Page 80 of The Devils of Saint City

“Okay, so you’re not going to hurt me, you just want something to do with my arm,” I muse. “If you’re not going to cut it off and sell it, I really don’t understand.”

The annoyance on his face turns to amusement. “You really don’t know. They never told you?”

“Told me what?”

He stands, moving toward me and reaching around to pinch the back of my upper arm. “They put a fucking tracker in you, stupid girl. You didn’t honestly think they turned you loose without a plan, did you? They’ve been watching your every fucking move since you left Ellis’ shithole of a house.”

The insult to our beautiful home pisses me off more than the insinuation that they tagged me like a wild animal. “That’s not true,” I argue, but suddenly it makes sense — and I know exactly when they did it. I remember feeling a sharp pain in my arm the night I woke up with a shock collar around my neck. It didn’t make sense at the time, but I figured one of them just dug their nails into my skin trying to keep me still enough to collar me.

But it was a fucking tracker.

I should be angry, but all it does is make my stomach squirm with long-forgotten desire. Yeah, they broke me alright. Good for them.

Barking an almost psychotic laugh, I smile up at him. “Okay, so they know where I’m at. Again, they still let me go. They don’t care about me. I doubt they’re even looking at it anymore, so you might as well let me go before you do something neither of us can take back.”

“If you think the Devils of Saint City won’t protect their property, whether they deemed it trash or not, you’re dumberthan I thought. That’s not how things work around here. They’ll come. And when they do, you’ll get to watch me paint the floor with their blood. The Provost already told me I have his blessing.”

Fuck. If the Provost gave up on them, that’s bad news. It’s not surprising since they keep killing people they shouldn’t, but honestly... it makes me worried for them. Two against one, I’ll take my men any day. But them against the most powerful man for a thousand miles? That’s something else entirely.

“Ahh. So you are scared,” he chuckles darkly. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.” His laptop dings, giving me a chance to wrench one of my hands almost completely free of the ropes as he goes to check it. “Sooner than I thought. They’re here.”

Flipping his monitor around, he makes me watch as Asher’s Maverick pulls up outside the building. But he’s not alone. Blair’s car is right behind him. Three against one is even better odds for us, but what are the chances that they actually take him out before he gets one of them?

I need to do something. Fast.

“Be right back,” he singsongs, grabbing his gun off the table and heading outside just as I get myself free. I’m on my feet and sprinting toward the door when I hear Blair yell behind me.

“Rhea, this way! Come on!”

I stand there for a moment, torn between going to my boys and leaving with Blair. They need me. I’m the reason they’re here at all, and if something happens to them...

They came for me. After everything, they came for me. To save me.

“Rhea, fucking now! We don’t have much time. They’re here to save their reputations, not you. Forget them.”

My world comes crashing down all over again. Of course that’s why they’re here. Julian said it, but it could’ve been a lie. But coming from Blair, too?

They really don’t care.

Scowling at the open door, I ignore the struggle I hear outside, bolt toward Blair and head out the back door to her car.

She barely gets the engine running before we hear the gunshots.

There are so many of them it’s hard to tell what’s happening or who’s doing the shooting, but Blair doesn’t give me a chance to run out and look. Tires squeal as we leave, running from the truth of whatever is happening.

“Are you okay?” she asks quickly, looking me over from the driver’s seat. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. All in all, I’m a little disappointed. I figured a high-stakes kidnapping would have more... action, you know? It was anticlimactic.”

Her eyes widen in surprise before she lets out a huffed laugh. “They really did a number on you, huh? I’ve never heard of a kidnapping victim complaining it wasn’t violent enough.”

I don’t answer her. I can’t. What would I even say? That I’m broken, that I’m dying to feel something again, even if it’s pain? That she’s right, they warped my psyche so much that I’ll never be able to go back to the girl I was before? None of that matters. She confirmed they didn’t come to save me, so there’s no point to any of it. I’ll be a broken, weird little girl for the rest of my life, and I’ll be it alone.

There’s nothing left for them to take.

34

Asher

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