Page 75 of Demons and Debts
But my bravado is forced out of me as he grabs my wrists and pulls them above my head, his grip hard and bruising.
Restrained, I start to panic. He’s saying something, shouting at me, but I can’t even hear the words above the roaring in my head. I can't get out of this. Claustrophobia grabs at me as I struggle, and a cry is ripped from my throat.
* * *
Theo
Where the hell is she?I'm scanning the crowds, looking at the bar, noticing how many supes there are here tonight who I wouldn't want near my worst enemy let alone Jane. I catch sight of Paris dancing with a girl whose presence I barely register. I jerk him around towards me.
‘What is it?’ he asks.
‘Have you seen Jane?’ I yell into his ear.
He shakes his head and I see his irritation at being interrupted morph to a flash of concern. I knew he was more interested in her than he let on. He's probably just being careful because of Kor’s jealous streak.
‘Go tell Vic,’ I shout, and he nods, making for the VIP room.
‘I was only gone for fucking 10 minutes,’ I say to myself.
I went back to the others after completing my little mission to find Maddox and his clan just sitting at their table, looking like they were in a daze. Vic and Sie were nowhere to be seen, Paris was already on the dance floor pretending to be the brainless playboy Vic wants him to seem, Korban was playing on his phone with a scowl on his face, and no one was keeping an eye on the new girl in a club full of supes that could – and would – kill her as soon as look at her.
I stomp down the corridor behind the bar where the bathrooms are, jerking open the Ladies’ door. I can smell her in here. Or, rather, I can smell Kor’s bodywash. I noticed that in the limo earlier when she was sitting so close. Kor, that sly bastard, must have put it in her bathroom hoping she’d use it, but I haven’t figured out why.
‘Jane!’ I call inside.
‘There's nobody in here except me,’ a girl calls back, ‘and my name ain't Jane.’
Fuck!
I change direction, walking back up the corridor. I see a door that says ‘Private’, and it's only half closed. With a bad feeling as I smell the lingering scent of Kor, I approach it just in time to hear a cry.
I burst through, vaguely aware that at least one of the Iron I’s is behind me, and I findfucking Callaghanwith his hands on what's ours.
I tear him away from her and push him towards …Maddox?Maddox is here? He doesn't usually get his hands dirty.
‘How did you get in? I told you you're not welcome here anymore, dog,’ he growls low.
Callaghan is taken by two of Maddox’s crew and hauled away and Maddox just stares at Jane with a look on his face that I can’t discern … and I don’t like.
Before I can say something to him, Vic appears, flanked by the others. I tell them what happened in as few words as possible, and glance behind me at Jane.
She’s in the corner clutching her arms, her clothes in disarray and looking down at the floor. I suppress a curse at the dress that Paris found her to wear. It hugs her body like a second skin and I fucking love the sight of it, but so does every other male here. I concede that it wasn’t the dress that made Callaghan drag her in here though. He was just waiting for his chance after he failed at the party, and we gave it to him.
I hope bringing her here tonight was fucking worth it.
Vic blocks Maddox’s line of sight and we’re exactly on the same page. I don't want anyone seeing her like this either. No one except me and my brothers.
I walk over to her. She doesn't move and I notice she's shaking a little.
‘I’m going to fix your dress,’ I tell her, easing it down to cover what little modesty she has left in this thing.
Her eyes flicker with recognition just for a second.
‘Let's go,’ Vic says but I shake my head.
I’ve been glued to the monitors almost obsessively when she’s in my room and, while it’s been awesome to watch her when she doesn’t know it, I’m starting to work out her tells as well.
‘I think she's headed for a meltdown and the limo will take forever to get back here at this time of night. It’s too busy still.’
