Chapter 291: What In The Hell Is Cressida On?!!

I glanced around, absorbing every detail with a focus that surprised even me. More of these maidens descended the staircase while others ascended, silk and skin catching lamplight in ways that made my brain short-circuit.

A woman with ink-black hair down to her waist passed close enough that I caught the scent of something floral, and another leaned over a balcony railing above us with a drink in her hand, laughing at something I desperately wanted to be part of. Everywhere the place was bubbling with life. Not just any kind of life. Exotic life!

’This city’s gotta be kidding me!’

Suddenly, I felt something cold and sharp pressing against me from the side, like a dagger aimed at my ribs, and quickly flung my head sideways.

’Kassie...’

I was wrong. It wasn’t Kassie. It was Cressida, glaring daggers at me with every ounce of her tiny body.

For a moment, my heart rate had skyrocketed and I thought I had been busted. But it turned out it was just this little chibi, standing there with her arms crossed like some kind of pocket-sized executioner.

’I could knock her out, I swear...’

I glared down at her.

"Cade, you’re distracted. That is not the point you’re here!"

I blinked, then quickly cleared my throat.

"Right... right. You’re right, that is not the reason we are here." I chuckled lightly. "But it’s not a bad reason to stay, right?"

Cressida was not having it. She was still glaring.

"Lady Kassandra said you were going to do this!"

I think I lost my balls in that moment. The remaining smile on my face dried up instantly.

"What? Kassie did?"

Cressida stood with her arms folded and a defiant glare on her face, then nodded.

"Yes... and she said to glare at you like that. She said you would come back to your senses immediately."

I stared at her in disbelief, blinking, completely short of words. The worst part was that it had worked. Kassie wasn’t even here and she was still managing me.

"Out the way!"

Some large man shoved her aside as he barreled past with a pack of guys trailing behind him. With the long rifle bag strapped to her back, Cressida easily lost balance and stumbled forward. I caught her by the waist before she hit the ground, and for a brief, strange moment our eyes met. Time did that annoying thing where it slowed down for no good reason.

’Oh hell no.’

I released her and turned back sharply. My feet carried me forward before my brain caught up. I trudged through his underlings and grabbed the man by his broad shoulder.

He stopped. So did his subordinates, and every one of them swung out their weapons.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Touching our boss like that, you must want to fuck death so bad."

"Boss, let me have his arm right now!"

The boss raised his hand and all of them fell silent, though their venomous glares didn’t let up for a second.

The man turned to face me. His body reminded me of a tractor, wide and dense and built for the sole purpose of running things over. He fixed his eyes on mine.

I held the stare.

"Just now, you hit my friend and caused her to almost fall. I would like you to apologize."

Cressida was already behind me, tugging lightly at the back of my clothes and whispering.

"Cade. Cade, it’s really okay. These people are trouble, let’s not make trouble."

The man continued to stare at me. Then he glanced at his subordinates.

"Which one of you wants to have his hand?"

One of them quickly stepped forward. He had dark-brown hair that fell messily over his face, lean muscles almost like mine, and was dressed in expensive clothes with gold necklaces that glittered against his chest. I caught one or two gold teeth when he flashed his grin.

"Boss! I right here would do the gesture!!"

"Alright then."

The boss’s eyes drifted past me to where Cressida stood, and something shifted in his expression. It was a slow, appraising look that made my stomach turn. The lounge noise around us seemed to thin, like the nearby tables had gone quiet.

"I want you to take that bastard’s arm for me, and I shall reward you with that little girl behind him."

The gold-toothed subordinate’s grin widened.

"She should be raw and new, right? I’ll give you the grace of tearing her legs open and being the first person to..."

A gunshot cracked through the lounge.

My eyes widened because I hadn’t seen it coming. Hadn’t heard her move. I hadn’t even finished deciding what I was going to do to this man’s face. I turned back and Cressida was standing with a handgun raised, long-barreled, smoke curling from its muzzle. Her expression was flat. Completely still. Like she’d done nothing more remarkable than swat a fly.

I turned back to the boss.

He was still standing. For one impossible second, he was still standing, staring at me with three eyes. The third one, new and centered on his forehead, was dripping blood.

Then his legs gave out and his massive body folded to the floor like a building coming down.

Silence. A single heartbeat of pure, crystallized silence where every person in the lounge processed what had just happened.

Then the place erupted. Screaming tore across the room. People threw themselves through windows. Others dove under tables. Chairs toppled, glasses shattered, and the air filled with the sharp tang of gunpowder and the chaos of bodies scrambling over each other.

The man’s subordinates stood frozen, eyes wide.

"You frog! What have you done?!"

Cressida shifted her aim with that same cold expression, and the one who had lunged forward shuddered backward, reconsidering every decision he’d made in the last thirty seconds.

"I killed him. That’s what I did." She tilted the barrel slightly. "Care to be next?"

My eyes had been wide since the gunshot. They still hadn’t come back down.

’Oh my freaking... what is she on?!’