Page 30 of Dead to Rights
“Where were you?” she asked, the first signs of suspicion creeping into her expression. “I couldn’t feel you.”
Finn gritted his teeth, swallowing back the bile that rose in his esophagus. He hated lying, especially about something like this, but he had promised to return his mate’s brother safely.
“I went to get this,” he answered, holding up the bottle for her to see.
Her eyes narrowed, and thin lines marred her brow. “What is it?”
“Noah is my mate.”
“No!” she screeched, her arm dipping, taking Keegan closer to the surface of the river.
A chorus of gasps echoed behind him, punctuated by a lone growl. He pushed them away and swallowed thickly.
“Noah is my mate, but this can change that.” Flying by the seat of his pants, he had no idea what he was saying. He just knew that Keegan’s very existence rested on him convincing her. “I went to get this so I can forget him, so you and me can be together.”
“Can…can it really do that?”
“Yes,” he lied. He didn’t feel great about the deception, but this couldn’t happen again. Karleigh couldn’t be allowed to hurt anyone else. “Let him go, and I’ll show you.”
Her gaze flickered to Keegan, and she tilted her head, almost as if she had forgotten he was still there. “He looks like the other one.”
“They’re brothers. Family.”
“Why should I give him back?”
“Because you don’t really want to hurt him.”
Karleigh looked at him, her mask cracking, revealing the monster beneath. “But I kind of do.”
Okay, he could play this game. “If you hurt him, I’ll throw this—” He shook the glass bottle in her direction. “—into the river, and you’ll be alone. Forever.”
Yep, that got her attention. “You’ll really be mine?”
“Let him go.”
“Hmm, okay.” She shrugged, a girlish giggle bubbling from her lips as she slung her arm forward, tossing Keegan onto the dock at Finn’s feet. “There you go.”
“Are you okay?” Finn asked, helping him to stand.
“Finn, don’t do this. She’s fucking crazy.”
“Go on,” he said, urging him toward the other end of the pier. “Calm down your mate before he breaks something.”
“No, listen to me. You can come with me. You don’t have to do this.”
“Keegan, go. Now.”
He looked reluctant, almost defiant, but after another heartbeat, he shook his head and jogged away, hurry toward the group gathered on the bank.
With Keegan safe and his promise fulfilled, Finn turned his attention back to Karleigh. “It’s just you and me now.” He crept closer, watching her for any sudden movements. “All you have to do is drink this, and we can be together. Just like you want.”
“Just one sip?”
“Just one sip,” he confirmed, holding the bottle out to her.
She stared at it, tilting her head one way, then the other, the movements jerky and robotic.
“Okay,” she finally agreed, but she didn’t reach for it. Instead, she stared up at him, her blue eyes burning with challenge. “You first.”
