Page 101 of The Fate of Black Hearts

“Damn it, Flynn, not helping,” Evie yelled. “Everyone stop! We have to get out of this awful place. It’s making you go nuts.”

No one listened.

Shane shook her off.

Dom took a step toward her, but something stopped him. He stared down coldly at the small hand around his arm, exerting a surprising strength. Lyra winced as almost everyone did when he used this look.

“She’s the strongest link in our family,” Lyra whispered. “She’s the reason all of us can sleep at night and believe we’ll be okay in the morning. You can’t weaken her.”

“She’s weaker now than she’s ever been.”

“Because of what you did. Because of what you won’t give her.”

Internally, he grimaced. “I need to fix that.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Probably not.”

The child let go of him and gave him a judgmental glower far beyond her years. “She’s mad at you.”

Lyra ran back to Flynn, who dodged the fight to lift her up.

Someone accidentally elbowed Evie in the face. Dom growled and pulled Evie into him.

“Let go.” Evie wiggled to get free.

“Stop. We’re going to deal with what’s wrong with you.” He ordered, “Flynn, get them all home.”

Roman lunged forward. “You can’t kidnap her, not if we only have a short time with her.”

“Watch me.” Dom put up a hand and commanded a blast of wind to stop Roman. It hit him so hard he fell to his ass.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Evie threw backher shoulders and faced him. Here came the anger Dom expected. Hell, he deserved it. Instead, she asked, “Where are we?”

“Somewhere safe.” His reply came out distracted since he hadn’t finished his scan of the area to ensure they had arrived in an empty house. No other entities detected, he flipped on the lights to the kitchen.

“Lyra. That’s the name of the one who is the reason for everything that hurt you and tortured you for centuries. Now what?” Evie stood in front of him.

She’s incredible. Terrifying, but I can admit she’s a miracle.He backed up to sit down in his kitchen chair. The fatigue from the combination of blood loss and energy expenditure could no longer be ignored.

When he didn’t reply, she said, “She’s yours. She’s not what you’d expect.”

“Neither are you.”

“Are you sure you can let go of centuries of fear just like that?” She snapped her fingers.

“Won’t be simple. She’s unexpected. I mean…” He cradled his forehead. “I won’t hurt her. I think I already said that.”

“I have your word on that?”

“Yes.”

“If you try to kill her, I will end you.”

“As you should. As should any of your boys or Efrem.”