City of Thorns by C.N. Crawford

Chapter 5

Irushed after them and shouted, “Get your hands off her, Jack!”

He whirled around, and the surprise on his face quickly turned into a leer. He wasn’t giving up his grip on the blonde.

He grinned widely, moving closer to me with Jen in his arms. “Rowan, baby, are you stalking me? Were you hoping to get another chance with me? I told you, I don’t want you to suck my dick. I’d get a disease.”

He jerked her along with him as he staggered over to me.

“Let go of her,” I said coldly.

He kept moving closer until I could feel his rancid breath on my face. He reeked of vomit, which told me he had probably just been kicked out of the brewery for puking. Classy.

The silver hammer on his shirt glinted under the streetlights.

“Let go of Jen,” I said. “I don’t want to have to hit you again.”

A lie. I definitely wanted to hit him again, but I didn’t want to get in trouble for it. I was honestly surprised he hadn’t pressed charges already.

Jack, sadly, was too stupid to heed my warning, and he didn’t release his victim.

Now, my heart was starting to speed up, and anger coursed through my blood.

Male voices echoed from the left, and I turned to see that his friends had come back to find him. I hoped one of them would intervene so I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty. Instead, one of them whooped at him, delighted. “Jack! You got two. Can we join the party?”

“I asked you once, nicely,” I told Jack. “If I have to ask again, I’ll hurt you.”

“You know what your problem is? You’re too uptight. I swear to God,” he slurred, “you should never have turned me down. I could have fucked the bitchiness out of you.”

At last, he dropped his grip on Jen, and she started to sprint away. But then he lunged for me. He grabbed me by the throat and pulled me close against him. His grip on my neck was crushing.

Mom was right. The world was a dangerous place, and we had to find our enemies’ weaknesses.

Fortunately, Jack’s wasn’t hard to find. I brought my knee up hard into his groin. His eyes went wide, and when he hunched forward, I slammed my elbow into one of his kidneys. He let out a quiet moan and fell back.

I was shaking with the realization that I might have done serious damage.

“Whoa,” one of his frat brothers shouted. “What the fuck is happening?”

Jack, now incapacitated, was on the ground. But his three brothers were rushing over, surrounding me.

“Holy shit, Jack,” one of them yelled. “Is this the chick who punched you last night, too? The one you turned down?”

Someone shouted that they were calling the cops.

Unfortunately for me, if anyone was going to get arrested here tonight, it would probably be me—the crazy woman who’d beaten the crap out of a congressman’s son. The one who’d had an outburst in class. The one who already had a questionable file at the Osborne Police Department.

Where the hell was Shai?

I clutched my phone, hesitating, until one of the frat boys smacked it out of my hands. He grinned at me. “Oopsie!”

“Dude!” one of them shouted, though I wasn’t sure who he was shouting at, or if he even knew.

All of them were wasted, which made them more dangerous. I wasn’t scared, though. Just angry.

Jack pushed himself up on his elbows, grimacing. “You can’t keep attacking me just because I won’t let you suck my dick. It’s kind of funny how pathetic it is, though.”

Lying sack of shit.

One of his brothers wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Come with us, Ginger. If you’re that desperate, I can find something for your mouth to do.”

I slammed my elbow into his ribs, but another guy was already grabbing for my arm. My panic surged as I realized how badly I was outnumbered. Frantic, I was ready to land another punch when something in the air seared my skin.

Time seemed to freeze. In slow motion, a hot, dry wind rushed over me, toying with my hair. Slowly, the frat boys around me staggered back, eyes wide, and then the world returned to normal speed.

I gaped as the nearest of the brothers fell to his knees, blood dripping from his nose.

What the hell?

Looking around, I found that the four other frat boys had fallen, too. They moaned, gripping their skulls. Jack whimpered, and blood gushed from his nostrils onto the cobblestones. My stomach swooped.

Just as the frat boys started screaming in agony, I turned…and there, just as I’d expected, was the Lord of Chaos. He loomed over the dark street, and my heart skipped a beat.

The air felt warm, electrified. A high-pitched scream rent the air, and I turned back to see Jack’s face contorted in pain.

Holy shit.

As much as I hated these guys, I didn’t want to stand there and watch their heads explode. This was sadism, and the agonized noises they were making turned my blood to ice.

I whispered, “Stop.” Then, louder, “Stop!”

The Lord of Chaos flicked his wrist, and his pale eyes slid to me. “What was that?” he asked in a mocking tone. “Do you want me to believe that you feel mercy?” The wisps of dark magic snapped back into his body. “That’s a fun idea. I like to see you trying new things, no matter how absurd.”

I looked away from him at the frat boys, who moaned as they began to pick themselves up. At least two of them were sobbing, blood still pouring from their noses. They started to stumble away—slowly, at first, then trying to run.

My body shook with the horror of whatever that had been.

When I looked back at the demon, I caught an amused glint in his eyes. “I thought you’d enjoy that.”

“Thanks for helping?” I said. “I guess?”

His smile faded, and he moved closer to me with preternatural speed. Peering down at me, his piercing eyes sent a shiver through my body. “Oh, I don’t think you want to thank me,” he murmured. “Do you? I think you must know what exquisite punishment is in store for you now, love.”

I could hardly breathe.

What the fuck?

I had to get away from him, but it was a mistake to turn your back and run from a predator. It was a mistake to act like prey. Right now, I was fighting an overpowering instinct to lower my eyes in submission. “You’re going to have to tell me what you mean, because I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

His hot power thrummed over my damp skin, raising the hair on the back of my arm. “You must know why I’m here.” He leaned down and whispered, “I’m here for revenge.”

His scorching magic snaked around me, a slow brush of hot power over my skin. He was freezing me in place, taking complete control over my body. All of my muscles froze.

“Stop it,” I hissed.

But I could already feel his magic sliding inside my mind, and my vision began to dim. I was in his hands now.