8. Ezra
Ezra
“Nine, eight…”
The girl who looked all too familiar met my eyes across the hallway. She stopped running.
I’d met a lot of men whose murderous gazes wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to hers.
Incomparable.
Remarkable.
She wanted to kill me. And I liked that.
Which surprised me. I didn’t usually care for women who thought they could outsmart a man, physically or mentally.
Not because I thought of them as below me, but because I didn’t like unpredictable women.
I liked to be in control. I thrived on it.
Perhaps these new sensations were why it was called Lover’s Bite, wasn’t it?
I couldn’t rationalize my thoughts clearly.
She had bigger balls than half of my men.
Maybe all of them. In fact, I knew for a fact none of them would ever try to kill me—they knew better.
Maybe this woman was just an idiot, but a beautiful one. I wondered who she worked for.
She reminded me of someone I once knew, but I knew it was impossible—it wasn’t her. The world had believed her to be dead for the last eight years.
My pants tightened around my groin.
I had to get control of myself before I hunted her.
It wasn’t going to be easy since the venom was already in my veins, affecting me more than I would care to admit.
I was immune, yes, but not to all the side effects.
The annoying side effects. Her gray eyes cut through me like ice, and it almost brought me to my knees.
In between her thighs, I imagined for a moment.
It was getting feverishly warm in this hallway, and I knew she could feel it too. The top of her chest glistened with sweat. Her breasts pebbled, begging me to hold them. Or bite them.
Maybe I’d take her before I killed her. She wanted me just as much. I could tell by her shallow breaths and her heart pounding out of her chest. It was just a matter of time before she gave herself to me.
I hadn’t had these types of thoughts in—well, years. I forgot how good it felt to touch soft skin, soft lips…
God, I hated this feeling!
Weakness. Stupid venom, and this stupid woman trying to kill me.
I knew I had a few more minutes of uncontrollable lustful thoughts before it subsided.
Last time I sampled the Silver Snake, it took forty-three minutes until the effects ended.
Every time I microdosed with a sample, I wondered if it would be the dose that would kill me.
A simple gamble on life.
I hated this part of myself. Sex was the last thing on my mind day in and day out.
I tilted my head. Now, this girl showed up and slipped it unnoticed into my drink. What did that say about me? Or my warriors, my guards?
“Six, five, four…” My grin slowly reappeared.
She matched it with her own.
I barely knew this woman, but I already hated her. I was going to take my sweet time with her.
She had set me off twice in the matter of one week. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew she was attempting to kill me, and I was going to find out why—preferably before I killed her.
I heard a sound nearby, but I refused to take my eyes off her.
“You really have grown into your curves, Eshe.” Casimir’s voice floated across the hallway, his steps coming to a stop.
Eshe.
How did Casimir know this woman? He didn’t mean Princess Eshe Barazi from Zyriah. It couldn’t be.
My head tilted to the right.
The girl’s eyes darted to Casimir.
I laughed out loud, unbelieving. I knew the venom was taking its precious time to disappear, but I couldn’t help it.
Casimir threw a glance my way, no doubt in shock from the laugh rumbling through my body. The venom was causing me to hear things because it was impossible that this girl in front of me was Eshe.
The girl from eight years ago who refused me for a marriage between our families, but wanted my brother instead. The girl who was said to have died, yet her body was never recovered in the explosion that killed her family.
My body swayed. Impossible.
Casimir redirected his gaze to the girl. “Though I would recognize you through life and death, love.”
Her eyes went wild.
God, it was her.
My stomach churned. All lustful sensations completely dissipated, turning into disgust.
She lifted the thin veil and removed it.
I swallowed.
Her lips curved to the side as she took Casimir in, and the regard I felt turned to something like hatred. She took a step toward him, and I matched it.
Her eyes darted to mine.
Eshe’s hips turned toward me and began a sequence of steps around me. Better me than Casimir. It wasn’t that Casimir couldn’t defend himself. It was just that I could do it better. He was more of a peaceful fighter. I just got the job done.
My mind tried to grapple with what the fuck she was planning.
I matched her steps.
Eshe flipped her pathetic little knife in her hand and stepped forward—
“Not so fast, Eshe.” Casimir walked between us, stopping her in her tracks. “I know he can be quite a handful, but let’s just take a breath. We haven’t seen you in eight years, and all of a sudden, you’re dancing with Priestels in Urnaz, in our home. Something doesn’t add up, does it?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“What? Your name? Would you prefer my love?” Casimir smirked.
Eshe remained quiet. My eyes narrowed on her face. She was calculating! I knew that look, especially among my men who couldn’t stop plotting their next move.
I wouldn’t have this woman under my roof scheming anything.
I brushed past my brother. “Why are you here?” She remained quiet for a moment too long. “If you don’t answer within five seconds”—I raised a hand—“I’ll give you a repeat of last week. You deserve nothing less.”
Eshe flushed red from my empty threat, and her nose flared. “I’m really getting bored with your lame countdowns, Ezra. Threaten me with something better.”
“I’m sorry, what did you do to Eshe?” Casimir turned to me.
My fists clenched, and I imagined, for a moment, her lithe neck in them. Blood rushed through my body again.
“Easier to show you.” I took a step forward, but my brother put his hand on my chest.
