“No,” I whisper.
Raphael snarls, a few paces in front of Jude, closer to the hidden exit. He crouches, sees something on the ground. His growl deepens.
I see it too. Footprints. Two sets. And the press of acane. My cane.
They took her.
Raphael stands and rounds on Jude. The doctor is rising, doesn’t even see the blow coming.
Raphael’s fist slams into Jude’s jaw so hard, it echoes in the mine. Jude staggers, dazed, and before he can fall, Raphael’s on him, taking him down. Both hands wrap around the doctor’s throat, cutting off his air.
“You were supposed to PROTECT her!”
Jude chokes, his fingers clawing at Raphael’s hands.
It takes all three of us—me, Vincent, and Rory—to tear Raphael off. He’s snarling like a damn monster.
Jude gets to his knees, coughing hard. “They would’ve taken her anyway,” he rasps, burning a glare on Raphael, but he doesn’t retaliate. “She…she sacrificed herself. Said they’d never stop. Said she’d rather go than see us die for her.”
My throat burns. My chest clenches like a vice.
That sounds like her. Damn it, thatisher.
She knew. And she still…
Ahh, shit. Rory charges toward the exit. Both Vincent and I go after him, but I get him first. No hesitation. I lay the bastard out. But the socio lands a hard kick to my sternum.
“Fuck, Rory!” I snarl and grab hold of his ankle, biting hard, playing dirty.
He goes crashing to the ground, and Vincent is on him. All he needs to do is practically sit on Rory while my partner thrashes and kicks.
“Get the fuck off me, ye useless meathead,” he spits fire. His eyes burn. There’s blood in his beard, rage in his teeth.
I grip his hair, yank his face to the side so I can look him in the eye. “Rory, so help me, God, you are going to get a grip, or I’ll rub poison ivy oil all over your massive prick for a whole month. Don’t run off half-cocked. She threw herself into the mouth of the beast so we could live one more day.”
His kicking stops. His thrashing slows. He’s still fuming through his nose.
Voices behind us echo in the cavern. Vincent glances up, concern for his partner showing. Raphael’s still on the edge of going full-blown psycho hunter/killer on Jude.
“Go,” I tell Vincent. “I got this.”
The moment Vincent gets up, Rory bucks, but I’m on him too fast, except I roll him over this time. On his side. Faces inches apart. I stare him dead in the eye.
“We’re coming for her,” I mutter, raw but firm.
He bares his teeth. “I’ll go right now and put every one of those bastards in the ground,” he growls. “No, they don’t deserve the ground. They can rot where they fall. Let the buzzards eat their eyeballs.”
I nod. “She is going to need all of us. Not just a red-headed and hot-blooded socio swinging his dick around with no plan.Rein it in. Let the beast snap and bark, but hold him back, Ror.” I use the nickname I haven’t since the foster home.
It gets him to stop. I hold his stare. Don’t flinch.
After a few heartbeats of agonizing tension, my partner clenches his jaw, swallows hard, and nods. “Fine, wood boy. But when we finally get her out of there, I get to fuck her first. And spank her sorry, self-sacrificing ass until it’s burning red as my hair. I’m leaving marks on her for a goddamn month.”
He kisses me again, eats my mouth, then grabs my cock through my pants. My face pales as he digs his fingers under, going for the balls. I take it. I take the pain every time. Because I was his from the second I showed up on his doorstep, bleeding and broken. And when he said, “Who the fuck did this to you?”—he was mine.
“After I spank her silly, we’re taking her together,” Rory says.
I don’t contradict him. I don’t tell him how it’s Raphael’s call. But everything is breaking, shattering, falling apart.
