Incubus [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Of course," Marikas answered casually, "He could become a useful hostage. Don't give him armor or anything. He'll ride in the wagon with the other servants. Bring your Ana as well."

"I don't want Ana to come." Alexius responded firmly. Marikas raised an eyebrow at the defiance before smirking. He reached out, taking Alexius by the chin, stooping so their faces were closer. A bolt of irritation and possessiveness coursed through me at the physical contact and the way Marikas seemed to shiver at being so close to Alexius, who didn't show a lick of interest in Marikas, much to my relief.

"Unfortunately," Marikas drawled in Alexius' face, "I couldn't care less what you want. This war is about what I want, and what I want is that pathetic mongrel and your lackey to join you in it. They don't have to fight, just be there. Is that understood?" Alexius ground his teeth together so hard, I'm surprised they didn't shatter. Marikas studied him with a hard stare, daring him to protest, but instead, Alexius just gave him a curt nod. Marikas smirked at that, roughly letting go of Alexius before turning to face me. He narrowed his eyes for a moment in a manner that made me entirely too uncomfortable.

I had a feeling he was suspicious of me, but he didn't have time to make comment about it because he seemed to see something else that angered him. He shoved past us to yell at some soldiers from my unit that were screwing around instead of working. I sighed in frustration, watching him leave before I looked at Alexius, who seemed uncomfortable now.

"Damn it." He cursed under his breath, then turned to look at Nico, who instantly stepped back, looking embarrassed about having to use Alexius as his shield against Marikas. Alexius narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing for the longest time. I frowned, reaching out to touch Alexius' arm.

"It's all right, Alexius. Nothing will happen to them," I assured, making him glance at me doubtfully, "I'll make sure they stay with the servants in a safe zone. We'll block it off with tents."

"They attacked us in our tents before," Alexius reminded me bitterly, "That didn't stop them." I averted my eyes, then noticed Nico shifting uncomfortably, glancing back and forth thoughtfully. He didn't seem to like the idea of going into battle without his weapons or armor. I looked back at Alexius.

"But you trusted Ana enough to keep Nico safe."

"And Nico got away from her."

"Because of the mistake of leaving. Simply order Ana not to leave Nico's side. Surely Nico wouldn't leave her to die."

"To spite me, he would."

"What kind of person do you think I am," Nico protested, making us both stare at him drolly before he blushed and cleared his throat, "I wouldn't let her get hurt. I'm not going to hurt other people just to hurt you. That's not how I work."

"Of course not." Alexius replied sarcastically, making me cock a brow at him. He glared at me curiously, but I said nothing and just shook my head before looking at Nico with a cold stare.

"Do not let Ana get hurt, then, Nico. That's your job. If you fail it, you won't need to worry about just Alexius hunting you down and ripping you to pieces." I added darkly. Nico grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. Alexius looked at me gratefully for a split second before he cleared his throat, turning around and heading for the place where we would gather for the mass teleportation. Nico trudged along behind us, muttering curses under his breath along with the occasional prayer that he not die.

"You wanted to say something before." I murmured to Alexius, keeping my voice low. Alexius glanced behind us at Nico, who was hardly paying attention. He was glaring at the men we passed, who eyed him like a delicious piece of meat set out for the lions. He was too busy with self-preservation to care about us. Alexius turned back to me, then looked away with a grimace.