Page 54 of Midnight of Ashes
My dress shirt was plastered to my chest with blood. There was spray across my face and in my hair. Thank the gods I’d taken my favorite leather jacket off before I’d gotten to work.
I shucked my clothes and tossed them in the garbage. Taking the fastest shower known to man, I donned sweats and a tee. I was itchy. My dragon wanted to hunt again. Or fuck. But mostly, he wanted to claim Hayden. But if I let him at her now, he’d scare the shit out of her.
I forced myself to head for the kitchen, where I knew my brothers would be. It was our favored late-night meeting spot. One where Knox could easily snack, and there was whiskey on hand for Cillian. When I stepped into the massive space, all talking ceased.
“You look remarkably less like a serial killer,” Easton muttered.
I bared my teeth at him. “I could change that if you want.”
“Enough,” Cillian said, exhaustion in his voice.
Guilt gnawed at me. I didn’t want to make things harder for Cill. He had enough on his shoulders. I slid onto an empty stool at the kitchen island and glanced at Knox. “How was she?”
A shadow passed over his features. “Tonight was too much for her. She had a bit of a breakdown.”
I stiffened, a fresh wave of anger sweeping through me. I wanted to gut that enforcer all over again. But more than that, I wanted to hunt Hal and Dexter and leave their body parts littered across their territory as a warning.
“How bad?” Maddox asked, his finger tightening on a mug of tea.
“Could’ve been a lot worse. She’s strong. She had a hard cry, and then…” Knox’s words trailed off.
“And then you fucked her,” Easton finished for him.
Knox moved to deck his twin, but Easton knew the move was coming and evaded it. “Am I wrong?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Knox growled. “She said she needed me.”
Cillian held up a hand. “She’s our mate. She’ll need physical closeness in times of stress.”
My back teeth ground together. I didn’t begrudge Knox for being there for Hayden when she needed him, but my beast wanted the same.
“What’d you find out from the enforcer?” Knox asked, clearly ready to change the subject.
Cillian cracked his neck. “Not a whole hell of a lot.”
Maddox took a sip of tea. “The Corbetts must do desensitization training.”
I grunted in agreement. The enforcer hadn’t broken until all his fingers and half of his toes were gone.
“We didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know,” Cillian said. “They want Hayden, and he said they won’t stop until they have her.”
My beast roared, pushing against my skin. I gripped the edge of my stool, letting the metal bite into my palms.
A muscle under Knox’s eye fluttered. “Did he share their plans about how they were going to attempt that?”
Cillian shook his head. “He didn’t know.”
“How can you be sure?” Knox pressed.
“Because he still wouldn’t tell us when Cáel had his intestines wrapped around his fist,” Easton mumbled.
Knox’s shoulders fell. “Shit.”
“For now, the plan is the same. We stick close to Hayden. We double her enforcer detail. Nowhere alone,” Cillian ordered.
“We need to bond,” Knox said.
The room went wired.
