Outlaw (Wolves of Royal Paynes #4) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,57

his fingers, releasing a dust that made the wraiths squeal with pain.

At the same time, it felt like a red-hot iron had been plunged into my heart. The wraiths fell from him, writhing and wiggling as though they were trying to wipe off the pain.

Hot pressure built behind my eyes, but if there was ever a time I shouldn't cry, it was now. I understood why I'd want to. The situation didn't look good for me from my point of view. Sure, I'd smashed his toy, but now he had a powder that put both me and my wraiths out of commission. He hobbled toward me, clutching his bandaged left arm to his front. The gauze at the end was dirty and loose, like it hadn't been changed in a long time.

He moved more slowly too, weakened either by the fight or from using that thing. Shifter or not, Pierce had never had the ability to regrow his hand, but if he'd been healing as he should've, the injury would've scarred over by now. Dark shadows hung beneath his eyes, and there was a long cut across his forehead that was still wet and open.

It could be helpful that he was no longer healing as he should, but his injuries wouldn't matter as long as I couldn't move.

I hated the whimper that escaped me seeing his approach and closed my eyes, picturing Diesel asleep in our bed.

The gas smothering the babies as I lay rolling in pain.

"Quinlan."

My spine turned to ice at my name coming from those lips. I'd forgotten the way he said it, like a prayer. It had always fucked with my mind. How could he claim to love me and want to care for me, but keep me locked away from the people I truly loved?

"I'm so sorry, little bird. I blame myself for leaving you for so long. You should've stayed where you were safe. Where I could keep you from his gaze. I can't protect you if you don't come with me now. That's what I'm here to do, save you. He knows you're here. He's already attacked once. He wants you dead, baby. I'll find us a new home, where we can live together. Come with me, let me save you." Despite the utter crazy in what he said, his tone and affect remained authentic, earnest. His eyes shone with dark worry. He wasn't screaming, but pleading.

Too late, I noticed he'd gotten close enough to step on the end of my whip. I flicked it back, but his shoe was thick and the razor just lodged into the sole. With my wraiths and whip out of commission, I had no illusions to how long I'd last in a scuffle. Pierce might've been weak at the moment, but I was pretty sure a weak alpha was still stronger than a human.

The air around us grew violent, whipping the branches of the trees back and forth. Thick mist rolled in from the ocean, blanketing the space in fog that, despite how fiercely the wind blew, lingered densely on the grass around us.

A loud crashing sound punctuated by shattering glass and splintering wood, pulled my attention back to the hotel. Every window and door was wide open, hanging from their hinges as they flapped in the harsh wind.

Pierce stumbled away, off my whip, with his mouth dropped open.

I knew I wasn't that scary—moments before he'd been trying to save me—and I also wasn't the one controlling the wind, which had to mean there was something I didn't want to see behind me.

"You want to see me, demonling," a rich voice cooed.

I didn't trust the voice, but I also wasn't afraid of it. There was something eerily familiar about the way his words danced through the air. I turned my head back and found myself staring at a demon. A real one, not the skull or animated beast of one. But an actual man-sized demon with deep red skin and a body like that of a god that Greek gods prayed to.

I wasn't attracted to the demon—the very idea made my nose wrinkle—but I recognized his strength.

"Alright, rein it in. I'm actually very attractive."

I gasped. It was reading my—

"It? My name is Claus."

A booming roar sounded from inside the hotel and I immediately recognized Diesel's brand of anger. It seemed like Pierce did too because the sound knocked him out of his stunned stillness.

Claus waited for him to take his first step toward us before leveling his red