Page 57 of The Enforcers: KANE

His phone buzzed. “Shit,” he muttered. He couldn’t afford not to see who it was. There was too much going on.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was a message from the tech working on the footage, with a link to a photo.

Best I could do, it said. Might be enough for an ID.

Kane slammed his thumb on the link, and it started to load.

“You’re right, okay?” he said. “About me and Selina. I just wanted to believe you were better than that—that you could make me better, like you did before. Not the person who turned himself into a monster to please a liar who said she loved me, but who destroyed everything she touched. Including me.”

“Yeah,” Rachelle said. “I know she did. Why the hell do you think I said yes to the douchebags?”

“What?” he said.

The photo finished downloading and appeared on his screen. Rachelle grabbed his hand and held the phone up in front of him. Kane stared at it.

“Because she’s the one who’s financing the Gen-X lab. Selina robbed your casino.”

Chapter 16

This. Could not. Be happening.

He should have known Selina would never be done destroying his life. He’d felt her claws in his mind all these years. And now, just when he’d found Raven again, just when he thought for one fucking minute something good might happen, she was back.

And Raven wasn’t who he thought she was.

Focus on the job. Focus on the job. Focus on the job.

“What the hell?” were his first words. “Selina was small time. There’s no way she had the juice to pull off jobs like this.”

“Not when we knew her,” Rachelle said. “But she does now. She must have hooked up with Gen-X and had them enhance her abilities.”

“What abilities?” Kane said. “She isn’t even a shifter.”

“Half, they think,” Rachelle said. “I don’t know what kind, or if she has an animal that manifests. But her mental abilities…”

Kane felt a cold lump in the pit of his stomach. “What mental abilities?” But he knew.

“Didn’t you ever wonder how she turned her whole crew into her personal slaves? Convinced them to do whatever she wanted?” Her voice dropped. “How she got you to do whatever she wanted?”

He’d thought it was the mating bond.

Kane’s head started to hurt. He could hear Selina’s voice in his mind. Those others are weak, it whispered. They’re our enemies. She’s our enemy.

Wolf started to snarl.

No! Kane said. It’s Raven. Protect Raven.

But Wolf was confused. He wanted to come out. Kane saw claws extend out of his fingers. He turned away. He had to get away from Raven.

But she was there at his side, her hand on his chest. “It’s okay. Shhh, Wolf. It’s okay.”

Wolf began to whine. Kane’s head was pounding. He could feel Rachelle’s presence soothing him, soothing Wolf, but he wanted to run so bad. To kill. It always got better after there was blood.

“That’s her in your head,” Rachelle whispered. “You don’t have to listen. She can’t hurt us.”

Gradually his breathing slowed, and the need to run faded a bit. His head was still hurting, but not as much.

“Shit,” he muttered. “It hasn’t been that bad in years.”