I’m uncertain they need to know about me going down to the cellar to drown the warped imaginings in my head with my father’s cider again, so I skip that part. “Last night,” I whisper quietly, “he was with her. Taunting her. He checked to be sure no one had succeeded in breeding her.” My face crumples, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “I heard him.”
“He went in there of his own accord, then. It doesn’t seem like my father knew that,” Hayze growls, and the words sound like they’re being torn from his throat.
I nod. “I didn’t see. Couldn’t. But I heard some of what he said to her. And she as much as told me… hefuckedher.” I work my jaw to the side, glancing away.
“Everything is going to shit,” Cross mumbles. “She wasn’t happy I left her at the tree.” The chuckle that helets loose is full of self-loathing. “Between that and the things I said to her during the correction, she hates me as much as she hates you, Hayze.” He reaches for the back of his neck, tugging on it.
Hayze’s hand darts up to rake over the blond stubble on his jawline, and he sighs. “Is there anything else I need to know?” My gut clenches hard, but the question is aimed at Cross, not me. And I definitely have no desire to tell them how badly I need to see my siren again. Shrugging, Cross’s gaze swings to mine, and he nudges me just as I pinch the front of my shirt and peel it from my sweat-soaked skin. He frowns. “You could take that off, you know?”
“I’d rather not,” I grumble.
Nodding grimly as sudden understanding lights his eyes, he murmurs, “Arrow, are you okay? I’m sure your back is screaming right now, but otherwise, I mean?” He pauses for a moment while Hayze looks on with a furrowed brow. “I saw Malakai had to”—he holds his hands out from his sides as he shrugs—“kinda hold you back. I had a good view of you both.”
I slowly shake my head. The wrath I’d felt watching everything go down in that room is nothing I’d like to revisit. I’ve gotta get them onto a different topic. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” I mumble.
Hayze cocks his head to the side, narrowing his eyes on me. “I guess I missed whatever he did.”
The truth that I’m not ready to admit is this: Malakai probably saved my ass earlier. I’m so used to him treating me the same way his brother does—like afreak of nature—that it’d caught me off guard. I don’t know what to make of it, what to say. I’ll have to figure out if it’s worth mentioning later.
Letting my gaze track to the brother Malakai and Hayze share, I grind out, “Forget that for a sec. Gannon… there’s somethingnotright with him.”
Eyeing Evren who is nearest, Cross laughs. “As if we didn’t already know that.” He gestures to the pile of logs that still need to be measured and cut. “I guess we should get to work.”
I shrug, my eyes wandering over to where Gannon and Dragan are taking a break down by the riverbank. “Just keep your eyes on him. He’s been doing some weird shit. You’ll see what I mean eventually.” I squint, trying to figure out what they’re talking about over there, but finally give up.
“What in the fuck?” Hayze bites out, and before I can register what’s happening, he’s stalking over to his idiot brothers.
Now I see why Hayze is pissed. Dragan gestures wildly while holding his hands in the air like he’s pretending to choke something.Someone.My friend’s breaths are ragged, living things attempting to claw their way from his chest, his eyes wild.
Cross watches the idiot’s antics, a bit of a smirk teasing at his lips. “Whatever you’re thinking to do, you won’t regret it. Promise.”
I don’t care to get in the middle, but I also can’t deny those assholes deserve everything coming to them,and I’d like to see Hayze deal with this. If there are ramifications… I guess we’ll figure that out later. My jaw tenses as Hayze’s eyes practically bore into the back of his brother’s skull. That fucker. He’s mimicking the way Delilah must have gasped for air. Red coats my vision.
Just as I step forward on my way to take care of him myself, Cross grabs me by the arm, fingers biting into my bicep. “You can’t physically afford to endure anything else. Just let him take care of it.”
Charging toward Dragan, Hayze plants his fist into his face mid-chortle. His shock is a thing of beauty. The hit spins Dragan around so that he trips over his feet and goes down in the grass on his knees.
“What in the fuck is going on over here?” comes Finneas’s bellow.
I clench my teeth and duck my head as I glance at Cross, who quickly shouts, “Dragan was being a dick. Hayze just reminded him of his place.”
Finneas narrows his gaze on the two of them, Hayze stoic and rigid, Dragan a bloody-nosed, groaning mess. Henry and Kiefer wander over, hands on hips to assess the situation.
“Sorry, Father.” Hayze grits his teeth as Finneas surveys his sons. “I handled it.”
After a brief approving nod, Finneas claps Hayze on the shoulder before turning around and going back to the task at hand. Relief courses through me, but I don’t think that’ll be the end of it. Retribution might not be swift, but it’ll come eventually. Both Dragan’sand Gannon’s eyes remain on us as we get back to work.
Hayze, though, eyes his fist, flexing and contracting it while watching blood ooze from the torn knuckles. It slides over his skin in red rivulets to drip onto the grass at his feet.
Upon seeing that, Cross grabs his hand, giving it a cursory inspection. “Not terrible.” His head bobs, then with a quirk of his lips, he snickers. “Probably worth it. I’ll clean it up later for you.”
Hayze’s mouth hikes up on one side, but then it falls just as quickly. “Let me say this plainly. I willneverregret doling out to those assholeseverythingthey’re owed.”
“Every fucking one of them,” Cross mutters as his eyes bounce from Dragan and Gannon to the Collective.
“I’m with you,” I whisper harshly. “And believe me, if things keep going the way they have been, they’ll be the ones with regrets.”
THIRTEEN
