Page 94 of Marked
She’s mine forever, if she will have me. And I will do whatever I have to to make sure no one can take her away.
No one.
Chapter 41
Lilah
“I’ll go,” Ruin tells Markus. His beautiful body is once again clothed in the warrior leather I met him in, but there isn’t as much tightness around his eyes now.
Something warm unfurls inside my chest as I watch him, and I’m not dumb enough to call it love. But could it be in time?
Definitely.
Finding out he was married, to a point, changes nothing. Except my respect for him. To go through that at such a young age ... My lips tremble. It only makes me believe in all this more. In us.
He glances at me, his dark eyes hot, but open. “Caine will remain with Lilah and Raina.” He turns back to the king. “They go nowhere without him.”
Markus scrubs his jaw. “You presume to give me orders? To give your queen orders?”
Ruin meets his gaze head on. “On this ... I would humbly request you agree.” Though the words are amicable, the tone he uses is not.
The King smirks. “Then I suppose you leave me no choice.” Raina smiles at me from her place next to him, and I give her a thumbs up.
Markus pivots to face the rest of the team. “Don’t think this gives the rest of you liberties. This is a one-time thing.”
Tanner and Gage crack smiles, while Caine’s grin can only be mischievous. Sinister. Horan appears bored with the whole thing, but even his gold eyes are lighter. And no wonder.
As Ruin’s team, they owe him a certain allegiance. But Markus is their king. Having the two men in such a bad place had to be difficult. Hell, the definition of a rock and a hard place.
As the rest of the team disperses to get ready, Ruin pulls me aside.
With the weapons bristling over his frame, he is fierce. Deadly. “Stay with Caine, do you understand?”
I nod. “I know, Ruin. He is the fastest way outifsomeone got in.”
He smirks and kisses me on the side of my head. The motion leaves me flushed, and my gaze meets a hellfire filled one across the room. “Good girl,” Ruin says, but I barely hear him.
There is more than a little intensity to Caine’s gaze. A trace of resentment too. He catches me watching him and turns away to walk to the door.
But I don’t miss his glance back or the bare ache in his gaze.
The door closes behind him and Ruin strokes my face. I startle. “Do I need to be worried?” he teases.
I look up, frowning. “That’s a stupid question.”
His black eyes glitter. “Just checking.”
“Caine is an Asmodean, right?”
He nods. “Came to us about five years ago, near dead. Horan hated him immediately, tried to follow him with crosses and holy water, even tried to con him into a church to repent his Sin.”
My eyes widen. “Are you serious?”
Ruin snorts. “Can you picture the arrogant son of a bitch doing that? Horan ignored him for months. The first time they came nose to nose in training, the bickering started then and it’s never stopped.” I punch him in the arm and he laughs.
His whole face lights up with the motion, and it makes him appear younger, more accessible and not. I stare at him as the corners of his eyes crinkle.
He sobers slowly. “What?” he asks, still smiling.
