Page 12 of Ashes and Lilies
“Your girlfriend seems to be nervous.” He smirked and dusted off his thighs. “Maybe she doesn’t feel safe around you.”
Damen—who’d been deep in thought—snapped to attention. But it was an instant too late. The man had made his approach and was grinning down at me.
Was it just me, or were his teeth extra pointy?
He held out his hand. “As a defender of the law, I can’t let that stand,” he told me. “Why don’t you come with me, pixie?”
I shook my head and grasped my trembling hands against my chest. A cold shiver ran down my spine. I would rather not go anywhere with him, ever. I wanted to leave. This room was dangerous.
Damen moved between us, pushing me a step behind him. “Jamie,” Damen said, his body was rigid, and his voice held the low threat of a warning.
“Conner!” Jamie spoke from my left. “Stand down at once. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Damen and I were backed into a corner, yet he remained calm. He moved his touch to my elbow and pulled me closer against him.
“You know regulations,” Damen said, looking between the two men. “This is a trial run only.”
“To hell with your bullshit regulations,” Conner growled. “I’m tired of all this training.”
A chill swept through me. His eyes were wild and animalistic,and with his statement, there was a flurry of movements that I could barely see from my vantage point.
“Great Mother of Abe!” Kasai—whom I’d completely forgotten about—suddenly dropped from the air to land beside me. “What drama!”
Was it me, or was the bird thrilled? It was difficult to tell.
The following words confirmed my analysis. “This has been the most excitement that I’ve had in years,” Kasai said, fluffing with delight. “Master, do I have your permission to eat them?”
“No!” Damen snapped. “Not today. Their thought processes are compromised; it wouldn’t be fair.” The corner of his jaw was tight as he looked toward the shikigami. “We need to get her out of here.”
Oh,nowhe wanted me to leave. I glanced around the space. It seemed a little too late for that. However, Damen’s tension was contagious, and where before I’d been wary, my nerves were beginning to escalate to fear.
Damen turned to face me, placing his hands on my shaking shoulders. He lowered his face toward mine, and the burning regret in his eyes made my muscles tighten.
“Baby girl, there’s a lot about this world that we haven’t been able to go over with you yet, but there’s no time. Right now, you need to listen to me. I’ll distract them, so you need to get out of here when there’s an opening. Don’t stop, no matter what you see.”
Despite the fog clouding my thoughts, I still looked at him skeptically. I wasn’t sure which surprised me more, the return of the nickname or his odd request.
“What?” And just where was I supposed to flee, exactly? It wasn’t like I could leave him.
Damen groaned. “Please listen to me. Go—”
A loud screech rang in my ears, and before I could blink, thewind was knocked out of me. Damen was thrown against my side, and I was harshly pushed into the wall. We fell to the floor. Damen laded on top of me, and my ribs ached from the impact.
The collision left me breathless. I barely had a chance to moan before Damen cursed, moving to all fours above me, freeing me from his crushing weight.
"Bianca!" Damen gingerly touched my face, and I blinked at him, waiting for the stars to vanish from my vision. "Are you okay?"
"I..." I gasped, curling the tingling fingers of my left hand before raising it to touch my temple, which now hurt. "I guess so," I told him.
I’d had worse.
My attention moved from us and toward the strangest fight I’d ever seen.
Kasai was swerving in the air against three snarling dogs. The dogs, in turn, appeared to be trying to get to us while trying to escape the shikigami.
Only three other officers were left in the room: Jamie, the poisoned Seth, and Conner. Conner watched us with an unsettling gaze, his face a mask of deranged happiness as he laughed eerily.
I could only stare.
