In His Keeping (Slow Burn #2)

Never had she felt so strong, capable of any feat no matter how impossible. Her spine stiffened and she straightened, resolve settling over her and instilling the will to do what she must.

Pain speared through her head, her body, making her feel as if her bones were shattering. Blood poured from her orifices and she could only imagine how horrifying she must look. She hoped to hell she scared the holy shit out of the little bastard pinned by the awesome force of her powers.

Some of what she was feeling had to be readily visible, because the goon’s face went white as a sheet and he stared at her, realization—and doom—flashing in his eyes.

“Yeah, you little fucker,” she whispered in an eerie voice. “Resign yourself to your fate and the embarrassment over being beat by a ‘little bitch,’ as you so succinctly put it. Well, this bitch is going to send you straight to hell.”

“Ari!”

She flinched at the loud outburst and took an instinctive step back before she realized who it was calling her name. She turned, relief crushing down on her, when she saw Beau inside the doorway, his eyes bright with terror. Zack rushed in to stand beside him and immediately put the man on the ceiling in his gun sights.

“He’s mine,” Ari said, her voice like a whip cracking through the room.

“Ari, honey,” Beau said in a soothing tone. “We need to get you out of here before the entire place goes up in flames or comes down on our heads.”

Tears burned her eyelids and she wasn’t sure if it was blood or tears that now streamed from her eyes. Maybe both.

“He killed them,” she said hoarsely. “He killed my parents! He ordered their executions while I stood here. And oh God, I had a barrier around them, but I let my focus waver and the shield slipped. I saw their blood!”

Beau’s eyes widened. He and Zack exchanged quick glances and Beau cursed softly under his breath.

“Ari, they aren’t dead.”

“I saw!” she shouted. “Don’t try to appease me. Don’t lie to me to get me to come with you. I won’t go until every last one of these assholes is dead.”

“Ari, they are not dead,” Zack said, his voice firm, not as soothing as Beau’s. Utter seriousness was etched in his features as he stared at her. “We got them out of the cell. The blood you saw was from the two guards your father killed. Beau shot the third one when he went after your mother. They’re fine. I swear to you. They’re safe and waiting for you. They’re worried sick about you. Afraid to their bones that something has happened to you. So let it go so we can take you to your parents. So you can see for yourself we aren’t lying to you.”

Ari blinked, her mouth drooping open, some of the horrifying thoughts of anger and violence diminishing as she gauged Zack’s sincerity.

“They’re alive?” she whispered.

Beau stepped closer, his movement tentative as though he were afraid to touch her. Afraid she’d shatter.

“Yes, honey, they’re alive,” Beau said quietly. “You protected them. Your barrier prevented the bullets from hitting them. And when it did fall, your father took out two of the men in quite an impressive manner. They’re safe, and waiting for you, and as Zack said, they’re out of their minds with worry. Because you sacrificed yourself for them. Don’t do something now that will cause them to grieve the rest of their lives and feel guilt over the fact that you sacrificed your life for them. Don’t make me grieve because I lost you.”

He slid his hand up the length of her arm, over her shoulder and then around her nape, gently pulling her toward his body.

“Please, Ari. Come with me,” he softly begged. “The building is destroyed. It won’t stand much longer. What few you men you didn’t take out, Dane, Capshaw and Isaac are taking care of now. It’s over. You kicked their asses, and you made sure that no one will ever use this place for evil again.”

She allowed herself only a brief, sweet moment in Beau’s arm, in his strong, protective embrace, before reluctantly pulling herself away. Then she slanted a glance in the goon’s direction.

“There’s still one more,” she said coldly. “And I have a personal score to settle with him anyway. He’s the asshole who tried to drug me the morning after my parents disappeared.”

Beau’s eyes grew cold as he shifted his stare toward the man pinned helplessly on the ceiling.

Then another quake rolled through the entire complex, rattling chairs, furniture and the very foundation. Distant crashes sounded, drawing closer and closer. Indeed, Beau was right. The building was coming apart at the seams, guided by her overwhelming rage and psychic energy.

“Leave him,” Beau said, slipping his fingers through hers. “Let him die when the building comes down on him. He doesn’t deserve a quick and merciful death.”

Still, Ari hesitated because the taste for revenge was still strong in her mouth.

A deafening crash much closer this time and then a shout carried through the accumulating rubble. Beau’s name.