Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Colt
I didn’t realize I’d taken a step towards following Ama into the salt chamber until Finias appeared in front of me, blocking my path.
I swear I was about a second away from writing my own death sentence and punching him in the fucking face.
I honestly thought it would be worth it at that point.
My jaw clenched as I shook my head and turned back towards the rest of the group, my eyes narrowing on Jace.
The last thing I wanted to deal with was some other male claiming he was Ama's mate.
Let alone someone we knew nothing about.
Ama might have thought it had to do with him being a hybrid, but that was the least of my concerns.
No, I cared way more about how he'd been able to get us into the city so easily and what made him so damned important.
Importance came with power, and I feared that power could be enough to take Ama away from us.
Although, “take” would probably not be the right word because, with how the hell the rest of us were acting, I wouldn't have blamed Ama for not wanting anything to do with us.
Not only did I seem incapable of making up my mind about whether I wanted her attention in the first place, but I also couldn't seem to stop myself from being a bastard and essentially slut-shaming her.
I knew I'd lashed out unfairly, and the worst part was that I didn't even fully feel that way.
Sure, it was frustrating as hell that there were so many males around her, but it didn't change who Ama was, and being upset about her wanting to be with multiple people was only a reflection of my own fucking insecurities.
Namely, the one where my own mate essentially hated being around me, which was a problem that was completely of my own making.
I had absolutely no idea how to fix this. I was supposed to be a leader, but instead, I was acting like a complete idiot. A failure in all respects.
"What are you playing at?" Drayven demanded of Jace, who offered him an easy smile and put out his hands in a seemingly innocent gesture.
"No idea what you're talking about. Just making sure my mate is well taken care of while we figure out arrangements for the night," he assured Drayven, but I could see there was more to it than that. He was a sneaky son of a bitch, and I didn’t trust him one bit.
"I don't fucking believe you," I snapped in frustration. We needed to know more about this man, and quickly.
"You don't have to," he answered with cool indifference as he shrugged. A small smile tweaked his lips up, as if he found this all to be quite amusing.
"And you're okay with your mate going into a salt chamber with two men you don't know?" Nico's smile was dark as he asked that pointed question, clearly hoping to get a rise out of him to see what truly lay under his cool facade. I watched Jace's eyes flare with anger before he tried to mask it.
Yeah, join the fucking club, buddy.
"Ama is capable of making her own choices," he responded stiffly before turning. I exchanged a look with Nico as Finias followed after, seemingly not content with letting the stranger go far without him. Drayven hesitated while looking toward the salt chamber.
"Damien and Adrien will keep her safe," I admitted grudgingly. "It doesn't look like he's going far."
About a half-block down, there seemed to be a large marketplace that was lit up with moonlight and hellfire torches.
Despite the late hour, people entered and exited the surrounding establishments, approaching booths that were selling an array of food and drinks.
Everyone seemed content and happy. I frowned, trying to recall the last time I'd seen a group of celebratory individuals like this.
Even in the capital, everyone in the Kingdom of Pura tended to be serious and distant from each other.
There was never this easy-going vibe in any of the different territories, as far as I knew.
All celebrations had a protocol. Everyone had a place.
This was chaos, but not in a negative way.
It was actually rather beautiful, and I found myself jealous of the peace people had found here.
The way they all seemed to know each other and enjoyed the festivities together with ease.
There was no tension or different species trying to prove their superiority with every action or conversation—not like we had back home.
To put it simply...these people looked free.
"Why don't you three," Jace motioned to Finias, Nico, and Drayven, "go to that stand over there—trust me, do not go to the others, or we will be here all night—and purchase some clothing. Between the three of you, I assume you can figure out what you all and Ama need. Here is some coin."
I waited as he handed them a bag of money, and I once again looked at Nico, who was frowning at the action. Unless everyone here had ample money, I found it extremely odd that he carried that much on hand. It only solidified my suspicions that the bastard was hiding something about who he was.
Something important.
"You're coming with me," he ordered, not waiting for my acknowledgement.
"We are going to try to get a room or two at The Hellhound.
" My gaze moved to a crowded pub as I followed after Jace, confident in the knowledge that I could hold my own against the guy, if necessary.
I didn't think he would attack me, but considering the number of dirty looks we were receiving, I had a feeling he would have all the help he needed if he did decide to do exactly that.
"Why don't you go talk to James in there," Jace nodded into the pub, which was full to the brim. His gaze moved over my shoulder, "I have someone I need to talk to about food being delivered."
Why couldn’t we eat where everyone else was? Although, I didn’t disagree with him because the idea of all these other men—and even women—looking at Ama made me see red. I had never had a possessive bone in my body, and the one woman I did feel that towards was mated to other men. It was so fucked.
I tried to not overthink the fact that she was probably naked in a hot pool of water right now, in the damned salt chamber with Adrien and Damien.
