Page 6 of Speak No Evil
Before I can ask what for, she’s gone. Sucked into a portal of her own making.
It takes a minute for that to register.
For the gravity of her foolhardy action to truly sink in.
Ryker and Thorne back away as my hands ball into fists and a roar rips from my chest.
And then I do the only logical thing when my mate goes off on her own to fix a problem so far out of her depth she hardly comprehends all the ways she can fail.
I rip the granite off the island and throw it out the stained glass window behind it.
Ryker approaches as I stare at the destruction, putting a hand on my heaving shoulder to pull me away from the mangled remains. “She’ll be back, old friend.”
Thorne nods. “We have to trust her.”
“Trust her? Trust her! How am I supposed to trust her to come back whole when she has no idea—”
“Because you must, brother,” Thorne cuts in. “And that is what love is. Trusting that, each day, your beloved will come back to you.”
“You can’t smother her,” Ryker adds. “If she thinks she can do this, she likely can.”
“Besides.” Thorne smiles at me, and I have the urge to rip his lips off his face and mount them on the wall. “She’s wielding your power. I’d say there isn’t much she can’t handle at this point.”
Another roar, this one rending my throat raw and ruined when I’m through.
My brothers don’t move. They simply meet my gaze in turn. “I can’t simply stay here while she—”
Ryker ends my burgeoning diatribe with a solid right hook to the side of my head. “You can, and you must. She has your power, and until our power has regenerated, we’re little more than declawed cats.”
I punch him back, a quick jab right to the eye to match the one already bruised.
Ryker stumbles back, cradling his eye as his nose pours blood.
“Hey, now. Don’t pick on the one who doesn’t enjoy fighting, brother.” Thorne steps between Ryker and me.
“He punched first.”
“Because you’re too goddamn big for him to slap sense into you.” He takes a fighting stance, putting his hands in front of his face. “Do you want to keep going? Because I’m more than willing to keep your mind and body occupied until our witch returns.”
A snarl hisses out, and I lunge at him. But Thorne is ready, and he parries my attack effortlessly, redirecting my momentum to the ruined island.
I fall into it, breaking the remaining cabinets as I do.
“Do you want to move to the ring?” Thorne asks as I get up.
I shake my head, wings snapping out behind me. “No. Destroying things seems like a very good idea right now.”
Thorne’s face twists into that deviant smile of his. The smile that says things are about to get bloody, and he’s going to savor every moment. “Ryker, keep score.”
I don’t hear his reply. Only the soft packing sounds of my fists meeting Thorne’s ribs.
With each connection, Thorne lets out a low groaning grunt, and I can’t tell if it’s a pleasure sound or a pain sound. Though, knowing him, it’s likely both.
I let myself whale on him, abusing his body, until my arms tremble with the exertion. Thorne takes it all and dishes it when he can, but he’s more focused on protecting that face of his.
A shudder runs through me as my stamina falters. My head drops, and I catch sight of Thorne’s bouncing erection beneath his sleeping pants.
“You really are a sick fuck, aren’t you?” I nod toward his crotch.