t get it! You’re following acurse! That girl isn’t your savior—she’s the end of all of us!”

“You working with the Brood?” Ridge demands.

Bran laughs. “You think the Brood is the real threat? She’s worse. Theyknowwhat she is. And they want to use her! She needs to die, along with her bloodli–”

I slam his head into the wall. He goes limp. The team’s dead quiet.

Kendall walks over, looking down at him.

“Callum… Thank you.”

I look at Bran’s blood spilling against the wall and out of his head. How did I not see that?

“You good?” she asks me, pulling me away from my own chastising.

“No,” I say honestly. “Not even close.”

She touches my arm—light, grounding.

“Then hold onto me.”

That one sentence undoes me more than anything else could.

We move again, faster now, becausesomeone knows we’re here. Because betrayal always means backup is close.

We don’t stop again until we hit another split—this time into stairs.

Worn, ancient. Leadingdown.

Kendall hesitates. Her hand brushes mine as the others keep moving.

She keeps her eyes distant and just says, “What if I’m what he said?”

“You’re not.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t care.”

She finally looks up. “You should.”

I take her face in my hands. “You think I’m scared of what’s in your blood? You think it changes what I feel about you?”

“Yes,” she breathes.

“Then let me prove you wrong.”

Her lips part.

I kiss her. Not hard. Not rushed. Just real.

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