Page 89 of Wild Wolf

Max sat up as he got his magical-blocking cuffs off, healing himself and aiming his hands at a male nurse, taking the asshole to the ground with a blast of water.

I gave him nod, leaving him to finish off the last of the minions and prowling after Jerome. The time had come for vengeance. The slow kind. The take-my-time over it kind. It was a show, this was, the warm-up act had finished and now it was time for the main event. The crowd were holding their breath in anticipation, the curtain was rising and the one they had all come to see perform stood centre stage in his costume of destruction.

I felt Max being pulled after me by the spell our father had cast on us and the fight followed him into the hall at my back.

Jerome raced down the corridor, tossing a wall of earth out behind him to slow my pursuit. I punched a hole in it with air, barely missing a step as I continued after him, a predator in the night, taking my sweet, sweet time.

Jerome met a dead end, raising his hands to blast a hole into the wall that blocked his exit, but I whipped out a finger and barred his way with a powerful air shield.

I boxed him in, enclosing him in a cube of air and watching as he struggled within it, trying to break out like a fly caught in a greenhouse.

He turned to me, his eyes frantic, that usual coolness about him lost to terror. I had that effect on people. Maybe it was the way I did my hair, or how I dressed. Something about me unsettled folk for sure, but I’d never thought I’d see the day when I unsettled Jerome.

I cocked my head to one side, regarding him with a sharp tug in my heart, like a small duck was living in there, pecking at the insides. Glenda, I’d call it. Or perhaps its cousin was Glenda and mine was called Eduardo. Either way, my heart duck was unhappy and it had everything to do with the man in my box.

“Jeromeo,” I sighed. “Why?”

Such a simple little question, but oh how many sorrows it held.

He shook his head, a little breathless as he searched around him for a way out, but his gaze only landed on me again. His throat bobbed then he hitched on a smile, one that made me frown and think. I couldn’t place the emotion, it was eluding me, just a mosquito dancing in the air, buzzing around my ears, but I missed every time I swatted at it.

“Sin,” he laughed, though it sounded a little tight. “You won the game!”

“The game?” My frown grew frownier.

“This. All of it. It was a game, just like you said. I wanted to see how far I could take it. Hasn’t it been fun?” He laughed again, though it was thick, shaky.

“It has been fun,” I admitted. “Those chains holding me down tickled a bit. That was good. And the bit where I killed all those screamers, I liked that.”

“Yes,” he said keenly. “I knew you wanted them all dead. I led you right here to them. It was all part of the plan. For you. I did it for you. My brother.”

“Brother,” I exhaled, a smile to my voice, but my frown inched in again. Something wasn’t adding up. Two plus two equalled five, everyone knew that. But this? I wasn’t coming out with the right answer. Like all the numbers were jumbled, giggling as they pranced out of reach. “You did this…for me?”

“Yes, Sin. Of course I did,” he said fervently, moving to the edge of my air box and pressing a hand to it. “Now come on, let’s get out of here. We’ll go together. We’ll never look back. We can start afresh, it’ll be just like before. We can head to the woods, we’ll find Mrs Piggles.”

I liked that thought. Me, him and Mrs Piggles. But it was missing some people now. I needed more than my brother and a pig in a nice scarf to keep me happy, and that was telling of how much I’d grown. “What about Rosalie? And Roary, and Ethan, and Cain, and our pet Hasslington?”

“They can all come too. But we’ll go together now and find them later.”

“Maximus can’t stay here alone.” I looked back over my shoulder where my brother was still thick in the fight, the screams pitching through the air and splash of blood telling me he was doing a fine, fine job of murdering our foes. We really were of the same blood. And I wasn’t going to abandon him here.

“Well he…he’s too wrapped up with the law. You can see him another time. He’ll be fine here, he’s the strongest Siren in the kingdom, Sin. But you and me, we gotta get out of here before the FIB show up.”

He offered me his hand and I reached for it, dropping my air shield and taking hold of his palm. His fingers tightened on mine and he tugged to draw me closer, but I resisted, the creases on my brow getting deeper.

“I was on that table with my chest open…”

Jerome’s throat bobbed.

“They were about to extract my Incubus. Take it out and not give it back. Was that part of the game?”

“Course not,” he blurted. “I was about to step in.”

My fingers locked tighter around his, crushing them in my grip. “The numbers in my head are balancing on top of each other, and they’re giving me an answer I don’t want to see, but I think I can’t unsee it. It’s looking me right in the eye.”

“What are you talking about?” Jerome tried to pull his hand from mine, but I didn’t let go.

“They’re stacked up and chirruping the truth at me, Jeromeo. Why’d you do this? Why?”

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