Page 124 of Where Sinners Repent

Boots crunch on broken glass.

“With what weapons?” Ash’s voice turns deadly. “With what allies?”

“We’ve got enough, Boss,” Griff implores him.

“Yeah, for these fuckers, maybe. But what happens when Zeke returns? Because he will return. And we have nothing left but a bleeding club.”

Ash sounds completely unravelled. Like a sweater with a string sticking out, and someone keeps on pulling and pulling until it’s just a ball of wool.

“I can’t lose any more family,” he sighs. “I can’t lose my Angel. I can’t let him take her again.”

Griff growls a frustrated sound. “Well, we’ll lose more if we sit here and let them pick us off one by one. Did Kaleb tell you what he saw at the docks last night? A fucking policeman. Sniffing around our empty shipping containers. These fucking Wraiths are making it impossible for the cops to cover our asses.”

The silence that hangs in the air makes me shiver.

This is more serious than I ever could have fathomed. My best friend’s life is in danger, once again. All because she fell for a Devil.

Without warning, another crash echoes through the club. Bottles explode against a wall, and glass shatters across the floor. The scent of straight liquor hits me from where I hide.

My heart is lodged in my throat. Ash is losing control.

And if he’s scared... then I’m fucking terrified.

Plastering my eye to the small gap, I see him. He stands in the middle of the shattered glass, his chest rises and falls with heaving breaths, and his eyes are wild, like a feral animal.

Kaleb watches him, not moving or speaking to comfort him. Griff glares at him, the towering man vibrating with fury. It’s like they’ve seen this before.

Ash plants his palms on the bar, his head hanging between his shoulders. When he finally speaks, his voice is so quiet I almost don’t hear it.

“We are fucked.”

Three words. Three words that have dread curling through me.

Fear has my instinct begging me to sprint back upstairs to the warm bed that awaits me. To bury my thoughts and pretend I didn’t just hear this.

Instead, I stand frozen in the stairwell, trembling and clutching myself. People are fucking dying. And soon, those people will be the ones I care about.

I’m so far in over my head that I can’t even see the surface anymore. My shaking hand reaches for the door handle. I can’t offer much, but I can do something. Meet my brothers and see what they want.

Find out anything that might be able to help Ash. Even kill them if I get the chance.

Because I will kill them if I get the chance. Finish what I couldn’t do before.

When I try to pull the door open, a palm lands on the door, just by my face. My muscles tense, seeing the familiar scars on the back of his hand.

I yank the door, trying to pull it open, anyway. Of course, it doesn’t budge. Slowly, he steps closer, his warmth pushing against my back. With strength that beats mine every time, the door slides shut with a soft click.

Warm breath dusts my ear.

“Please, Kai,” I whisper, staring at the now-closed door.

“I’ll say this one more time, Roxy,” he murmurs against my ear.

His lips graze against my ear and my traitorous body shudders against him. His hand wraps around my body, sliding up until his fingers wrap around my throat.

“You will not be going to meet your brothers.” He says each word slowly, making sure I understand. “I will tie you up with rope and hang you in the warehouse, if I have to. Feed you, fuck you. Toilet you like a dog.”

His fingers squeeze tighter, and I whimper past the resistance.