I knew how much she trusted them, and I knew how easily she let them touch her, something I envied greatly.
I just felt such a large divide between myself and Ama, and I had no idea how to fix it.
Had I even decided I wanted to fix it? I suppose I had.
I followed his gaze and saw a vendor waving to him, so I folded my arms across my chest and asked, "Do I need coin for the room?"
"Just tell them Jace sent you." He waved his hand dismissively as I muttered a curse under my breath and walked into The Hellhound, eyeing the crowd inside, most of whom were staring at me with enough malice it made me consider leaving.
I was an intimidating individual, I knew that about myself, but when it came to fights, it could easily turn into a numbers game, and I would lose.
Instead of leaving, though, I kept my chin up and walked towards the bartender near the front, hearing his laughter fill the space, despite how noisy and crowded it was.
I put my hand down on the counter, and the large bastard offered me a speculative glance before going back to his conversation, showing me that he was going to fucking make me try to talk over the noise of the room. I leaned forward and shouted, "Are you James?"
"Who's asking?" he demanded, his friends smiling as if my question was somehow amusing.
"Jace sent me to ask you for room availability for the night."
"Bullshit," he retorted sharply, waving his hand at me, "Fuck off."
"He did," I argued, looking around and noticing that Jace was nowhere to be found so I could prove my point. I looked back at the man as he offered me an amused, yet somehow contradictorily angry, expression.
"Even if he did, not even Jace could convince me to give a piece of trash like you a room at my inn," he chuckled. "So like I said, fuck off."
Yeah, I was about at my limit with his rude remarks.
Easily jumping over the counter and landing on the other side, I slammed him back up against the bar, silencing the room as I let out a dangerous sound. "Do you know who I am?"
"A pure-blood prick," he hissed, "I don't give a fuck who you are."
"Room. Now." I hissed.
I didn't expect the hit to the back of my head or the hands that dragged me off the bartender as I was thrown to the ground by several men. I groaned as a well-aimed kick hit me in the gut, followed by the sound of cheers at my obvious pain.
Fuck. These people were awful. All this animosity because I was different from them?
My eyes widened at the harsh truth that hit me in the gut harder than any kick could have managed...Ama had felt this way. For so fucking long, she had felt this exact way. This was how the people of Pura treated hybrids.
Someone's hand gripped my hair as a knife was placed against my throat. I closed my eyes, stunned by both my realization and the pounding in my head from being thrown to the ground.
Honestly, with how shitty I was feeling at that moment, I wouldn't have even cared about them killing me. Alright, that was dramatic, but fuck. How the hell was I ever going to make it up to Ama, now that I was acutely aware of the type of bullying she had lived through.
"Stop." Jace's voice echoed through the room, reverberating through the small space with ease.
Instantly, everything stopped. The musicians ended on a broken note, and murmured conversations around us turned almost excited. The men let go of me, and I stumbled to stand, pushing my hair out of my face as James stared at Jace with a wide-eyed, almost fearful look.
Yeah, Jace was for sure someone important to these people.
"I thought he was bullshitting—" James sputtered to a stop as Jace put his hand up dismissively and offered him a smile that seemed to ease the tension.
"No big deal," he assured. "Can we get those rooms, though?"
The man immediately tossed him some keys, "The only rooms available."
"Thanks, man." Jace flashed a smile and motioned for me to walk out, eyes following us as we stepped out into the street. Instantly, I turned towards him, finding his smile amused and light.
"There was no one you had to talk to for food, was there? You wanted me to get treated this way," I surmised as I drew a hand down my face.
"Nope," he chuckled. "Must have sucked being on the receiving end of so much fucking anger just for being born a certain way, huh?”
"Yeah, it did," I swallowed down my pride and ego in agreement.
He grunted, seemingly not happy with my answer. He’d probably expected me to protest his statement. Following him back towards the others, I noticed they were staring at us with mild confusion.
"What's with the blood on you?" Drayven asked with an amused tone.
I leveled the Reaper with a look, "Just had a run-in with a local, but we got the rooms. Did you guys get clothes?"
They each carried a few packs, and when Finias tossed me one, I nodded in thanks. I looked to Jace, who was eyeing a restaurant across the street. "Do you think you can all manage to not get in a fucking fight so we can get some food? I suspect Ama, Adrien, and Damien will be done relatively soon."
"Yeah, we can manage," I muttered, but I wasn’t sure if that was true. You could never be sure with our group.
As we strode towards the restaurant, my gaze moved towards the salt chambers, wondering when Ama was going to be done. I knew I needed to apologize about earlier, but more than that, I needed to find a way to make up for what had happened to her all this time, even at the Summit.
I just had no idea how I was going to manage that, when I seemed to put my foot in my mouth every time I spoke to her.