Page 8 of Demons

“I didn’t know she was, uh, important to you,” he babbled.

That was the conundrum. One I had yet to figure out. There was little that caused any real reaction from me. When I had been a kid, my father had found humor in it while my mother looked at me like she was frightened. I had often wondered if my lack of emotion was why she never treated me like she did my brother. Our mother’s adoration of Sebastian never bothered me, but as a kid, I’d noted her lack of interaction with me.

Until the day Capri’s gray eyes met mine with a pleading, panicked look as Beauden held her with his hand around her throat, I’d never experienced rage. It was my first real emotion. And she was the one who had drawn it out of me.

“You’ll have to stay away from her,” I said, walking around him as I examined all the injuries I’d inflicted. “If you want to live, that is.”

“I’ll stay away. I won’t come back to work. I’ll quit.” The words came out of his mouth in rushed gibberish. “I won’t tell anyone about this.”

My lips curled in a cold, amused snarl. As if I had any concern as to who he told.

The sound of footsteps was faint, as if whoever was coming down here didn’t want me to hear them. There were several pairs. I scowled and reached for another cigarette. They were like a bunch of damn women. Didn’t they have better shit to do? I lit the cigarette but kept the lighter in my hand as I waited for them to come barreling in here to the rescue.

King walked through the door first, and I inhaled some of the smoke as I stared at him. His eyes swung to the bastard hanging up beside me, then back to me. “What the fuck, Thatch?” he said, shaking his head.

Sebastian, Storm, and Wells all entered behind him.

“Don’t recall inviting anyone,” I replied with the new cigarette clamped tightly in my mouth. “This was a private party.”

“Fuck,” Sebastian muttered as he stared at the stablehand.

Storm was studying me, as if trying to solve a puzzle. I’d helped him with his female. He owed me one, and he fucking knew it.

As for Wells, I didn’t care for him. Never had. I didn’t even bother to glance his way.

“Please tell me this isn’t about the jockey.” King sounded put out.

“She’s got a name,” I said, annoyed that he kept forgetting to use it.

“Help,” JB begged.

Turning to look at him, I was surprised that he was that stupid. Flicking my lighter, I ran it across his cheek, and he cried out in pain.

“Thatch! Jesus, stop it!” King’s frustration made me smirk.

I flicked my gaze back at him. The smell of JB’s burned flesh appeased me.

Slipping the lighter back into my pocket, I glanced over at my brother. The concern in his eyes was a shame. He was too fucking sensitive. Always had been.

“He’s slow. I had to give him a reminder that I decide if he lives or dies. Your arrival doesn’t change that.”

King ran a hand through his hair, and he shifted is gaze to the man beside me. “Please tell me he did something to deserve this. That it’s not because he was flirting with the jock—Capri.”

I should have known they’d figure it out. Even though I had kept my distance since she had begun coming to the stables to train with Bloodline, Storm had made the mistake of yelling at her. For a moment, I saw nothing but the red haze of fury and attacked him. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep from hurting him. If Capri hadn’t been watching me, I didn’t think I could have stopped my reaction. Her presence was the only thing that seemed to stabilize me. That moment had been enough to give me away to the others.

“I told him. Storm didn’t,” Sebastian admitted.

I’d already known that. Storm was loyal when he felt he owed someone. Sebastian, on the other hand, thought I needed saving from myself. You’d think, after all these years, he would have figured out no one could save me. If JB lived, it would be because I’d decided he could. Not because they’d come in like the fucking calvary.

“I didn’t know,” the moron blurted out beside me. “She talked to me first—”

The back of my hand hit his jaw hard enough that his head snapped to the side, then fell limp.

“FUCK!” King shouted behind me.

I turned back to them. “I didn’t say he could talk.”

King shook his head and glared at me. “Thatch, this shit is messed up. You can’t kill him for flirting with her.”

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