Page 118 of Devour

Ryan. He’s a dipshit, but I didn’t expect it to be him, which makes this much worse.

“Disappointed to see me?” he taunts.

My grip tightens on the chain. “Where the fuck am I?”

“It doesn’t matter. You won’t be here for long.” He tosses the mask onto the cabinet and rolls his neck. He’s looking at me the way he has always looked at me. Like he’s going to hold me down and take what he wants. My guess is that he doesn’t give a fuck about his Talon oath of abstinence, not with the way he’s licking his lips.

“Why won’t I be here long?” I keep my back to the window, focused on his every move. “Because you’re going to kill me?”

“Why would I kill you? If you’re dead, you can’t fight me when I fuck you. And fuck, I love a fight.”

He steps closer, and I raise the chain. He stops but not because he’s afraid of me. His lips are twisted into a cruel grin. He’s fucking with me.

“Axl’s going to kill you. And whoever else you have out there. Just let me go.” Goddamnit, I need a fucking weapon.

His head falls back, and he laughs like a fucking lunatic. “Axl’s dead, bitch.”

My lungs stop working. The chain goes slack in my hand because my fingers have lost feeling.

“You’re lying.” Tears sting my eyes, hoping with everything in my body that this is just another trick.

“We blew up the compound. I wish you could’ve seen how beautiful it was.” He pushes off the wall and takes another step toward me. “We got lucky with Dane Sinclair there too. Boom!” He makes an explosion gesture with his hands. “Dane, your boyfriend, and that stupid fuck Priest are all gone, sweetheart. Three birds with a few well-placed stones.”

No. He had to be lying. I can’t lose Axl. Not after all we’ve already lost. I can take whatever these sick fucks throw at me. They can never break me. But losing Axl, I can’t survive that.

“I don’t believe you.” My voice is shaking, and I don’t want him to know he’s affecting me. But I can’t stop it. “He’s not dead.”

“I hate to break it to you, but he is. We blew that place to hell.” He grins at me again, far too proud of himself for whatever he has planned. Then he nods toward the door. “Your brother must actually give a shit about you, because he won’t let me play with you.”

He lunges and grabs the chain in my hand with one hand and my throat with the other. “But he has to sleep sometime.”

My brother being my only ally here makes me sick to my stomach. His fingers tighten on my throat, and I claw at his hand. My feet barely touch the floor, and the cuff digs into my ankle from the angle. His face is inches from mine, and I can feel his breath on my skin.

I spit in his fucking face.

His grip loosens just enough for me to suck in air before he slams me backward into the window. The back of my skull hits the glass, making my vision blur.

“Will it make you feel better if I wear the mask when I fuck you?” He wipes his face with his free hand. “You can pretend I’m that asshole like that dumb bitch did.”

“Fuck you.” Axl thought his dad had someone on the inside, but it was Justin. Justin used this asshole to set us up. That seems so long ago now with everything else that happened.

“That fire is going to be fun to put out.” He grips my ass and pulls me to him. I shove my hands against his chest, trying to push him back. “I bet you fight even harder than the others—”

The keypad beeps, and the door opens.

“Get your fucking hands off her, Ryan.”

Justin walks in, and Ryan drops me. I hit the floor and gasp, grabbing my throat. The chain rattles across the tile as I scramble back toward the bed.

Justin looks at Ryan with the same psychotic look he had back in Axl’s room. “I told you not to fucking touch her.”

“She spit in my face.” Ryan points at me. “Your sister has a fucking mouth on her.”

“And I’ll deal with her. Get the fuck out.”

Ryan holds Justin’s stare like he might fight him. There’s something going on between them. It’s obvious they haven’t decided which of them is actually in control of whatever their plan is.

Ryan picks up the mask from the cabinet and walks to the door. He looks at me one more time before he leaves. “I’ll check on you later, sweetheart.”