Page 134 of Remnants
I check on Raegan, who’s been quiet since finding out about Harvey. She stares resolutely at her palm, flexing her hand beforedragging her gaze up and finding mine. I angle my body in front of hers to give us privacy from everyone except Jackson, who stands at her side. “You okay, beautiful?”
She nods, pressing her lips into a firm line. “Yeah. I’m ready to take down Royce. And Holt and Bea if they’re there. But now I want to get Harvey’s body back, too, before Royce fucks with it. He doesn’t deserve being forced back under GE’s control again. I won’t let them do that to him.”
“Wewon’t,” I agree, letting the anger at his death burn and pump in my chest. We were supposed to protect him from GE, and not only did Charles kill him anyway, but he did it right under our noses, sneaking into the Tower with one of Harvey’s own siblings to murder him. It was a power move by Charles to prove that none of us are safe while he’s alive.
We can’t wait until the perfect opportunity to act anymore.
It’s time to make our move.
Aiden has Cibrina putting the Tower on lockdown while we’re gone; no one in or out until we’ve returned.
“Our focus is on Royce,” Aiden reminds us as I face the group again. “No hesitation, no holding back. If you hit him, make it count.”
Uncrossing my arms, I flex my hands in preparation.
Jackson whispers in Raegan’s ear. She nods, and—as if she ignited some internal lantern—reddish light glows softly wherever her skin is exposed. Her hand grasps his hoodie, and he grabs Reid’s arm. Aiden, Dane, and I follow suit, and then we’re gone.
We appear outside of the beach house in the sandy grass…right asHolt joins us from a portal with Harvey’s body in his arms. He halts, confusion tightening his face for a split second before he drops Harvey and raises his hand.
Reid vanishes.
Raegan’s gift spiders through the ground.
Lightning flashes.
This is the man who stopped us from saving Raegan. The one who held us prisoner while Gordon took her from us. The one whotorturedmy girl while she was “training.”
Whatever scraps of information she gave any one of us about her time with Gordon, we’ve worked to piece together between the four of us. Holt has been the easiest for her to talk about, so we know the most about him. About how he’d laugh at her pain. Smile at the threat to that little girl’s life. Strike her down when she was already weak.
The moment I see him, my blood roars. My chest fills with heat, and red clouds my vision. I widen my stance, flex my arm, and feel the rolling shudder of scales over my skin.
Before Raegan’s gift reaches his feet, lightning strikes. Her gift stops where it is but doesn’t diminish.
The electric current skates over me, dancing along my scales and into the dirt without so much as a tickle.
But Holt isn’t looking at me. He’s watching her and her gift that creeps toward him. He fists his hand, another strike joining the first and slamming into her.
The last time he did that to me, it seized my heart and lungs.
Run.
I reach him in seconds, too fast for him to realize I’m not trapped by him or to do anything to stop me before my fist smashes into his face and sends him flying.
The others drop to their knees when the lightning clears, but I keep at him, stalking his fallen body and grabbing him by the throat. He grabs my arm, jabbing his elbow into it to break my hold and meeting hard scales instead. His feet kick out, unashamedly aiming between my legs like a coward. And I let him. I let him see how unaffected I am by all of it. I let him struggle and fight, and I watch the realization and dread sink in with a savage grin.
Lightning hits me. Scatters. Its brilliance is blinding against the gold, and Holt is forced to look away from me.
He tries again.
And again, his fist clenching, arm bulging and shaking with the strain as he throws everything he has at me.
Sweat slides like subconscious tears down his face.
“P-please. I did what he told me to. It wasn’t me!”
My rage swells at the fucking lie. His eyes widen fearfully at whatever he sees on my face, and he chokes when my grip twitches involuntarily.
“This is going to be a fucking pleasure.”
