vra

ld without knocking, letting the

e embroidered Southern Alliance skull crest glaring across the back. On her right index fin

Clink

gainst her manicured acrylic nails, filling the

t glee. "I see you managed to drag yourself out of the ER after all. Quite the

n't a

d packing my duffel. My movements were unhurried, measured, and completely relaxe

r than a shouted insult. The s

me invaded the room, mingling sickeningly with the scent of leather. "Did you hear what Father said? You're being shipped off to the desert

ng her arms and sticking her chin out,

rn Alliance council. The presidents and road captains of six chartered clubs are riding in. Father is paying for an open bar from sunset to dawn. Tomo

the screaming, or another

it neatly along the seams, and placed

her furious. A violent red flush crept

lawing into the sleeve of my jacket, yanking hard to

ed with pure spite. The keys in her ha

lar war chest into Father's offshore account yesterday! You're not going there to be a queen-you're the five-million-dollar scapegoat Father sold to take the fall for Erik's a

king laugh, her hot brea

m that chewed straight through his nerves and internal organs. The club's underground medics say he won't survive the month. You're not going to California to

ng, waiting for the devastating

her with fla

y lower lip. Not even a b

little control she had left. She shoved my shoulder

rincess? Your dead mother was nothing but a low-class whore who bought h

in the r

lowly, inch by inch

d instantly by a pitch-black, bottomless fury that

s in my gaze. Her hand flew off my jacket as

could process t

right hand shot out like an iron clamp, locking onto h

et. I drove her backward with brutal force, slamm

A

tled violently aga

e floorboards like a discarded rag. The heavy brass Harley keys slipped

lungs. Her eyes bulged in pure, unadulterated terror. The sister she had bullied and mo

off blood flow through the carotid arteries with terrifying anat

w, rough as gravel grinding under ir

awed frantically at my wrist, tearing at my skin, but my arm didn't budge a

enough to crush her pathetic whimper, "and I won't just break you

error streamed down her flushed cheeks, ruining her makeup. Her right hand

remaining consciousness, my left hand brus

my knuckles punctured the soft skin direct

, silent

An endocrine disruptor with a twenty-four-hour incubation window, set to detonate into violent epi

nconsciousness cooled the

ould be far too qu

ed my

. She curled into a ball, clutching her bruised throat, coughing and retching violently

ooking down with co

t o

ck up the leather jacket or the keys she had been gloating over a minute ago. She stumbled toward the do

al, terrified glance over her shoulder, her voice crac

n smile touched the

and bolted down the corridor, her frantic, uneven footsteps slamming

clicked shut. S

d a sterile wipe from my pocket, and slowly, methodically

looked at my finger

remor. Complet

tasted violence for

as only th