Trick Me Twice - Becca Steele Page 0,91

sculptures draped over the outside. According to Dylan’s records, he lived with his grandmother. There seemed to be a distinct lack of security around the property, other than a couple of outdoor lights with motion sensors. Peering in the front window, I could see an elderly woman, who must be the grandmother, sitting in a rocking chair, the TV cranked so high that I was able to make out all the dialogue from the show she was watching. We moved down the side of the house in a line, slipping through the night like shadows, avoiding the range of the motion-sensor lights which seemed to only be focused on the doors.

Reaching the back of the house, I stopped dead, a combination of rage and fear so all-encompassing filling me that everything else faded into nothingness, and I saw red.

“Carter!” Kian’s sharp hiss sounded in my ear, his arms grabbing mine and lowering them—what the fuck? When had I raised my fists? “Carter!” His voice was more insistent, as he struggled to hold me in place. “Wait. We can’t. Raine.” The words penetrated the fog surrounding me, and I stopped struggling against him.

“Look, though.” My voice was hoarse and desperate. “Look.”

Through the tiny gap in the curtains we took in the scene playing out in front of us. Dylan had Raine pinned on the bed. From where I stood, I could see her face, turned slightly to the side. She was barely fucking keeping herself together.

Raine.

I knew she was important to me, but until that moment, I didn’t realise how much.

I’d burn the world down for her.

Why the fuck had I pushed her away? Let my own issues fuck everything up? If I’d got my shit together sooner, maybe we wouldn’t be here right now.

Dylan’s hand moved between them, and I tensed, every single part of me on edge, needing to get her out of danger, when I saw her lips move, and after a few moments, Dylan moved off her.

My relief was instantaneous.

“What’s going on?” Kian murmured, although I knew he wasn’t really asking me a question. They both disappeared from the room, and then a minute later, the back door was sliding open, and the security light came on. We barely jumped back in time, escaping to the shadows where the others waited.

“You’ve got ten seconds.” Dylan’s nasally voice sounded loud in the quiet night. “Ten…”

Before the word had even left his lips, Raine was running, her movements almost sluggish, slower than usual. What had that fucker done to her?

My eyes returned to Dylan. At this moment in time, it was more important that I keep an eye on him. He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him, still counting. I watched him move further away from the house, my whole body vibrating with the need to run at him.

“What do you say?” Kian’s low voice sounded close to my ear. “Shall we give him a show?”

I smiled at the dark intent in his tone. “Fuck, yes. One he’ll never forget.” Turning, I spun my finger in a circle, seeing Xavier’s nod, and we began to move towards Dylan, keeping to the shadows. Reaching up, I set the switch for my mask to the flashing position as Kian did the same, knowing the others would follow our cue.

“Oh, Dylan?” I called out. “I think you have something that belongs to me.”

He spun in a circle, all the colour draining from his face, and then he swayed on his feet. He knew he was trapped, surrounded by us, and he had nowhere to go.

“Get Raine,” I said softly, trusting that the girls would help her out. She needed her friends right now, and I needed to teach Dylan Rossiter a lesson he’d never forget.

Stepping forwards, I got right in Dylan’s face. I watched as the light from my mask flashed across his terrified features. My rage was boiling out of control as I looked down at him, and I raised my arm.

A small body came barrelling into me from the side, and suddenly everything else was forgotten as I swept a shuddering Raine into my arms, breathing in her caramel apple scent. “You came,” she choked out. “You came for me.”

“Always.” That was the only word I could get out, because the lump in my throat was too fucking big. Taking a huge step back from Dylan, I held on to her, trusting the others to keep Dylan cornered. Eventually, I lowered her to the ground. “Did