Daimon (Guardians of Hades #6) - Felicity Heaton Page 0,66

was going to have words with his brother.

She followed Keras out through the white wood-framed panels that had been pushed back to reveal the garden. He banked left, following the wooden walkway that ran around the courtyard. He moved like a shadow in the darkness, his steps unnervingly silent. The boards creaked beneath her weight from time to time, cutting through the tense silence, but he never made a sound.

When he reached the end of the walkway near her temporary quarters, he stopped and stepped down onto the wide stone slab that had been placed there. He slipped his feet into a pair of slippers and she did the same, and followed him into the garden, her anger giving way to nerves as the darkness encompassed them and the voices of the others drifted into the distance.

The moonlight cast faint silver highlights in Keras’s black hair and over his shoulders.

When he reached the bridge that spanned the koi pond, he stopped and pivoted to face her. The moon cast his face in shadow, but green flecks glowed in his eyes. She moved around him, forcing him to turn his profile to the moon, because something about the way his eyes glowed unnerved her and had her pulse quickening.

When light bathed the side of his face, those nerves settled and her courage rose again.

She spoke before he could.

“Sending your brothers to seal a gate straight after a fight was reckless. Dangerous.”

His features remained flat, unreadable, as he stared at her in silence.

As time trickled past, she struggled to keep her nerves at bay, to keep her chin tipped up and confidence shining through. He wasn’t the first one to attempt to impose some sort of command over her by looking at her in such a way, and he probably wouldn’t be the last.

It didn’t bother her. She wouldn’t be cowed by him. She wasn’t afraid of him.

She really wasn’t.

She was about to demand that he say something when he finally spoke.

“I have seen you with Daimon and I witnessed the effect you are having on him on the battlefield tonight.” His voice turned colder, chilling her as she subtly curled her fingers into fists at her sides, steeling herself. Keras took a step towards her, and she barely resisted the urge to back off one. Darkness rolled off him in menacing waves, blackening his eyes, and the power he always emitted rose, wrapped like shadows around her that felt as if they were choking her. His eyes narrowed slightly, a cruel twist to his lips as he leaned towards her and whispered, “If you hurt my brother, I will see to it that not only you but your entire coven suffer for it.”

Her spine stiffened.

“How dare you threaten my family.” She slapped him hard, her hand flying before she could consider the consequences, her heart jacking up into her throat as her blood thundered and adrenaline surged.

He didn’t even flinch.

Cass struck him again, the sound of her palm connecting hard with his cheek ringing in the still night air.

His pupils widened for a heartbeat before they shrank back to normal.

She hit him a third time, catching his mouth more than his cheek.

He exhaled hard, the sound breathy as his pupils dilated and contracted again, but she felt no anger in him, no sense that he would retaliate.

There was only the strange feeling that he wanted more.

She stared at him, scratched out the thought she’d had about him when he had moved like a shadow along the walkway.

This side of him unnerved her the most.

Something was seriously wrong with this god.

He lifted his right hand and brushed the pad of his thumb across his lower lip, catching the blood there. He sucked it from his thumb and stared at her, silent and still, an air of expectation surrounding him.

Because he wanted her to strike him again.

She stood her ground despite her nerves, despite the fact half of her wanted to leave and the rest wanted to slap him again.

“I would never hurt Daimon so there’s no need to threaten my family,” she bit out, emphasising each word as she stared into his green eyes.

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there in the garden, her flesh chilling as the night dragged on, locked in a silent battle with Keras.

But it was growing light and she was cold to the bone when the scent of snow and spice hit her.

Warmed her.

Daimon.

Keras must have sensed his return too, because he blinked and when he