Page 77 of Conjure

My hand flies out, and I grip her wrist before she can move, giving her a warning look. I refuse to let Wilfred separate us.

Her wrist feels so small in my hand, and the tears that cling to her wispy lashes churn my gut. I always thought I knewthe meaning of rage, but seeing her tremble with fear rouses something inside me. Something that makes her face pale.

“Let go of the girl unless you want her to die.” Wilfred aims the shotgun at Camryn, and it takes everything in me to uncurl my fingers from around her bony wrist.

“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” His voice drips with humor.

With a final tear-filled glance in my direction, that makes me want to rip the old man’s heart from his chest, she rounds the tattered couch until Wilfred stops jostling his gun.

She’s by his side with her head bent and her arms crossed over her chest for modesty. I grit my jaw when her soft sniffles cut through the tense silence. How fucking dare he frighten her like this.

“There’s a good girl,” he drawls, pulling her into his side and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Wasn’t so hard, was it, darlin’?”

“Don’t you fucking dare touch her!”

He levels those dull eyes on me again, flicking the toothpick. Seconds pass, maybe even minutes, and then he drops his eyes to my flaccid dick.

Acid burns my esophagus the longer he lets his gaze linger. Camryn sniffles again.

“Did you kids think you could come in here and do what? Fuck on my couch? Seek a thrill?”

“Let her go,” I warn.

A spark of something…malicious flashes in his eyes. Wilfred enjoys inflicting fear. It’s there, in his cold chuckle when he strokes his fingers through Camryn’s matted hair. “She’s pretty.”

Gritting my teeth, I remain quiet.

If that deadly weapon weren’t aimed straight at me, I’d scale this couch and bash his face in. The only thing that keeps me tethered to the ground is the thought of what he might do toCamryn if he shoots me. If he touches her, I’ll torture him until he begs for death. Even then, I’ll drag it out.

“I’ll tell you what, darlin’,” he says to her, tipping her chin up with his grimy fingers, and I almost lose my shit there and then. “If you drop to your knees and suck my dick, I’ll let you and your friend go. We’ll forget this whole thing ever happened. How’s that?”

“Don’t listen to him, Camryn,” I bite out, fisting my hands.

She swallows audibly, flicking her glassy eyes between his. I eye the gun, the couch,him.

My body vibrates with rage. I’m biting down so hard that my jaw will ache for weeks.

“You can walk out of here, and no one gets hurt.”

A growl reverberates through my chest when he guides her hands away from her chest and reaches out to palm a breast.

Fuck this.

No one touches what’s mine.

As if he can hear my thoughts, he flicks his gaze up to mine and spits out the toothpick. The sight of her pale breast in his grimy hand blackens my vision.

“A perfect handful,” he taunts, squeezing.

“I’m going to kill you,” I breathe so quietly and viciously that Camryn retreats into herself.

“I’m the one with the weapon here, boy,” he replies, pinching her nipple.

She flinches, whimpering with pain. I make for the couch but come to a sudden stop when he puts the gun to the underside of her chin.

“Take one more step, and I pull the trigger.”

My body freezes with dread.