her tightening fists. Devon’s face pointed down at Yasmine, his body mere inches away from hers. Yasmine laughed and reached forward to play with a button between the swell of Devon’s pecs.
A yawning cavern opened up inside Charity, the same sensation she’d experienced earlier with Devon. Molten lava bubbled out of it and filled her entire body to bursting. Electricity rolled and surged, straining within the confines of her skin. Sparks flew off her arms and even her fingers like a cloud of glitter. The desperate need for violence took over her being, urging her to find a sword so she could cut off Yasmine’s head in the fastest, most gruesome way possible. Her body brimmed with it, a surging power that threatened to tear loose and bring this whole building to the ground.
Devon and Yasmine startled before looking up with wide eyes.
Logic screamed for Charity to calm down, but her fingers itched for the knife at her belt.
So this is what jealousy feels like. Like teetering on the precipice of a huge killing spree. I need to apologize to Macy.
“Charity, good, I was just about to text you,” Devon said, turning toward her.
Too late, Mr. Smooth Operator.
“Time to go,” Charity said in a flat tone. Yasmine’s stupid gloating face was not helping. Charity wished she could cut that face off and wear it like a mask, Hannibal-style.
“Yes,” Devon said, his eyes bearing into her.
“We’re going to your house tonight, right, Devon?” Yasmine asked in that dumb, silky voice. She gave him a knowing look.
Charity stepped forward before she could stop herself, her fingers at her belt line.
Cutting out Yasmine’s vocal cords was not the right way to handle this situation. She had to calm down!
“Yes,” Devon answered, green mist curling out from around him. His wolf was scrabbling to get out; Charity could feel it. She would rock its world when it did. “Roger is planning a large-scale extraction tomorrow, so we’ll all stay at my place tonight. Everyone is heading over in an hour. Charity and I are going to go home and start dinner.” Devon stepped beside Charity and reached out to put his hand on the small of her back, probably to guide her out.
“Touching me would be a mistake right now,” Charity said in a sweet voice she didn’t recognize.
“Are you okay?” he asked, following behind her as she exited the shop.
“I’m great. How about you? Can’t be easy to manage all your conquests.”
“Charity,” he said as he opened the door of the beat-up SUV for her. “She found me in there. She was trying the flirty game, yes, but I wasn’t buying. In another moment she would’ve gotten the message without my having to officially call her down. She’s pack—there is a certain way we do things to keep squabbles to a minimum.”
“Great, fine. No biggie.”
“Can we talk about this?”
It sounded like that request was about as appealing to him as eating a large, juicy grub. His reluctant tone only made her madder.
“Nothing to talk about. You’re a free agent, she’s crazy pretty, and I am amaze-ballz. We’re all set.”
“Charity—” He clenched and unclenched his jaw, then repeated the pattern with his fists on the steering wheel, trying to control his anger. The rest of the ride was tense and quiet. When they got to the house, they saw that the area beside the door was already boarded up. Sarge’s remains had been collected before they’d left the house, but the scene of the attack had also been cleaned up. No blood stained the driveway. She only hoped Devon’s bedroom had been thoroughly cleaned up as well.
They walked into the house silently, each depositing their bags in their separate rooms—Devon’s door had been fixed, but she didn’t dare go in to make sure Samantha’s remains had been taken away.
“What do you want for dinner?” Charity asked Devon when they met in the kitchen.
“Are you serious? You’re not going to say anything about this? I can see that you’re mad, Charity. Talk to me.”
At the risk of potentially freaking out, and trying to kill him with her bare hands? She was a little unhinged at the moment, so the best thing for everyone was for her to feign calm and relaxed. She had no idea what this strange feeling was that kept surging out of her depths, but it was alive and wild. Best contained until she knew what to do with it.
“I’m fine. Let’s just make dinner. Actually, I could probably go faster if