In Silence She Screams (Midnight Mayhem 3)

Kauis notices, his eyes flicking down to where my hand meets his arm. “Lilith, are we going to have a problem?”

“Fuck yes, we are!” I snap instantly. Oh no. Seems I don’t have any restraint when it comes to that sleeping wolf that lurks below the surface anytime someone I love is being tampered with. We’re going to ignore the mess I made of Kennedy after she was dead, too…

Kyrin growls, turning to face me with his hand squeezing around my chin, “Baby.”

I move out of his grip, unwilling to look him in the eye—mainly because I want to have a staring contest with Kauis Axton. Men are so good at throwing their weight around, but this particular one is dangerously close to landing on the tip of my sword.

“Hey!” Kyrin snaps and I unwillingly peer up at him. My throat swells when I find his face relaxed for the first time—ever. “I’ll be fine.” He wouldn’t tell me this if it weren’t true. He wouldn’t let me lose him, too—wouldn’t leave Luna and me.

He doesn’t finish the sentence before Killian pulls me back, but I shove off him, keeping a balanced distance between him and Kyrin.

“Kyrin Nero, you bled a blood oath. Do you see fit your punishment?” Kauis asks smoothly. Way too smoothly.

“What happens if he breaks—” I start to ask Kill, but growl out in pain. It happens in slow motion. I turn to face Kyrin again as his body falls to the ground in a heap.

“Kyrin!” I scream, falling to the ground beside him, ignoring the stabs of pain in my knees as stones pierce my skin. The smell of blood and dirt drifts through the air as I find my hands pressing straight over the wound on his upper thigh. “You dumb fuck!” Blood spills from between my fingers like they did not long ago, but I refuse to take the knife that’s sticking out of him. My throat starts closing as I shut off the memories that come roaring to the surface. Breathe. In. Out. This is not that.

I turn around to search for Kill, wondering why he’s not helping me. I find him hiding behind his hand, and—“Are you fucking laughing?”

Killian waves his hands up in surrender. “Wow, hey, this wasn’t my idea, but—” He shrugs, casting a look between The Four Fathers of Fuckwits and my personal Fuckwit that’s bleeding out on the ground. “—a blood oath is a blood oath. He had to do it.” I grind my teeth together, my eyes snapping to Kyrin’s when he starts spluttering and coughing.

I bring my hand to his cheek in a panic, only finding him grinning up at me, flashing his now blood drenched teeth. “Chill, Lil. It’s only a flesh wound.”

“Really?” I growl, squeezing his wound. He yelps out in pain, his back arching off the ground around his laughter. “Baby, okay, I’m sorry! Okay, I’m sorry!” he surrenders around his laughter, and I push up from his leg once more, standing to my feet.

The Four Fathers stay and continue talking among themselves as everyone else who gathered goes back to whatever they were doing. Madness. Kiznitch is madness.

Someone clears their throat, and my head snaps up to meet whoever it is that has just arrived. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a small round face. She’s cute. For an older woman. Is she older?

“Hi, I’m—”

“—the Doc.” I roll my eyes, reaching back into Kyrin’s pocket to steal his packet of smokes and Zippo. I bite one between my teeth and flick the lid of the Zippo open, sparking the end. Tossing the cigarette packet and Zippo onto his torso—with a bit of force—I glare up at her. “Don’t bother with anesthetic. He’ll be fine without it.”

Two months later

If you had told me months ago that we would be where we are today, I would have cut your tongue out of your mouth. Not just Lilith being a mother, but me being a fucking—

“—there’s Daddy.” Lilith’s voice filters through my thoughts as she bounces my fucking heart on her hip. At the sight of them both, a smile stretches wide on my lips.

Lilith brushes her long silver hair to one shoulder, flashing her collared tattoo. Always a rebel, forever a soldier, one as a lover, the other forever. It continues around the whole circumference of her slim neck. I often think back to that time, when I didn’t know what game Lilith was playing, or how to cope with Eli and his secrets. I probably could have handled it better in hindsight. But fate…fate is the reality for people who take chances. Some would say they couldn’t imagine me falling in love with anyone, so I didn’t. I fell in love with two. We may have lost the other half of our soul mate, but he lives on in each of us, and definitely in Luna.