Page 182 of Whispers of Wisteria
I clawed at his arms, but my protest didn’t faze my attacker. My head spun as he hooked his finger under my bra and pulled it up. Titus bellowed as the onmyoji exposed my breasts.
“Mu…” he said, awestruck.
I twisted, trying to escape, but his hold was unmovable. He traced his finger over the mark. His touch was almost gentle, but the feel of his skin over mine made me want to throw up.
“Norman lied to me,” Albert frowned. “He has to know.”
“You’re dead!” Titus snapped. His teeth had sharpened, and his eyes glowed a bright crimson.
“So, your mate is Mu,” Albert replied, ignoring Titus’s threats. “That explains a lot.”
“You don’t get to say her name,” Titus growled, lowering his head. There was a threatening note in his voice as he added, “You don’t get to even look at her.”
The room suddenly grew colder and Titus stilled.
But Albert didn’t seem to notice. “Seeing as she’s Mu, the four of you’d have no choice but to cooperate. Plus, do you know how much people would pay for her? To have that type of leverage? She’s priceless.”
“She’s not an object!” Titus roared. He lunged forward as he dropped his arms in front of him. The chains pulled from the ceiling.
Albert let me go, and I fell to the ground as Titus swung his arms, throwing the chain back like a whip.
It flew forward, and Titus grunted, face contorted in concentration, as he aimed at the man running for the door.
The links flew through the air, and the redhead fell to the ground with a crash and shout, his arms trapped at his side.
Titus was in no hurry. He slowly stalked through the room toward Albert, the other end of the chain dragging along the floor behind him with a loud, screeching echo.
“I warned you.” Titus was almost upon him, and the scary calm of his voice shot shivers down my spine. He was calm, and his shoulders relaxed as he lifted a boot-covered foot and pressed it against the man’s shoulder, forcing him to roll to his back.
Albert jerked and tried to squirm away. “How the hell did you get out?”
Titus maintained that same scary calmness as he dropped the chain and held up his hand. “I said—” he continued, not answering Albert’s question. “You don’t get to look at her.”
Titus moved before I could blink. He struck downward, kneeling to the ground as he jabbed his fingers directly into Albert’s eyes.
He screamed as blood gushed from the wound. The red mingled with his hair, dyeing the bright orange a deep crimson.
“Plus, you touched her,” Titus continued without mercy. Albert’s arms were restrained against his thighs, and Titus reached for a hand, squeezing Albert’s fingers in a white-knuckled grip.
“You had no right to do that,” Titus said. Then he ignored Albert’s whining pleas as he crushed the man’s bones.
“And now you get to die.” Titus moved slowly, methodically, as he wrapped the chain around the weeping man’s neck. And this time, as the dragon slowly stood, swinging the chain over his shoulder, I buried my face against the floor and covered my ears as my body shook.
I couldn’t take any more violence. I didn’t like people hurting, or the pain.
I didn’t know how much time passed, but I flinched as a warm hand pressed against my shoulder.
“Bianca,” Titus said, and my quick pulse slowed. I slowly opened my eyes. The fire was gone from his posture, but he still looked like a madman with his hair wild and arms and chest coated in blood that wasn’t his own.
Yet, his hand was gentle.
Titus furrowed his brows as he moved his touch to my elbow.
“You’re shaking,” he said, sounding uncertain.
Was I?
Maybe it was from the freezing floor.
