Page 206 of Glutton for Punishment

My voice dies in my throat as a flash of red over Maddox’s shoulder catches my attention. Amaya staggers onto the field, gun in hand, hair wild, clothes shredded.

“Is she crazy?” I mumble to Maddox as he turns. "She won’t make it ten feet before someone drops her."

“This isn’t over,” she screams in a raw voice, a crazy look in her eyes.

Before anyone can fire, I send my power straight into the earth at her feet. The ground disappears as she plummets into the hole with a choked cry.

Maddox tenses beside me, a storm gathering in his posture as he steps forward. My hand closes around his forearm, holding him back. “Look at her—she’s broken. And she might still be useful.”

He lets out a sharp breath through his nose, his gaze fixed on the hole in the ground as he weighs my words.

“Kael and Teeth are gone, but the others are still out there.”

“Wait—and Teeth?” he asks, turning back to me.

“He was hurting Holly,” I shoot back, my voice tightening.

“Fuck, I love you.” His arms wrap around my waist as he lifts me clear off the ground and crushes me against his chest.

The words hang in the air between us, and I bury my face in his shoulder, pretending not to hear.

He didn’t mean it like that—not really. It was just the heat of the moment. Right?

Atticus clears his throat from behind us. “What are we going to do with Amaya? If we take her prisoner, can’t your father just order her release?

“No,” Maddox responds. “He declared this battle an open war. We can kill and capture, and he can do nothing about it.”

My stomach twists as I remember him watching from the balcony.

“We’ll take her,” Maddox decides. We can hold her in the prison back in my territory. He calls Lucas over, who I’m relieved to see is fine, and tells him to have a team transfer Amaya.

“Send a couple of teams to Duval and Val, too. Pick off any enemy still fighting. Tell them I want a perimeter around this whole compound and a search.”

Lucas heads off on his orders as Maddox presses a comm into his ear. “Cleo, are you there?”

My eyes go wide as saucers as I hear her voice confirm. He smiles at me. “She’s been an enormous help.”

Of course she has. My friends are all badasses.

“Cleo, can you get a read on where the remaining siblings have escaped to?”

“On it.” She replies. “I’ll start the search.”

Warm, familiar hands grab my shoulders and spin me around.

“Brix!” The word tears out of me as I jump into his arms with relief. He lifts me off the ground, spinning.

“You’re okay?” he asks, voice rough.

“I can’t believe you came here.” I pull back just enough to look at him. “You, Holly, and Sly are getting the lecture of your lives when we get home.”

He just laughs and pulls me back in, squeezing me in a giant bear hug.

When I open my eyes, Maddox and Atticus have somehow landed on identical expressions of jealousy. Maddox’s hands tighten on his gun, and their eyes meet briefly, and nod like they’ve just agreed on something.

“Seriously?” I ask. “This is your common ground?” Brix clocks their expressions and stiffens. He lowers me to my feet and steps away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“My bad,” he mumbles.