The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)(23)

And Rayce walked into what she thought of as her new personal hell.

When he saw her, he stopped short. “Where’s Julian?” Rayce demanded. He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.

Her shoulders lifted. “I don’t know. He locked me in here…” She hoped that she looked suitably pitiful as her lips curled down. “And he just left. Maybe Luke called him? Maybe something happened with Eli?”

Alarm flashed on Rayce’s face. A handsome enough face. Hard jaw. Sculpted lips. But…not dangerously sexy. Not like Luke.

“Let me out,” Mina said, pushing power into the words. “Then we can get the boat and go together to Key West. We can help Luke.”

Rayce blinked, looking vaguely confused. He was also not moving to let her out.

So she needed to ramp up her compulsion. Unfortunately, she was feeling a bit weak. It had been one long-ass night and she couldn’t exactly remember the last time she’d eaten. “Let me out,” Mina said again, drawing on her reserves. She’d been waiting too long in that cell, hoping that someone would appear. It would have been ever-so-helpful if Rayce had just brought his wolfie self in earlier but…

He walked toward the cell.

Better late than never.

“Thank you.” Relief made her light-headed. Or maybe that was the hunger. Didn’t really matter. “Open that lock as fast as you can and get me out.”

He reached for the lock. Then he stopped, his brows furrowing. “I don’t have the key.”

He didn’t have the—Her teeth snapped together. “Julian has it.” Julian, who was somewhere running wild on the island. “Just—just break the bars, okay? You’re a shifter, right?” Wolf shifter, werewolf, whatever he wanted to be called was fine with her. “That means you’re super strong. Just rip the bars apart. Luke did it.” She pointed to the cell on her right, the cell she’d trapped Luke in before. Two of the bars had been heaved apart so he could slip out. “Just do what he did.” Do it now. Now, now, now.

Rayce curled his fingers around the bars. He sucked in a deep breath and then he yanked on them, straining, the muscles in his arms and chest bulging, his face darkening, lines of strain appearing and—

Nothing happened.

His breath panted out.

Mina narrowed her eyes. “Tell me that’s not all you’ve got.” She’d heard whispers about wolf shifters. They were supposed to be wild, fierce, so far up the paranormal chain that they were not f*cked with by others.

And this guy couldn’t break a bar for her?

“Luke did it,” she said again. “You can, too.” She snatched for her own power, pumping it into her voice. “Bend the bars. Get me out. You can do it.”

Rayce nodded grimly, and he braced his body. His muscles strained as he pulled and pulled and she thought she heard a faint groan from one of the bars.

Excitement fired her blood. “That’s it! Keep going! Keep—”

Smoke began to rise from his hands. And she caught the acrid scent of…burning flesh? Horror had her mouth dropping open as she realized that the bars were actually burning him. Silver and a werewolf don’t mix. Oh, shit. “Rayce, stop—”

“He isn’t me, sweetheart.”

Rayce’s shoulders slumped as his hands fell away from the bars.

Mina’s whole body went cold, then hot.

And Luke walked into her hell. He flashed her a wide smile. “Up to your usual tricks, are you?”

“Trying to be,” she muttered back. What was the point in a denial?

“Um.” He pointed to Rayce. “If you know she’s a siren, then why would you ever let her compel you? Would putting in some ear plugs have been too much to ask?”

Rayce shoved away from the bars. “I was…looking for Julian.” His hands were covered in blisters.

“Ah, yes, Julian. That panther was supposed to be keeping watch.” He paced toward the bars and lifted one dark brow as he stared at Mina. “What did you do to my friend?” Anger was there, cold, deadly, staring at her from his eyes and chilling her in his voice.

“I didn’t hurt him,” she said quickly. But she had hurt Rayce. She hated the sight of his hands. “I’m sorry,” she whispered miserably to Rayce. “You need to bandage your hands.”

“His hands will heal.”

Actually, they already appeared to be healing. That was good.

A muscle jerked in Luke’s jaw. “Now let’s talk about Julian again. Where is he?”

She backed away from the bars. A little space between her and Luke might be a good thing, especially considering the way he was looking at her. “I just sent him out, told him to get away from me, okay? That’s all.” She put her still cuffed hands in front of her, feeling the silk of the robe beneath her fingers. “Trust me, I needed the guy to get away. It was in everyone’s best interests.”

Luke’s hand curled around one bar. “And why is that?”

Her gaze darted between him and Rayce. This was embarrassing. “Can we maybe talk in private, Luke?”

“What happened between you and Julian?”

Okay, jeez, that low voice was kind of terrifying. “I said the wrong thing, all right? I told you, I do that. You have no idea what it’s like to have to watch every single word you say. I said the wrong thing, I messed up, and I had to send him out to—to stop him.”