Page 113 of Scars Run Deep

Sugar plum. Urgh.

“Sure thing, babe,” she agreed with her apparent new boyfriend. She couldn’t leave it fully, though, telling me, “You think you’re better than me, bitch? How are you getting your power? You’re doing the same thing, but riding all their dicks to get yours.”

“You have no idea. I don’t need their power, I have my own.”

“What are you doing with them then? I don’t—you care about them, love them? How can you? They’re monsters. Nobody goes to them for that.”

“We’re all monsters, aren’t we? Look at what you’re doing here.”

She blinked back to herself and ordered her boyfriend, “Lou, hold her while the boys make sure she’s of no use to the Infidels after tonight. They won’t want her all used up and marked by others.”

Lou grinned. “Punishing you and those three fuckers in one shot,” he snarled at me.

“You don’t want to do this, believe me.”

I was trying so hard to tamper down that bloodlusting side of me that had been awakened recently.

It was why I’d entertained this garbage and their pathetic conversation for as long as I had.

But now they were threatening bodily harm and sexual assault from what it sounded like, they were calling that beast out in all her glory.

All of them merely scoffed.

Then Liza moved back to stand with Andrew, the two of them looking on eagerly as their friends closed in around me.

Lou loosened his grip on my neck and eased to the side so one of his friends could make a grab for my belt.

And then I reacted.

I snatched his wrist and twisted, a snap sounding that had him shrieking and falling back.

Before Lou could react, I thrust my knee into his balls, then slammed my arm into the inside of his, breaking his grip on my throat.

A spinning kick to his face had him falling onto his ass and forcing the other three to fall back in response to avoid him crashing into them.

Cursing and roars sounded as they came at me.

And then a blur of movement caught my eye a moment before one of them was literally ripped off his feet and hauled away from me.

I choked in surprise as I saw Ronan there, wailing on them, moving with the speed and skill of a clearly experienced and well-trained fighter.

Before I could take the rest, Jonah and Killian burst onto the scene and launched themselves into the fray.

I sank back against the wall as they put them down in record time, Ronan working well with them.

As Liza made a run for it with Andrew struggling behind, she suddenly shrieked as Asher stepped out of the shadows.

He grabbed her by her hair and wrenched her down to her knees by it.

Then he leaned in and spoke something I couldn’t hear from here that had her trembling.

Jonah was there then with him and dragging Liza and Andrew away like they were ragdolls.

“Shit, darlin’,” Killian cried, rushing to me and looking me over urgently. “Are you okay? Fuck, this bruise, this scratch… nail marks!”

I snatched his hands and held them between us. “I’m fine. Really. It’s just superficial.”

Looking out, I saw Asher looking me over too.

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