Page 127 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
I stood frozen, completely gobsmacked. Wordless, for once.
Click.
Dev was suddenly wrenched backwards, away from me. Maxwell had managed to snap handcuffs around his wrists from behind.
“What the— What the hell? Get off me, man!” Dev thrashed against the restraints, fury replacing joy. He twisted out of Maxwell’s grip, gaze locking onto his face, recognition dawning. “Wait… you’re the one who arrested us that night! Even though you work with Killigrew Street!”
Tension radiated from Maxwell.
“That was the worst night of my life,” Dev spat. “Rory had nightmares for months after that!Months!”
I felt Maxwell flinch through our bond, a tsunami of guilt and regret flooding our connection.
“Stop it,” I snapped at Dev, before he could elaborate any further and tell Maxwell that being locked in that cell triggered all sorts of memories of being locked up by my father. “That whole thingwassort of our own fault, Dev. Anyway, we don’t have time for that right now.”
“Get these handcuffs off me!”
“You just attacked us!” I gestured wildly. “Look at Maxwell’s head. You threw him to the ground! You almost strangled me to death, Dev!”
I touched my neck, where I was convinced there must be a bruise. Dev’s eyes followed my hands, his eyes widening.
“Dev, just what is going on here?” Maxwell demanded. “Where have you been? We’re up here looking for you.”
Dev glanced nervously over his shoulder, scanning the darkness. “They might be watching. We need to go somewhere safe.”
“You are safe,” I assured him, reaching out to touch his arm. He jumped like he’d been electrocuted. “We’ll keep you safe. We’ll take you back to our cottage.”
“Your… cottage?”
“On my family’s land.”
Dev looked skeptical.
“It’s our best option right now,” I insisted.
“Fine, but get these handcuffs off me,” Dev said, rattling the metal against his wrists.
“Okay,” I said at the exact same moment Maxwell snarled, “Absolutely not.”
We turned to face each other, matching scowls etched across our faces.
“Rory—”
“Maxwell—”
I could sense Maxwell’s frustration crackling, but underneath it lay something deeper—a bone-deep terror at the thought of Dev hurting me again. The intensity of his protective instincts almost stole my breath away.
And it definitely stole my heart.
“I’m not letting him hurt you again,” Maxwell said firmly, his voice carrying the weight of absolute conviction. “You can hate me for it all you want. I don’t care.”
Though, of course, he did care. He cared very much. I desperately wanted to press a soft kiss to his cheek, to reassure him that it was going to be okay.
Dev shifted impatiently behind us, the handcuffs jangling. “Listen, I don’t know what happened before, but now, I just want to get somewhere safe.”
I looked between Dev, the ex-boyfriend who I’d spent weeks crying over after he broke my heart, and Maxwell, the man I’d accidentally bonded myself to for life. The man I couldn’t bear to see hurt again.
“The handcuffs stay on until you prove you’re not a demon wearing Dev’s skin,” I declared, crossing my arms. “Final offer, I’m afraid.”
