Page 15 of Ashes and Lilies
Damen narrowed his eyes. “Watch yourself.”
Guilt knotted my stomach as I glanced between them. Titus and Damen were fighting. And worse, it was because of me.
“Please stop arguing.” I shot them my best no-nonsense look. “Damen tried to get me to leave,” I told Titus. “But I decided to stay. I didn’t want him to be eaten. I—”
They stopped glaring at each other and turned their attention to me.
The air rushed from my lungs at their expressions. Damen’s face was red, and his features strained, but Titus’s blank look was even more frightening.
Now that I had their attention, I didn’t like it.
“I was trying to help…” I sounded pathetic.
“I told you to run.” Damen’s voice was deep with disappointment. “You could have died. What in the world possessed you to stay?”
My insides twisted, and I looked away.
I’d messed up an opportunity to help—to have him trust me. I should have known better.
But I would have been okay, had it not been for my stupid brain.
“I’m so sorry…” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. There were no words to cover the depths of my shame. “I was in the way.”
Damen cursed. “That’s not what I meant, Bianca.”
This time, Titus didn’t move as Damen gripped my fingers. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have shouted.”
I couldn’t look at him. Of course, he noticed. He touched mychin, urging me to raise my face. Once our gazes met, I was trapped.
“I was scared,” he continued. “You could have been killed. This was nothing for me to handle by myself. But you…”
I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It made me sad that he believed he was indestructible. “Where’s Kasai?”
“I sent it away.” Damen let out a breath. He released my hands and addressed Titus. “We’ll need to finish things here.”
Titus’s heartbeat had begun to slow, and he gracefully set me back on my feet. Yet, his expression was still difficult to read as he touched my arm and stepped away, following Damen.
They were tense as they conversed, but I couldn’t hear what they were talking about. I probably could have figured it out—neither one was covering their mouths—but my attention drifted to the rest of the room instead.
The hyenas had been corralled at the opposite end of the room and a lioness paced between my group and theirs. She growled—low and threatening—any time a hyena looked in our general direction, and they remained subdued.
Considering the circumstances, it was safe to assume that the lioness was also a shifter. Who might she be? Surely not the legendary Mar—
“Maria,” Titus called, breaking his conference with Damen. “Ada will have sensed this. She’ll probably be here soon.”
I stepped back, my pulse skipping as the lioness crouched her front legs and hissed at Titus. However, he wasn’t perturbed.
He sighed with a forced patience. “You don’t have to talk to her. I want you to take Bianca and leave.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could utter a word, the reverse process of a shifter transformation captured my attention.
Golden fur retreated. Bones twisted and reformed. Suddenly,there was a perfect, naked, long-haired blonde crouching on the floor.
So, this was Maria. It figured that she looked like something from a modeling magazine. It was a good thing Titus was celibate because there was no way I could compete with her perfection.
Not that I cared, honestly. The last thing I wanted—or needed—was that sort of relationship. I wasn’t even sure why these thoughts were crossing my mind. It might be an aftereffect of my near-death experience. I was worn out. I should have stayed home with Miles. He was the best at making lattes.
I held my forehead and groaned. “I need a drink.”
