“You talk too much.” He kissed me again, causing me to growl in frustration.
The cerulean rope in my mind tightened suddenly, causing me to stiffen just before a wave of power rippled across my skin. Shade flew backward, landing on his ass a few feet away, his eyes wide in shock.
And the tree behind me withered to dust.
I gaped at the bright blue flames dancing along my palms, then shivered as they disappeared.
“What the fuck was that?” a sharp male voice demanded.
“Her power awakening” was the drawled reply.
I spun around to find Kolstov glaring at me and Zephyrus leaning against another tree. “I didn’t mean to do that,” I said, a note of pleading in my voice. “I just wanted Shade to release me.”
“Well, it worked.” Zephyrus seemed amused.
Kolstov definitely did not share that opinion.
Neither, it seemed, did Shade as he shoved off the ground to stand at my side. “Touch her, and I’ll fucking destroy you.”
I blinked, surprised by the protective quality in Shade’s tone. He’d just been taunting me moments ago, refusing to explain anything and kissing me without my permission. Now he wanted to stand up for me? How ridiculous.
“I’d love to see you try,” Kolstov replied, folding his arms. “You’re handicapped and alone.”
Shade lifted his arms, revealing the leather cuffs against his wrists. “Oh, you mean these?” The bands disappeared a second later. “Yeah, I deactivated those almost as soon as Chern put them on. But thanks for the accessory.”
Energy rippled around Kolstov, his expression thunderous. “Do you have a death wish, Death Blood?”
“Is that meant to be some sort of oxymoron?” Shade asked conversationally. “Because you’ll have to be more direct. I skipped a lot of my language courses throughout the years. Well, those and other classes.”
“Your arrogance is going to get you killed.”
Shade grinned. “Is it? Good to know.”
“Can someone tell me what just happened?” I asked, interrupting their little testosterone-filled fight. “Why did I turn blue?” The fire had since dissipated, but I felt it roaming through my veins, waiting for me to call upon it again.
“Blue?” Kolstov repeated. “I saw purple.”
Zephyrus frowned. “It was red to me.”
The two males shared a glance as Shade looked down at me. “Blue?” he asked softly, his tone different from the one he’d used with the other males.
“Yeah. Bright blue.”
“Like a lighter shade?”
I nodded.
“Interesting,” he mused, glancing back at Kolstov. “Are we going to have a problem here?”
“We already have one,” the prince replied on a snarl. “You bit her against her will.”
“Is that what she said?” he returned, sounding far too entertained. “Well, she might be right. But our laws still make her mine. Fascinating how that works, yes?” His smile was cruel. “It is your family who stands behind those archaic politics, Kolstov. Can’t go breaking the rules now, can we?”
Kolstov appeared ready to murder Shade.
But his words were rolling around in my thoughts.
Kolstov’s family allows the males to claim females in the manner Shade did? Without reprimand? Why?