Page 27 of Blood Marked

But then blood soaked through the front of her tunic.

A dark, ugly bloom across the fabric.

Her hand clutched at the wound. Her knees buckled.

She stumbled backward.

Kael didn’t remember unsheathing his sword. Didn’t register the movement of shoving aside an intervening noble. He was already there. Crossing the chamber in three brutal strides.

The assassin turned, trying to melt into the crowd. But Kael was faster.

He tackled the man mid-turn, slamming into him with the full weight of fury and fear and instinct. They hit the ground hard—stone against bone, a gasp of breath escaping the attacker.

Kael’s blade came down, not to kill, but to pin.

Steel cracked the floor beside the man’s neck, close enough to leave a bleeding graze.

Close enough to promise death.

“Try to move,” Kael snarled, voice guttural. “Please.”

The man didn’t move.

The court erupted in chaos behind him—guards swarming, nobles shouting, a ripple of shocked silence where Selene had fallen.

But Kael didn’t look away from the would-be killer.

Not yet.

Because Selene’s blood was still fresh on the stones.

And the rage inside him hadn’t peaked.

“Leave him,” Kael snarled at the approaching guards, forcing his wolf down. “Take him to the dungeons. I want to know who sent him.”

His voice was low. Controlled.

But every word was soaked in fury.

He turned.

Selene was still standing but barely. Her hand was pressed tight over the wound, blood slipping between her fingers. Her skin had gone wax-pale, her jaw clenched.

“Selene—”

She blinked at him. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” he growled.

He reached her in two strides and swept her into his arms. She didn’t fight it. Not this time. Her head lolled against his chest, and he felt it—the echo of her pain slamming into his ribs like a second heartbeat.

The Blood Mark blazed to life beneath his skin.

It didn’t whisper this time.

It screamed.

The healers had cleared the lesser wing of the citadel in record time. Kael barreled through the doors, voice barking orders, until Selene was laid gently on the obsidian-slabbed table at the center of the room.

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