Page 136 of Mercy & Her Devils

This isn’t part of our plan. What the hell is he doing?

He shouldn’t be revealing himself like this. Why has he?

We’ll have to adapt.

After all, I am the bait, and this only means that Fletcher is hooked and caught, sooner than expected.

Fletcher stalks along the ledge, as if my fear of a man who he thinks is a violent criminal has made him forget the stealthiness of his pursuit.

Has made him forget the hunt, his plan, everything but saving me.

It takes away my breath to see Fletcher again.

He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks.

His face is gaunt. There are deep shadows under his eyes.

He’s dressed in a smart, charcoal coat that matches his eyes.

He’s holding one hand behind him like he often does.

Only this time, he swings it around to the front…and he’s holding a pistol.

I gasp.

Fletcher raises the gun shakily and points it at Kai’s back. “Get away from her, brute.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Buck Forest, Devil Estate

“He has a gun,” Lark says far more steadily than I could have as a warning to Kai.

My own heart is jackhammering in my chest.

Kai doesn’t move a muscle. He holds himself still like he’s been turned to stone.

Lark tightens his arms around me, as the wind howls and the storm batters us.

Water sloshes out of the creek, drenching me.

I shiver.

“Who the fuck are you to give me orders? You’re on Devil territory, lad, and I rip out the throats of trespassers,” Kai growls.

I jump.

Kai’s so dominant that I’d have fallen to my knees, if I wasn’t already crouching on the floor.

The fact that he doesn’t use this side of himself to intimidate or control Lark and me only makes me realize just what a good Alpha he is.

Fletcher wavers for a moment in the face of an Alpha who’s more dominant than himself, before his hand tightens around the gun. “I happen to know precisely where I am, bad Alpha. Turn around, slowly.”

Kai shoots a secret, reassuring smile to Lark and me.

But I can’t return it.

My insides are tangled up with anxiety.

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