Page 179 of Dance With A Devil

Sinclair doesn’t even glance his way. She’s back at Lexi, knife to flesh, slicing clean through a pinky. Lexi howls.

“You’re not going to the nut house,” I say. “That’s just what we call our home.”

Sinclair doesn’t stop. “Cool,” she grunts, sawing through the next finger. “Can’t wait to see it.”

Lexi’s wailing now, a snot-streaked disaster. “MAKE HER STOP!”

Sinclair flashes her teeth. “Why? You didn’t stop.”

Karter grins, leaning against the wall like he’s watching a show. “She’s a fucking prodigy.”

I’m about to agree when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

Ryan:You need to come home. Athens needs you.

The typing dots appear. Then vanish. No follow-up. No explanation. Just silence.

My jaw tightens. I tuck the phone away and meet Karter’s eyes. “Wrap it up. Bring them to the asylum. Athens comes first.”

“You got it,” he says, watching Sinclair remove another finger. Lexi’s barely conscious now. “We’ll finish here.”

I glance once more at Sinclair. Her face is calm. Empty.

Shiloh watches from the corner, not crying. Not speaking. Just watching his sister peel evil away with a knife.

“Time to go,” I say to the rest of the Devils.

We leave the twins and Wells behind.

The screaming doesn’t stop until the door closes behind us.

And somehow… it still echoes.

The ride back is a blur of asphalt and rising fury.

A thousand thoughts claw through my skull like barbed wire when it comes to Athens.

Is she hurt?

Who touched her?

Who do I have to carve up and bleed dry for making her scream without my name on her lips?

Every second of silence is a knife. Not just in my head, but in my chest, twisting with each mile we cross.

The city lights pass in a stuttered heartbeat, blurring red and white, but all I can see is her face, pale, broken, maybe worse.

Dash finally breaks the silence, voice low. “What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know,” I grit out. “Ryan’s message said Athens needs us. All of us. That’s it.”

That alone tells me it’s bad. Ryan doesn’t panic easy, and she doesn’t reach out unless Athens is too far gone to reach for us herself.

My mind flashes. Wasn’t Fred with them?

“Fred was with them, right?”

“Yeah,” Dash confirms. But his voice… it’s off. He’s as wired and on edge as I am.