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He thrashed, but the shadows had him pinned. Trapped.

“A little bit of payback,” Don whispered.

Shadows threaded between his fingers, slowly pulling his bones in the wrong directions. He twisted and bucked, but he couldn’t get away.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Don drawled. He leaned in close, as if they were indulging in a secret. “The only reason I’m keeping you alive right now is because I want to see the look on your face when I fuck up Travis. You thought you could protect him?” He grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to make eye contact. “Hmm? You thought you could keep him safe?”

“Don’t,” Darien bit out. “You go anywhere near him, I’ll kill you?—”

“Oh, I will—I’ve got a lot planned for your cousin.” The shadows squeezed tighter, the still-healing spots in his hand screaming in agony. “As for you…” The shadows cut in deeper, joints cracking.

Oh fuck, oh fuck?—

Quiet as a whisper, Don said, “You’re going to watch.”

Something in his hand cracked. His vision went white.

And he fuckingscreamed.

His ears rattled and rang. The world went fuzzy. Distant.

Beyond the white haze of his vision, beyond the excruciating pain in his hand, Darien became aware of Don laughing. Don, pushing himself to his feet, making a point to apply all his weight to Darien’s hand?—

Darien screamed louder.

“Your dad was right.” Don’s words were muffled—miles away. “Youarea pussy.”

Darien turned onto his side?—

And with a sudden retch he vomited all over the floor.

The ringing got louder. The pain got worse. The house spun?—

“I look forward to seeing you again soon.” The threat echoed, then faded, drowned out by the thumping of his pulse in his ears.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Thump-thump.

Sometime later, the floor shook with rapid footsteps.

“Darien?” called a male voice. A pause. And then: “Holy gods—” The footsteps started again—faster this time.“DARIEN!”

Darien rolled onto his back. He tried to look up, but his vision tripled, and he saw three of Roman spinning like a top. Around and around and around, a dozen times, before he passed out.

12

Intensive Care Unit

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

The bleachthe hospital staff had cleaned the floors with was so strong it scalded Loren’s nose and throat, the hard lemon candy dissolving on her tongue rendered tasteless by the fumes.

Eyes shut, she tried her best to relax after everything that happened in the ambulance. But her focus was soon disrupted by the rattling of a button being repeatedly poked by a finger.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes to the glaring light of the ICU waiting room on the third floor of the hospital.