Page 175 of Cruelly Bitten
He might be old and strong, but I was older and stronger. Perhaps he and Damien could work together to kill me. Perhaps I’d kill them. Regardless, the dance would be lethal.
And Ismerelda would be upset.
Which wasn’t acceptable.
“Try not to get yourself killed,” Kylan said, momentarily distracting Ryder from our staring contest.
He glanced over his shoulder at the other man, his dark brow arching. “Worried about me?”
“Not really,” Kylan drawled. “But you seem to be the only one here with common sense, and I’d hate to lose a powerful ally.” He clapped Ryder on the back and walked away before hisallycould respond.
“I think he likes you,” Damien murmured. “Maybe you should bring him instead.”
Ryder rolled his eyes. “We’ve already established that you’re coming with me. Consider it your due for London all those years ago.”
“You mean over a century ago,” Damien clarified. “And you can’t seriously be bringing that shit up now.”
“I can and I am,” Ryder informed him. “Now go pack a fucking bag.”
“It’s already fucking packed,” Damien returned. “I haven’t had a chance tounpack.”
“Then I don’t see why you’re complaining. You used to love Dubai.”
Damien’s nostrils flared. “IhateDubai and you know it. Fucking humidity.”
“We live in Texas, Damien,” Ryder stressed. “Texas has humidity.”
“It’s not the same,” Damien argued.
Ryder scoffed at that. “It’s exactly the same.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
The two males squared off, causing Ismerelda to release a tiny giggle that went straight to my heart. “Good to know you two haven’t changed at all in this new era.”
“Kind of hard to change when one of us hid through most of it,” Damien muttered.
“I offered to let you join me,” Ryder reminded him. “You chose to assimilate.”
“Because one of us had to.” Damien folded his arms, his thick muscles flexing with the movement. “Don’t act like I didn’t do us both a favor byassimilating.”
“Let me know when you two are done with whatever the fuck this is,” Cedric interjected, his tone flat. “Lily and I will be waiting outside.” He gave me a slight nod as he passed, his display of respect not lost on me or the other two men.
“I always did like Cedric,” I noted aloud, purposely goading Ryder and Damien—both of whom had definitelynotshown me an ounce of respect since I’d entered the room.
Ryder grunted. “Bows have to be earned. And after what you did to Izzy, it’s going to take a long time for you to earn any respect from me.”
“Same,” Damien echoed, the two males deciding to gang up on me rather than fight with each other.
I mimicked Damien’s stance by folding my arms and said nothing.
Ismerelda sighed as she stepped between us. “Just go to Blood City and report back. I want to know if what Khalid has shown us is real.”
“It’s not,” Ryder replied. “This is some sort of game. But I’m looking forward to playing. Besides, your brother could use some shooting practice. His aim isn’t what it used to be.”
Damien made a noise in the back of his throat. “My aim is perfectly fine, jackass.”
