The woman looks from Phoenix to me. I can see the cogs in her head grinding—the “this could be my cure” gear, half thinking that the sight of skin is part of the promise. This man has brainwashed his followers in an impressive way—he himself is the miracle.
But I can see the doubt bloom in her eyes.
What healer waits for you shirtless?
“You know something isn’t right here,” Willow says to the woman, her voice low, a plea, a warning. “Just turn around and walk out while you can.”
The woman’s eyes flick over to Willow, and I hate that there’s still uncertainty in her eyes.Trust her,I want to scream, but that won’t help her feel any more reassured.
Phoenix steps forward, all of his movements are calm and controlled. “Bella, you don’t know these people. They’ve been trying to interfere with everything we do at the clinic.” He’s only three steps away from Bella. Fuck, I feel like I’m waiting for a cobra to strike at a baby fawn with a broken leg. “Willow, whoever the hell you are,” his eyes lock on mine, “I have to ask you to leave. You’re good at being dramatic, but not at healing.”
Willow’s voice is cold as ice. “You don’t heal, Phoenix. You take.”
He laughs, a sound like shards. “How poetic. Someone playing judge on my doorstep.” He steps closer to Bella, fingers brushing hers like a priest leaning in to bless. “Go sit in the room. Close the door. I’ll be right with you.”
She’s on the edge. Right now, she doesn’t know who to believe.
But then Phoenix makes a move that makes all hell break loose.
He places a hand on Bella’s back, high, almost at her neck. I see it, and Willow is even closer, so of course she sees it when Phoenix’s grip is directive. Too firm. Too deliberate.
I get one glance at Willow before it all goes south. Her eyes narrow on the hand placement. Her jaw tightens. I see her gaze sweep the space for just a moment.
She settles on a book. A big fat one with Phoenix’s smiling face on it.
She grabs it, and she swings for the back of Phoenix’s head.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Willow snarls, even as the book clocks Phoenix, hard.
It all happens in an instant. Phoenix’s startled, pained cry. Bella’s scream as she darts out of both their grasps. And Phoenix whips around to face Willow.
His face changes like a switch flipped. The showman is gone; the man beneath is cold as steel and primed for violence. I knowwhat’s going to happen, but I’m too far across the space to stop it. My feet are moving, but I watch it happen.
Phoenix grips Willow by the front of her shirt and slams her back against the wall. The sound of flesh and skull breaking the drywall is a sharp, sick crack in the quiet room.
The world stops.
Then everything in me detonates.
I don’t remember crossing the room. One heartbeat, she’s pinned, the next, I’m on him. My shoulder drives into his ribs and sends him crashing backward into a cabinet. Glass shatters. Bottles of supplements explode everywhere.
Bella bolts, her eyes finally opened to the danger surrounding her. She turns and runs straight out the doors she naively walked through.
Phoenix staggers, wide-eyed, but he raises his fists like he stands a chance. I’m taller, heavier, and furious enough to feel fucking bulletproof. I hit him first—a clean cross to the jaw that snaps his head sideways and sprays blood across the polished floor.
“I willendyou for touching her,” I snarl as I step forward again.
He lunges away, a sloppy brawler’s move. I block, twist, drive my elbow into his gut. He folds with a grunt but tries to hook my leg. I kick him off, and he slams into the wall, cracking the drywall.
Years of restraint burn away in seconds. Ten years of pretending to be normal, pretending to be civilized—gone. And it feels fucking great to let the beast out once again.
My old man’s voice echoes in my brain:if you can’t scare a man into submission, break him.
So, I do.
He rushes me again, faster this time. I let him get close, then pivot and grab him by the back of the neck, slamming him face-first into the counter. He makes a strangled sound, hands flailing for balance.
Somewhere behind me, I hear Willow’s voice, but I can’t stop. My blood is boiling, vision tunneling red as I remember him slamming her against the wall.
