Page 55 of Riot of Autumn

“Well, he was doing something at the Smithe’s house to suck magic out of people. Who knows how long he’s been sucking power from other people?” I pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting the urge to pull Ruby back into my arms.

“What’s the point?” Ruby asks as she takes a step closer to me and then retreats, as if she has no control over her movements.

“Can you not stick your tongue down my sister’s throat?” Rhys snaps from where he’s now sitting on the downed tree trunk in an attempt to stay away from Zara. Archer blinks at him as he slowly pulls away from Lena. Miri and Davis are still making out like they’re going to be separated for months.

“Can someone pry them apart?” I sigh and drag my hand over my head.

Zara tugs on Miri’s shirt, but Miri’s arm shoots out, and she yanks Zara against her. Zara squeaks and Rhys is up on his feet in the next instant, extracting her and pulling Davis off Miri.

“Fuck, everyone, stop touching. Pretend we all have cooties, and you need to stay two feet away at a minimum,” Rhys says.

“Why isn’t this affecting me like the rest of you?” I shove Archer’s roaming hand away when it gets a little too close to my ass.

Zara takes another step away from Miri and Davis, but Rhys just hooks his hand through her arm and tugs her into his body. She squeaks and then sighs when he kisses her neck, ignoring the directive he just gave to everyone else.

“Your necklace. I bet it’s keeping his influence from you,” Zara says through a broken groan. It isn’t entirely, but I’m nowhere as touchy as these other fools.

Ruby’s fingers are on my chest, tracing the outline of the broken heart through my t-shirt. Lust rushes straight to my dick, and I question if I’m really immune. Or is it that Ruby has me so damn torn up inside that one simple touch and I’m putty in her hands?

“Doesn’t this look like fun?” Colton fucking Zima saunters across the beach toward us, his eyes glinting with firelight as a smug grin creeps up his face. No one even glances at him. Everyone lost in their own worlds, touching each other.

Colton doesn’t seem to be looking for a response. His eyes narrow in on Ruby and a low growl of warning rips from my throat. Colton never takes his eyes from her as he puts his fucking hand—one that will soon be separated from his body by my teeth—on her arm. He yanks her away from our group, away from me, dragging her down the beach toward where the Duke is holding court.

Ruby is gasping, her hand at her throat like she can’t breathe. Colton’s barely beyond the light of the fire when I’m at his side, shoving him away from Ruby and pushing her behind my back. Colton stumbles forward, kicking up sand before he regains his balance.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” My magic is dangerously close to the surface. If I don’t keep it leashed, there’s no telling what animal might burst out of me.

With a snarl, Colton stands up straight. His floppy fucking hair swings into his eyes before he tosses it back.

“I do whatever I want. The sooner you pathetic humans figure that out, the easier it will be for everyone.”

That slick smile is back on his lips as he closes the distance between us. He leers at Ruby and grabs my forearm. I don’t know what he expected to happen. Maybe the same thing as that day when we fought at Ruby’s studio. He’s mistaken.

“Maybe you’re not as special as you think you are, Colt.”

The jeering smile drops from Colton’s face as he sneers at me, quickly figuring out that whatever he intended isn’t working on me. Zara mentioned once that his magic is like Rhys’s magic. Is he glamouring something? Making Ruby see something that’s not there? When he froze me in place at Ruby’s studio, he’d been using magic on me, but it’s not working now. Is this necklace protecting me from his power as well? We might need to get everyone a fucking friendship necklace, if that’s the case.

“Why don’t you, the Duke, and all your little minions take your magical roofie back to the frat house and go fuck yourself with a pineapple. Since obviously you can’t get laid without drugging a bunch of unsuspecting, pathetic humans.” I toss in some air quotes at the end.

Ruby’s at my back, not paying any attention to what’s going on in front of her. Her hands sneak under my shirt and she’s running them up my back and over my sides. Fuck, Ruby,sonot the time.

Colton’s body is tense, like he’s about to take a run at me, but then that smile returns to his face. “You really don’t understand who you’re dealing with.” He takes a step back just as Seraphina and the Duke appear behind him. They form a line of condescending looks as they peer down their noses at us.

“Oh, look. It’s the dog and his pet human,” the Duke says, and the others laugh.

Some of the random people making out stop and laugh as though commanded by him. Ruby’s still groping me from behind. As much as I love her hands on me, she needs to stop. I grab the hand that’s snaking around to my stomach and clutch it in mine, not letting her get any lower.

“We’re not going to let you get away with this.”

They laugh, like the psycho assholes they are. “What are you going to do about it?” The Duke runs his thumb and forefinger through his long blond hair like he’s about to start twirling it. “I think I’ll make you watch while I stab that one, just like she did to me”—he points to Ruby, disgust on his face—“Except I’ll use my cock instead of a knife.”

I snarl in fury. I’m going to knock him to the ground and punch his smug face until there’s nothing left but pulp. The only thing holding me back is Ruby clinging to my back like a damn monkey. The Duke lifts his hand and flicks his wrist and then does it again. It’s the same movement he made when he forced me to shift back at the Smithe’s house. Mother fucker.

“Shift,” he shouts, but the magic rolls over me. I physically feel the pulse of it slamming against my skin, but it bounces off. It’s no match for the protection Ruby pumped into my necklace.

“Shift,” he bellows into the night, but it still doesn’t work. His gaze burns with hatred as his fingers jerk in my direction, his body rigid. “Why isn’t this working?” he snarls, then twists toward Seraphina. “Use his fear.”

The Duke gestures toward some unseen point, and the chair he was lounging is brought over by a bunch of dead-eyed humans who obey without thought. He sinks into it as though we weren’t just in the middle of an argument. Ruby’s still all over me, rubbing her chest to my back. I’m about to toss her over my shoulder and get us all the hell out of here when the Duke barks out another command.

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