Leaving the three of them to it, I turned to Seri. Addison stood in front of her now, his thin body shielding her as he backed her toward the willow trees, cleavers held at the ready. She looked so small and fragile, her face nearly white and her pupils dilated. My chest ached, anger, fear, and relief flooding through me.
I was at her side in an instant, my hands gripping her shoulders as I scanned her for injuries. She was alive. She was okay.
Because of a stick. Astick.
“Are you hurt? Did it touch you?”
“No. I’m fine.” She shook her head, her breath coming in shallow gasps. “Brummy. He led me here, but then he was gone and—Eluned!Simmy, she’s here! She’shere!”
Her voice broke, and something inside me snapped.
Eluned. The name was a snarl of hatred in my mind. Her twisted, idiotic self nearly cost us our heart.
And she was going to pay for it.
The terrifying sound of Brumous’ teeth sawing through the crawfish’s carapace was like nails on a chalkboard, but I tuned it out. My focus was on our girl. She was shaking, her hands clutching thatsticklike it was the only thing keeping her upright. Addison wasn’t inmuch better shape, his chest heaving, his eyes wild, and his cleavers shaking.
“Get her to the house,” I barked at the boy, my voice sharp enough to make him jump. “Now.”
Addison nodded and guided Seri away without a word. She looked back at me, her gray eyes wide, and I gave her a curt nod. It was the only comfort I could give her right now while my brothers were a whirlwind of violence and brutality, Brumous in the thick of it.
Grim satisfaction filled me to see them dismantling the crawfish. That thing had dared to threaten Seri.
Because of Eluned. Who was here,actuallyhere, somewhere.
I scanned the lakeshore until I spotted her, flailing in the shallows. She was wearing a ridiculous wedding gown, now a sodden, muddy mess, and duckweed clung to her hair. As she tried to stand, a small bass flopped pathetically, tangled in her veil. The sight would have been comical if it weren’t for the absolute rage burning every other emotion out of me.
Dangerous for you to get this angry, I cautioned myself.Control it. Focus. Think. Plan. Act.
I was on her in an instant, my hand closing around her throat as I dragged her onto the shore. She sputtered, her eyes wide with shock and fury.
“You,” I sneered, leaning in closer. “You think you can invadeour home? You think you can touchour wife?”
She laughed, a high, manic sound that set my teeth on edge.
“Yourwife? Oh, please. She’snothing. A pathetic little mouse who thinks she’s safe now. But she’s not. She’llneverbe safe. Not from me. Not from—”
My hand tightened around her throat, the urge to squeeze until her smug laughter turned to gurgles almost overwhelming. But no. I forced myself to loosen my grip, my jaw clenched so tight that it ached.
Answers first. Then retribution.
And Seri wouldn’t want me to outright kill her. At least, not yet,logic whispered quietly.
My fist connected with her jaw, the impact sharp and satisfying. Her eyes rolled back, and she went limp in my grasp. Pulling an enchanted cord from my pocket, I yanked her arms behind her back and looped it around her wrists. The cord tightened on its own. She wouldn’t be going anywhere. Not until we were done with her.
Standing, I took in the scene around me. The golf cart was a mangled wreck, half-crushed under the SUV. Koa was still hacking away at the crawfish, frenzied and unrelenting despite it being clearlyunalive. Zane stood nearby, watching him with both concern and amusement.
“Yo, Ko!” Zane called, his voice light, but edged with warning. “It’s dead, man. Like,reallydead. You can stop now.”
Ko didn’t respond. His breathing was ragged, his eyes wild with a fury that hadn’t yet burned out. His knife now too dull to penetrate the hard carapace, he started kicking it, his steel-toed boots sending chunks of shell flying into the lake.
“Koa!” I shouted, sharper than Zane. “She’s safe! It’s over!”
“She was indanger.” He turned to me, his eyes blazing. “She wasright here.”
“But she’s safe now.” Zane stepped closer, clapping a hand on Koa’s shoulder. “Come on, baby brother. You’ve done enough damage for one morning. And your blade needs sharpening. Let’s go do that and calm down.”
Ko hesitated, chest heaving, but he finally nodded, and the tension in his shoulders eased, although both Zane and I knew his vision would be blurry and his heartbeat erratic for a while.
