Page 50 of Insurrection
“Your father sent me over here to get you out of talking to the hybrid whore,” she whispered conspiratorially, flashing a smile I was positive she thought was sexy.
“Do not call her that,” I growled, shoving past the woman as she called out for me. Luckily, I was tall enough that I could see the tips of Ama’s horns as she weaved through the crowd towards a side door. Where the hell was she going?
I muttered in annoyance as she was suddenly stopped by Damien, who looked all too concerned about her. Normally, I would have backed away, but I needed to talk to her. Not just about the misunderstanding about why I’d been apologizing, but also because I hadn’t been lying. I very much wanted to get to know her better.
“I just need some air, I’m seriously fine,” Ama insisted quietly. “Just hard to be in a room with so many…” her words trailed off as she motioned to the room. Assholes. She meant assholes, and I didn’t blame her. Even coming from a house that hated most of the others, I had to admit that people were being exceptionally cold towards her.
“Want me to come with you?” Damien asked, his voice filled with a ridiculous amount of compassion. Her cheeks tinted pink, and I fought the urge to punch him. If I tried being that sweet to Ama or used that tone she would think I was plotting her death or some shit. Something that was completely my fault, to be sure…but I still hated it.
“I was actually in the middle of talking to Ama,” I ground out, and Damien turned his gaze on me, narrowing his eyes before wrapping an arm around her waist.
“We were pretty much done,” Ama mumbled, looking at me with speculation, as if she couldn’t decide exactly how much she hated me.
“I just want to talk. We can even go on a walk—”
“Over my dead body,” Drayven hissed over my shoulder, and Ama went completely still, her eyes darkening with emotion. Way more emotion than I could dissect, and that had me more annoyed with Drayven than before, because it was clearly linked to him. Which probably inspired what I said next.
“That can be arranged.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ama
Iscowled at Colt, whose words were harsh and frustrated, as Drayven rounded him looking pissed. I knew why he was worried about Colt wanting to go on a walk with me, but it didn’t make things any better. In fact, nothing about this night seemed to be going well.
Between everyone staring at me and very clearly talking shit to Mr. Creepy King of Sin, I just wasn’t having a very good time. Even Damien was frustrating me, because despite his sweetness, I very much needed a moment to breathe right now, and I wasn’t being given that opportunity. Rather the opposite, considering we were all crowded into a corner of the room, near a door that would have been my escape route, if it hadn’t been for my Hellhound's secure grip on me.
Sorry, notmyHellhound.
“Ama, if you need to go on a walk, I’ll take you,” Drayven leveled, not meeting my gaze, despite his words being directed at me. Oh good. Glad I wasn't the only one feeling horribly awkward about last night. Also pissed—I was extremely pissed.
“She isn’t any safer with you than me.” Colt chuckled, looking both amused and annoyed, “You nearly lost your shit last night.”
Oh, Drayven did not like that reminder—not if the literal growl with which he responded was any indication. I knew how personally he took my safety, and Colt’s words had the Reaper's eyes flashing green with anger. This was going to escalate.
“I wouldn’t let anyone from the House of Fallen near Ama, especially not you,” Dray snapped, his gaze moving to where Damien was holding me, but he still wasn’t meeting my eyes. What the hell was his problem?
“You want to go?” Damien asked softly to just me, “We can. Just take a moment to relax and—”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Colt shot him a look, “As if you are any better. How do we know you won’t shift around her and do something stupid that could hurt her?”
Damien’s chest released a low rumble, but his face contrasted the aggressive sound, looking both angry and sad and making my heart hurt at the vulnerability there. “I would never hurt Ama.”
“Don’t assume I would either,” Colt snapped at both of them.
Did I believe Colt wouldn’t hurt me? I suppose I did. Sort of. The man confused me, though, and I felt like I couldn’t trust him. I didn’t understand his motives half the time. Like right now—what did he have to gain from being in this situation?
“Listen,” I detached myself from Damien, despite the slightly wounded noise he made, and stepped away from all three of them. “I really would like a moment to bealone—”
My words were interrupted by Adrien’s sudden appearance behind me. How did I know it was Adrien? I could feel it. It shouldn’t have been like that, but it one hundred percent was. I could feel my very core that it was Adrien, and that was before he wrapped a hand around my hip, his grip firm but not demanding like the House of Sin bastard had been.
“Beauty.” He kissed the shell of my ear, making my knees practically give out as Drayven let out a low growl.
“What the fuck did I say about your hands on her?” Drayven hissed, stepping forward.Still managing not to look me in the damn eye.
Colt, to his credit, put a hand on the Reaper’s chest to halt him, and I think Dray seriously considered hitting him, throwing Colt’s hand from his chest as Damien let out a low rumble. I looked over at him to find his eyes on Adrien, something clearly passing between the two of them that I didn’t understand.
What in the fuckity fuck was going on here?
