Page 200 of Inside the Sun

There’s a scary thought that won’t leave my mind: What if he’s planning to use Summer when the FBI shows up?

The possibility sends a chill down my spine. This whole thing could end in a total massacre if it spins out of control.

Swallowing hard, I stare at the fight, painfully aware that if Luca takes Ragnar down, Anzo’s going to threaten Summer,saying he’ll kill his brother. And Summer will be forced to knock the FBI agents out.

Suddenly, Ragnar shoves Luca hard, and they crash into the corner of the room. Ragnar raises an arm and slams it down onto Luca’s neck, the spikes digging into the armor plates at his throat.

I can imagine it clearly. If he manages to wedge those spikes underneath the plating, Luca’s done for.

I stare, tense, but it looks like Luca is saying something. He’s mumbling, quiet, low, just for Ragnar.

It’s indiscernible. I can’t make it out.

Then, without warning, Ragnar pulls back!

He lifts his hand. The spikes stop pressing into Luca’s neck, and instead, he punches him. Just a clean, hard shot to the jaw. Like he’s trying to knock him out. Luca goes limp. Is that really enough to make him pass out? It didn’t even look that strong. Strange.

Ragnar rises and leaves him lying there.

What the fuck?

He turns and walks toward Anzo.

Anzo’s jaw is clenched tight. I see sweat beading on his forehead. This is costing him more than he’s letting on.

"One more step, and your parents are dead. I’m in contact with guys sitting with them via my cyber implants."

"Do it. Now."

I freeze, hearing those words. Anzo locks his eyes with Ragnar, as if in disbelief. It’s a rare sight—this expression on him. What does Ragnar plan to do?

There is a long silence, and Ragnar tilts his head.

"Now… Let Summer go. You know damn well that if you hurt him, you’re not walking out of this room alive. I’ll tear you to shreds," he slowly leans and puts his hands on the cage bars,his voice growling low, "And then castration will feel like afondmemory, you son of a bitch!"

"I think I’ll take that risk," Anzo growls back. I almost admire him. It takes serious balls to talk like that to a silver-plated, spiked monster.

Ragnar can tear him to shreds, no question. And I know he will, the moment Anzo hurts Summer.

Anzo spits it out, "Sun still has one job left, he has to heal me. He’s the only one who can make my dick grow back. No one else. Just him!"

"That’s not true," I say, my voice trembling. "There’s someone else. You forgot, Anzo."

Anzo doesn’t even look at me. His black eyes stay locked on Ragnar, who’s obviously standing way too close for his comfort.

But I don’t give up. "It’s your True Mate, Anzo! You just have to find him. When you enter the Joining, the True Mate Bond will heal you. It’s the strongest magic there is, and it always works. But what I have… I don’t control it. I discovered it just now! I don’t know how to trigger it. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Your True Mate is your best chance to be healed!"

Anzo’s jaw trembles. Sweat drips down his temples. His eyes are still on Ragnar.

"You think I haven’t thought of that? I asked Moon to tell me where he is! But Moon just kept clinging to this one path.‘Sun’, he kept saying. Over and over. Like he couldn’t see any other option. Every time I tried to get him to tell me how to find my fated mate, Moon would slip into that damn trance of his, repeating like crazy,‘Only Sun, only Sun, he will make it happen’,over and over and over. It didn’t matter what I did, what drugs I gave him. He just kept saying the same thing. So what am I supposed to believe? I take it literally. That you can heal me. And hell, it fits! You’ve got that healing power, don’t you? So when you're under pressure—"

"There could be other meanings, couldn’t there?‘Make it happen’could mean anything. Set it in motion, maybe? It doesn’t have to be about healing!"

Anzo exhales sharply.

"Moon couldn’t explain it either. He said there were too many variables, too many paths. That everything’s like jelly. That’s why you’re my last hope."

He suddenly cuts off mid-sentence. His eyes go blank for a second, then his face drains of color, pale as a corpse.

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