Page 42 of Broken Souls

They’re going to hurt what’smine.

They’re going to hurt my fucking mate.

I call on the fire I was born with, the one that eats magic, the one that can’t be put out by anything other than me, and I stalk towards Varius’ mother.

“I’m going to kill you,” I snarl as purple flames dance between my fingers.

“No, girl,” she says softly. “You’re going to die trying.”

Sixteen

HIM

Aleric leans back in his chair, his feet kicked up on his desk, his ankles crossed. Normally, the constant movement of his foot as he taps it in the air would annoy the hel out of me as I’m trying to read, but my thoughts are already too scattered to focus on the page in front of me. We’ve just spent the last two-and-a-half hours going over the contract, changing A to B, then B to C, then C back to fucking A. It’s like he’s been deliberately wasting our time, keeping us here and out of our house. I’ve been telling myself he needs our aid, that he won’t sabotage his only chance at getting help in fighting Antonio, but Aleric has always done what he wants, to hel with the consequences.

And what he wants is Mother.

Who’s home alone. With no magic to defend herself.

But he’s also here, and although he could send a team to attack our place, I know he won’t. Aleric is playing a game with her, and when it comes time for the next round, he’ll

be getting her himself.

Still, there’s an itch across my skin, something telling me to leave and get back home. That something isn’t right. So I flip to the last page of the contract and sign it quickly, then toss the file onto the desk and stand. Leno steps in to sign it next, and I hold my hand out to take Aleric’s copy. He looks at me, and for a moment, I see how he is my father. There is a familiar need to dissect everything around him. He knows something has me on edge, and he’s about to start pulling threads randomly to see which one unravels.

“Fucking sign it already,” I say. “We have shit to do.”

He stares at me for a second longer, then signs his copy with a flourish. He offers it to me. “May this alliance not fall apart too quickly.” He smiles, and I know the fucker’s telling me he thinks I’ll be dead soon.

“Break any part of it, and I’ll kill you myself.” I sign it and toss it back to him as he laughs.

“You are your mother’s son.” He cocks his head to the side with a smile. “Will no doubt fail like her too.”

He glances at Talon, who has just stepped forward to sign the ledger. My brother’s knuckles are white around the pen, and I know he is thinking about stabbing it through the vampire’s neck.

That won’t kill him though. Probably won’t even annoy him. Aleric’s smile widens in a dare.

“T,” Khalid warns. And just like that, Talon signs both copies, then steps back.

Aleric whistles as his eyes dance with delight. “Don’t see dogs trained like that anymore. Do you beat him or suck him off to get him to obey that way?”

“He don’t have a dick to suck,” Maddox cuts in, drawing T’s anger. He gets punched in the shoulder as I grab our copy of the alliance and turn for the door before my brother realizes Maddox just played him like a fiddle.

My brothers follow me out. Talon’s anger seeps out of his pores like a beaver’s dam about to break. I glance at him as he yanks open the front passenger door of our car.

“I didn’t do anything,” he mutters. “And I won’t as long as you keep me the fuck away from him.”

Without a word, I climb into the back seat. Khalid settles in across from me, his jaw tight. Maddox takes the wheel, and my other brothers and Krypto fill up the second car.

I turn to Khalid, watching him as he checks his phone for the hundredth time. He seems to be on edge even more than I am, but I know it’s because this is the first time he’s left his girl alone. I wonder if that worry is amplified because he thinks Micha might have returned while we were out. I have not told him that she isn’t the traitor I thought she was, not fully trusting that she isn’t. Not trusting myself to be able to make that call.

The things she does to me…

I can’t fucking think straight when I’m around her.

When Khalid frowns at his phone, that itch across my skin flares into a full-on rash. But he is bonded to his girl and can sense her emotions. If there’s anything wrong at the house, we’ll know about it immediately.

He doesn’t text her for an update, doesn’t need answers for anything he might be feeling through their link.