Page 120 of Boy of Ruin
“Did you hurt her?”
Lucifer scoffs. “Let’s go.”
I see Maverick swallow, watch the ink along his throat shift as he does. He brushes his thumb along my lower lip. I wince and forget why.
Then I remember.
That was Jeremiah.
But Maverick’s nostrils flare. “Do you want me to kill you, Luce?” he asks, and there’s no humor in his words.
“That’s my fucking wife, so why don’t you let me deal with her and you get your fucking hands off —”
A scream.
A fucking scream pierces the air.
Not just a scream.
My name.
My. Name.
I make to dart around my brother, but he grabs my wrist, slamming me back against the house, stepping close to me and forcing me against the stone, shaking his head, his eyes full of…grief?
“No, Angel. You can’t help him.”
I shove my palms against Mav’s chest, hard muscle beneath my fingers. “Let me get to him,” I say, moving to the side, trying to see around the cabin. Trying to see the source of the fucking headlights.
The source of that noise.
Metal. Against metal.
Like chains.
A cage.
“Let me get to him,” I say again, my voice panicked.
Mav doesn’t move away from me. He grabs my upper arms, forcing me back again, my breath leaving me in a rush as my spine jars against the stone of the house.
“Let me get to him!” I scream those words, panic ripping through me. The clanking gets louder, like someone banging against…something. Rattling a…cage.
“No,” I tell Mav, holding his gaze, his eyes narrowed on me. “No, please, don’t—”
“You see how she fucking begs for him?” Lucifer snarls, and Maverick holds my gaze as Lucifer adds, “Why don’t we put her in that fucking cage too?”
My heart sinks, even as it’s beating so fast it nearly bursts out of my chest. “Mav, no, please don’t leave him in there.” I try to push away from the siding again, try to dart around him, but he’s faster, grabbing my arm and hauling me back, slamming me again, my head hitting the stone of the house.
I whimper, bringing my hand instinctively to the back of my head.
“Maverick,” Lucifer snarls at the sound of my whimper, but Mav ignores him.
“Nah, Angel. That’s not how this is gonna work. Because I think he’s done some bad things, and we need to know who the fuck he’s working with.”
Another clanking. Another whimper.
Lucifer laughs, and I. Fucking. Hate. Him.
