Page 85 of Reign By Wrath

Chapter Eight

“Wake up.”

My head snapped around, jarring my eyes open with the fierce pain in my cheek.

“I said wake up!”

Another slap bounced my head off something hard.

I glared at the blurry figure before me. “I was up,” I croaked. “That second slap... was for fun.”

“Why shouldn’t I have fun smacking you around, bitch? You burned down my house! Those idiots were supposed to grab you up the next time you came back. They weren’t supposed to stand around with their thumbs up their asses while you danced around my burning home.”

My lids fluttered, eyes straining to make sense of her. It took me a long, scrambled minute to realize there wasn’t something wrong with my eyes. It was dark. Moonlight filtered through the leaves and dissipated before it touched the ground. I was still outside.

I forced myself to focus—forming the moving edges of the figure in front of me into something solid and clear.

Everleigh glared down at me—more enraged than I’d ever seen her. Angrier than when I cornered her in Toussaint’s and announced that she was an arsonist and attempted murderer.

I smirked.

“Wipe that fucking smile off your face!”

I saw the punch coming and tried to block it. My hands snagged, bound with something rough and unforgiving. Her fist smashed into my face, and blood spurted on her knuckles.

“You think you’re so clever, Sinclair? You actually fooled yourself into thinking you were getting the upper hand.”

Head lolling, I swayed from side to side, looking for—

“Where are the guys?” I interrupted. “Rafael? Wilder? Cato!”

“You can screech all you want. They’re not here.”

Herewas the woods not far from Everleigh’s cabin. I knew because acrid smoke tickled my nose and throat—turning my speech raspy and making it harder to see through the thin haze. Rushing water sounded behind me.

We were by the river... and nowhere near help.

“What do you think I did with them? Like any responsible citizen, I turned the terrorists over to the police.”

Horror leadened my bones. I couldn’t think. I didn’t speak.Cato... Rafael... Wilder... Lucien... She couldn’t have. She didn’t...

“A few of my T.O.D. friends were kind enough to cart those shits off to prison for me. They’re on their way right now. Captain Capaldi will be sure to add arson to the charges after what they did to my home tonight.” She slapped me again for good measure. “Although, I did keep one of your sex toys for myself because we’re ending this. Tonight.”

I didn’t know what she meant until Everleigh hauled me around.

Victor knelt on the riverbank, shouting through his gag. Standing next to him was someone I was coming to know all too well.

“Evening, Sinclair,” Wolf chirped. “Lovely to see you again. May I say I’m loving you in ropes? Very sexy.”

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