Brilliance (Circle of the Stars #4) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,57

blew Cheeks a kiss. “Finn’s already got my plate.” She wandered off.

I turned to my girl. “You’re stressed to the fucking max, huh?” I looked down into her face. Saw the truth for myself. The corners of her eyes were pinched. The luster in her lavender irises had dimmed. Even her sexy as fuck mouth was turned down at the corners. I made up my mind: Heads were going to fucking roll. As soon as I got some food in me. Kicking ass on an empty stomach didn’t last very long.

She nodded. Laid her head against my shoulder. “Can’t we just say I defeated Merlin and run away? Just the four of us?”

I chuckled, pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m ready to leave now. But I know you, Hollyn Ladon. You wouldn’t like yourself if you ran away.”

She sighed heavily. Ground her head into my shoulder. “Fine. Yes. You’re right. Doesn’t mean I don’t fantasize about it.”

A growl rose through my chest. “If that’s the kind of fantasy you’re having right now, cheeks, we need to get you relaxed, stat. That’s a crap fantasy.” I leaned down, nibbled on her ear.

She purred as she curled into me.

“Ahem,” someone said from behind us.

I ignored them. So did Cheeks.

They cleared their throat a little louder.

“Pet, if you don’t make this man unhand you, I’ll be forced to take drastic measures,” a man said behind me.

Cheeks pushed me away, then stepped in front of me. “Merlin. What the fuck are you doing here?”

A wrenching agony slid through my body as desperation slammed into me like a fucking Mack truck. I reached out, intended to grab Cheeks away from this asshole. But my hand ghosted through her as if she wasn’t real. Or I wasn’t real. I wasn’t really sure on the whole real part right now. I just knew I had to save her.

My body followed the rest of my hand. Like I was fucking Casper, my form moved through Cheeks and I found myself standing between my woman and the invader. I’d deal with the freak out of that reality later. I was just glad she wasn’t trying to act as my shield right now.

Merlin was directly in front of me. His green eyes widened as he looked up at me. His youthful cheeks rose in a malicious smile. He raised a hand.

I lifted my own. While I meant to slap his away, somehow my hand or arm had morphed into a sword of some kind? Either way, his hand fell to the floor as his scream ripped through the living area. A gushing fountain of arterial blood shot up from his amputated limb.

Had my ghosted hand really just sliced through his flesh and bone? Count that as another thing I wasn’t really sure about. But she was safe for the moment. That was literally all that mattered to me in this instant.

Arasne and some of her goon squad rushed over. They ripped a giant hole in the air in the middle of our living room. They shoved a shrieking Merlin through and then zipped the hole closed like it was a gaping zipper on some dude.

“Wardens, prepare for war,” Arasne declared. She turned to Cheeks. “Goddess Hollyn, we need to keep this as far away from this realm as possible. Can you get us to the Valley?”

Cheeks stepped forward, her face ashen. She shook her head.

Arasne waved that away. “That’s fine. I’ll get my council to send us. Be ready in ten minutes.” She vanished.

Cheeks stared up at me, her lavender eyes wide in her moon-pale face. “Are you okay?” She reached out, ran her hands over my body. As I watched, tears gathered on her lashes. Fell in silent tracts down her cheeks.

I pulled her to me. “I’m fine, cheeks. Absolutely fine. Don’t ever put yourself in front of me like that again. Do you hear me?” I muttered against her hair. Her bravery was going to kill me on of these days.

Thane and Tove surrounded us. We wrapped around her, blocked her off from everyone else in the room. This shit would end today. No matter what it took from us, we would help her win this last battle.

Ari cleared her throat. “Alliances of Goddess Hollyn. Prepare for war.”

The penthouse filled with battle cries and shouts.

Chapter 26 – Hollyn

Standing in the center of the circle of my men calmed the rushing hatred that had sprung up when I saw Merlin in my house. When I