I knew that I could take down Casimir for what he did, but his intention was to calm me. Help me make a clearer decision.
He was right. Eshe was getting under my skin.
“Stop it, both of you! Seriously, Eshe, what is going on? Why are you even here? Why are you dressed like this?” Casimir waved a hand down her barely covered body.
“Don’t treat me like I’m a child, Casimir! I’m not so innocent in the politics of war.”
“What are you talking about?” Casimir was getting impatient.
So was I.
I stepped past his hand on my chest and strode toward Eshe. If she were going to beat around the bush…
As soon as I approached her, she raised her tiny knife in front of her. She was smiling as if she were ready for this.
“Give me the knife. No girl should have it. You might hurt yourself by pointing it in the wrong direction.” I chuckled. It was slightly amusing even though she was the most infuriating person I’d met, then and now.
“I’m not a girl, Ezra. I’m a woman, or did you forget the way you touched me earlier?” Her brow propped high.
My teeth clenched. “You tried to kill me, you woman!”
I lifted my hand to grab hold of her as she swung low with her knife. I veered left, but Casimir interrupted our flow by pushing us apart. His tunic ripped, getting the end of Eshe’s swing.
“You tried to kill Ezra?” Casimir’s eyes were now wild as he stepped toward Eshe. He could get quite protective, as I could with him. “Why would you do that?”
Eshe’s brows knitted. “You killed my family.” Her fists turned white. “I’ve come to repay the debt, Casimir.”
Casimir lowered his hand and straightened his spine. He was always the more diplomatic one. “Eshe,” he said calmly. “We had nothing to do with their deaths.”
Eshe’s breaths quickened. Her cold eyes darted between me and my brother.
As soon as I realized that calculating look again, it was too late. She dashed past us toward the end of the hallway.
For a woman, she was fast on her feet. It enraged me.
My brother and I sprinted after her.
The side effects were finally draining, and I quickened my steps, passing my brother. She wasn’t getting out of here.
She didn’t know where she was heading, and I slowed my steps.
She realized she’d reached a dead end, and my deep laughter echoed across the empty hall.
She trapped herself. So much for an assassin.
Casimir walked to the other side, ensuring she wasn’t going anywhere. He gave me an eye that seemed to say, You okay there? He wasn’t used to hearing me laugh.
I gave him a look. I’ll explain later.
He nodded.
“We would never have hurt your family, not after we had just agreed to get married,” Casimir said, his palms open.
Eshe’s chest rose and fell with deep breaths from the sprint. “You’re lying!”
I stared at her, reading—observing her. She was here. In my house.
“We didn’t. Tell her, Ezra.” Casimir’s voice rose, and he looked at me, brows high and expectant.
Why was Casimir explaining himself to this… girl and wasting my time?
I clicked my tongue. “Casimir is right. We didn’t, but I wish we had.”
I said the words just to rile her up more. Because I could. And it worked.
Eshe’s face turned bright red as her eyes pierced into mine.
In my privileged life, I’d never had such a disobedient person in my presence before. She began to pace back and forth like a cat surrounded by a pack of dogs, unsure of her next move.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Casimir delegated. “You’re not going anywhere, Eshe. It’s our mother’s night. We’ll reevaluate this in the morning after the celebrations. Until then, you’ll be under supervision.”
Eshe smirked and placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t follow the orders of men.”
And that was why I was a leader, and Casimir was not.
I stalked toward Eshe, but she matched my steps and backed up to the end of the hallway. My brows begged to furrow, but I refused to show any surprise on my face. What was she—
No, it wasn’t possible.
Eshe twisted her body, placed her hands at the edge of the tapestry, and disappeared behind it.
She had been here before.
She had prepared herself for this moment. She had been here in my home, and I was completely unaware of it.
Rage boiled through me as I grabbed the tapestry and yanked it down, just in time to see an arrow flying straight toward my face.
My hand flashed in front of me and caught it before it could pierce my flesh.
I knew these hallways like the back of my hand from when Casimir and I used to play within the walls as children.
I heard the split of air as another arrow came through and hit my shoulder.
I grunted. The blood trickling down my shoulder only fueled me further into the darkness.
My steps quickened as I heard Casimir cursing under his breath behind me.
We crouched low. I could almost taste the metal in the air when I sensed Eshe was deeper in the tunnel.
Another whistle of air, and Casimir and I dropped even lower.
An arrow pierced my side, and this one went deep. Clearly, her main target was me and not Casimir.
My jaw tightened, but I crawled forward without making a sound. I could feel Casimir behind me, following my bloody steps.
I heard a crack of rock to my right as soon as I remembered the division within the tunnels. I lunged into the darkness and grabbed onto the end of a shadow—
Eshe kicked my shoulder—my bad one—but not without my other hand latching onto her thigh. The bow made a clanging sound as it fell.
I pulled her down with me, knocking the knife out of her hand. She writhed under the heaviness of my body. A waft of jasmine clung to me.
A second later, Casimir was by my side with one of the knives I’d gifted him under her jaw.
I stared at the mess that she was. In the light from the hallway behind us, I could see her face. Wild moon-like eyes, glowing with defiance.
“Nice fucking try, Princess,” I grunted.