Page 71 of Twisted Devotion

She drops him on the ground and claps her hands together with a sigh before reaching for the chains.

“Don’t,” I say quickly, stopping her. “They’re iron.”

“Shit,” she mutters. “Hold on. There’s got to be something around this hell hole that can cut them.” Allison disappears for a few minutes, then comes back with bolt cutters, making quick work of freeing me from the chains.

“Thanks,” I tell her, rubbing my wrists.

She shoots me a quick grin. “Anytime, chica.”

We jump in and help Skylar detain the remaining men, securing them to the table with cable ties Allison found while looking for the bolt cutters.

“Wait,” I say. “One of them is missing.”

There’s a sound across the warehouse, and my gaze swings toward it, where I quickly spot the man who’d attacked me on the street.

“I’ve got it,” I mutter, shifting from one side of the room to the other and materializing in front of him. I’ve always hated shifting—it leaves my skin tingling weirdly for hours—but in this case, I don’t care. I grab the guy and slam him into the metal wall. “You’re going to wish you were never a part of this,” I snarl in his face.

He has the sense to look frightened, and it only spurs me on.

“You killed my family over some stupid debt,” I add.

His jaw clenches in my grip. “A debt that required payment,” he shoots back. “Once you’re dead, I’ll consider it paid in full.”

I scowl. “Look around, jackass. You don’t have the upper hand here.” I press my thumb into his throat, and he chokes, his face going red. “Why Kyle? He’d been placed with a new family after you killed our parents,” I say through gritted teeth.

The guy coughs dryly, and I let up enough for him to speak. “We saw you with him and made the connection from back then.”

Anger whips through me like a hurricane. “So you killed him just because he reconnected with me?” It wasn’t a new idea, but having it confirmed brings a whole new wave of pain.

He scoffs. “We killed him because he wouldn’t give us what we were looking for.”

I quickly throw the idea of sparing these lowlifes right out the window. I’m going to kill every one of them—starting with this guy.

Swallowing hard, I wrap my fingers around his throat in a firm grip and close my eyes, swiftly pulling his energy out. I picture it like an endless rope and continue pulling. I open my eyes when he starts gasping and his skin goes sheet white, but I don’t stop feeding.

Not until an arm wraps around my waist and hauls me away from him. He falls to the ground, and his eyes roll back into his head.

I whip around and pull myself free before meeting Jackson’s gaze. “What the hell was that?” I demand, before the shock of seeing him here settles in, making my heart race.

He frowns. “You were going to kill him, Red.”

“So what?” I snap. “It’s the least he deserves. What are you even doing here?”

“There is a plan in place for a reason, Kelsey,” Nikolai says before Jackson can answer me, approaching us from the blown-open doorway.

I cross my arms, mostly so I’m not tempted to take a swing at one—or both—of them.

“Take her back to your place, Hawthorne. We’ll clean this mess up and meet you there after.”

Jackson nods, turning toward me. “Come on—”

“Don’t you dare,” I say. “I’m not leaving.”

Nikolai appears in front of me. “Yes, you are.” His tone is firm, his expression dark—and I’m not used to seeing Nik this serious. “Whether you like it or not, whether you go willingly or not, youareleaving. Now.” He flicks a glance back at Jackson and nods before jogging over to where Skylar and Allison are making their way around the table, manipulating the minds of the monsters I desperately wanted to kill.

Jackson places a tentative hand on my shoulder. “Please don’t fight me, Red.”

I turn toward him and roll my eyes. “You’re saying that because you know I can kick your ass without breaking a sweat.”

---