“Can’t let them hurt…”
“You’resafe, Lucas,” Stormy urged.
“No, I ain’t safe,chi, I ain’t safe,” he said, his focus on something beyond the present moment, something Stormy’s heart wanted him to turn away from.
“Stormy, step away,” Lynx said softly, moving toward her.
Lucas’s face contorted and became inhuman as he rushed Lynx, spearing him in the midsection with his shoulder, continuing to charge until he slammed into the wooden post on the side of the porch, shaking the whole structure. Lynx brought his elbows down close to Lucas’s neck and the bigger man momentarily dropped to one knee, shaking his head before reaching up to grab Lynx by the throat and shirt. Roaring as he stood, Lucas pressed Lynx over his head and flipped him. Lynx flew through the air and landed on his back.
The rest of the Brood descended on Lucas, their goal seemed more to subdue than to injure, but in the melee, punches and kicks landed between them over and over again, brutal blows that made Stormy cry out and move toward the brawl, only to be restrained by Mama’s strong grip. Lucas became more enraged at Stormy’s cry.
Zeus hopped down to the ground, approaching Lucas from behind. “I get this game now, I’ll play along.”
Zeus went low, striking Lucas in the back of the knee, causing it to buckle, and Bride, who sat on Lucas’s shoulders squeezing his neck with her thighs, leaped off before he hit the ground. The Brood struggled to keep him pinned down, and Zeus—who was holding onto Lucas’s legs—was flung around as if wrestling with two powerful anacondas.
Terry ran from the bar, Sabrina froze just outside the door as she took in the scene. Dropping to his knees, Terry stuck a syringe into Lucas’s shoulder, and Stormy watched as his eyes found hers and the bright flame behind his green eyes dimmed as Terry injected him with something that leashed his fit of rage, rendering him unconscious.
“AndI’msupposed to be the crazy one?” Zeus asked as he squatted beside Lucas’s body.
Stormy felt her own rage building and shook off Mama’s hand. Pushing through the Brood she sat on the graveled earth and placed Lucas’s head on her lower thigh, stroking his wild head in an attempt to comfort him in a way that she didn’t know how to just moments before.
Terry assessed her so long and hard, she wondered if she would end up in the cell beside Cornelius.
“You’ve stumbled on a fine mess, haven’t you?” he said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he offered her a smile. “It’s only going to get messier for you, my dear. I received some unsettling news.”
Chapter 7
Something jarred Big Country to wakefulness.
He didn’t outwardly acknowledge his return to consciousness, allowing his mind time to get back online. Flashes of memory showed him what had transpired, and he was ashamed. Images of Lynx being slammed into the porch post, attacking the Brood, Stormy crying out…
Each time he felt the cold creep through him, each time he wasn’t able to stop the numbness or escape the blue flame, he hated it; hated what he became, hated that yet again he’d proved himself powerless to control his reaction.
He’d had an episode. He’d hadanothergoddamn episode, he thought, gritting his teeth. As big and strong as he was, even after all this time he hadn’t proved strong enough to defeat the most hated part of himself.
Shifting his weight, attempting to turn away from ugly realities, he focused on the things his senses picked up. By the shape and feel of the surface beneath him, he knew he was in his favorite recliner, which meant he was in Mama’s living-room.
Another jarring impact shook his chair and he almost broke the pretense of unconscious and threw the pillow beneath his head, knowing the only person who made a habit of kicking his chair did it to irritate him, wake him, or both.
“Lynx, if you don’t leave him alone….” Mama threatened.
“What?” Lynx said, “I wasn’t doing anything.”
He always tells that lie.
“Daddy,” he heard Stormy say. “I know what Ishould’vedone. I made a mistake…”
“How many times have I told you to set your alarm, how many times have Itoldyou that safety is never guaranteed, that you can only minimize risk. Your whole house could’ve burned down.”
Wait, what the hell did her daddy say about Stormy’s house burning down?
And why the hell is Stormy in Mama’s living room in the first place?
Opening his eyes, the first person Big Country saw was Lynx lounging beside him in an identical recliner. A long ice pack was placed between Lynx’s spine and the back of the recliner. Lynx tilted his head up in silent greeting, silent forgiveness, then nodded toward the center of the room where Stormy was talking on her mobile phone.
Jesus, she is a beautiful woman.
He flinched as the memory of her screaming out rattled around in his head. He clenched his fists and jaw to control his body’s response to her panicked desperation.
