Page 101 of Sleeping Redemption

Zorah was on my left, a purple aura pulsing from the center of her chest. She went straight to work on trying to use her emotional manipulation across the room.

I could only hope that if Zorah could magnify the humans’ emotions enough, it would break past the hold Kinley had on their free will.

As for her trickster twin? His hands clamped down on the sides of Kinley’s head to work on force-feeding her an illusion. Her body swayed lightly under whatever vision filled her mind.

Both Sy and I pushed through the unmoving mass of people to get closer to our girl. The rainfall of flames left us unscathed and unbothered.

Hope was restored as the flickering of fire slowed, showing that Rook was making progress with the influence of his abilities. The pelting of hellfire fizzled out quickly until it was just wisps of smoke in the air around us.

“Mates, I don’t have much longer. She’s pushing back hard,” Rook warned us as his hands visibly shook under the strain of his efforts.

Just as we got within arm’s reach of Kinley, her wings made a sweeping movement, knocking Rook back from her.

The impact of his body crashing against some stereo equipment echoed in the club, causing the crackling sound of a now-busted speaker.

Kinley smiled wickedly as she stood there looking at Sylas and me.

“You all have been very naughty boys. I don’t like it when my toys don’t play nicely with me.”

Looks like I was up next.

“Kinley, there’s no need for this. Let them go, we can get through this,” I said with a gentle tone.

I extended a hand out toward her upward-facing palm, offering her the promise of help. “Together.”

Her possessed eyes critically looked at my hand, and just as she began to reach for it, a shrill scream broke through the air.

The first of the humans snapped out of the daze Kinley had them under. Another soon followed.

Bristling with anger and a deep growl, Kinley immediately recoiled her hand from mine.

“No!” she said forcefully as she raised both hands.

That’s when Sy lunged and pummeled into her like a battering ram.

Sounds of pained panic and fear erupted all around us as each strand of Kinley’s charmed control was plucked away.

Turning to look at Zorah, I yelled loud enough over the commotion. “Get them all out of here!”

Without hesitation, she gave a curt nod and began working on creating the exit path at the front door by nearly ripping it off its hinges. At that point, there was a mass exodus.

When I turned to look back at Sylas, he was engaged in a scuffle with Kinley on the floor.

“Kin! Snap the fuck out of it!” Sylas fought to pin her down on the ground as she flailed about in a mess of limbs and feathers.

Seeing Rook struggling to get up from the heap of electronics, I immediately rushed over to him. On the way, I had to step over a few humans who hadn’t survived Kinley’s fiery attack.

I solidly grabbed Rook’s hand and helped yank him onto his feet.

Shaking his head like a dog shaking out its fur, he leaned against my side. “I need to try again,” he said wearily.

Here we stood, with me propping him up. I wasn’t so sure tapping into his illusions again was a good idea. “You can barely damn stand,” I said, pointing out the obvious.

There was nothing but stubborn determination on his face. “I don’t need to stand,” he said as he lifted a hand, waving it through the air like an artist with a paintbrush over a blank canvas.

Kinley landed a punch straight to Sy’s temple, taking him off guard long enough for her to toss him off her.

“Nothing is going to stand in my way of killing Nicodemus once and for all, not even you!” she sneered at him.