Blood pumped so hard in my ears, I couldn’t even hear myself think.

My fisted hands shook as I looked at her there, kneeling on the floor, arms bound at both elbows and wrists behind her, attached at her ankle to a ring on the floor, naked, the Scold’s Bridle muting her.

She trembled as tears slid down her face, and I wondered how many of those others, how many of those fucking bastards who’d bid on her, would find her tears arousing. Find their pleasure in her pain.

“Ah,” Alexi said, turning to me. “Here he is, our happy buyer.”

I looked at Lina’s terrified eyes, turned back to Alexi, and peeled the mask off my head. I could tell he wasn’t surprised at seeing me.

“Bought and paid for,” Alexi asked. “Just like the whore she is.”

I glanced again at Lina but I couldn’t look for long. Not if I wanted to save her. “Bought and paid for,” I said through gritted teeth, barely recognizing my own voice. Rage burned the blood coursing through my veins, and I knew if I didn’t get us out of there fast, I’d kill him. I’d fucking kill him.

“Keys,” I said, holding out my hand.

He reached into his pocket to retrieve a set. “Shall I take off the bridle? You’ll want to use her mouth, I presume?”

“Bought and paid for, Alexi. She’s mine. Give me the fucking keys and get the hell out.”

“Touchy,” Alexi said, feigning offense.

His eyes gleamed, though, and I knew he was enjoying this.

“I suppose for the amount she cost, you can have the bridle. Maybe you’ll want to keep her in it. Becoming, isn’t it?” he asked, shifting his gaze to her.

I stepped to him before the guard could get near me, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and shoved him backward against the wall. Two hands landed on my shoulders, but I was in Alexi’s face and I wasn’t finished. Not nearly.

“Her debt is paid. She’s finished with you and your father. Is that clear?”

I heard the door open and more soldiers come inside. Hands gripped my arms.

“Is that fucking clear?” I asked as they dragged me backward.

Alexi snorted and adjusted his collar. He approached, and when he was an inch from me, he drew his fist back and punched me hard in the gut.

“You don’t give the orders here, Father.”

He hit me again, but I didn’t care, not as long as he wasn’t touching Lina. But he returned his attention to her too soon, bending down so he was at eye level with her.

“I don’t know if you heard, but there was a terrible accident at the prison,” he said in a loud whisper, feigning upset.

Lina’s puffy, reddened eyes widened as Alexi pulled her hair hard, tugging her face upward.

“A riot, they said. Luckily, only one prisoner was killed.”

Lina tried to say something but it only came out as sound.

I tried to break free, but Alexi stood and turned to me. “Work him over.”

He gave me a wicked grin before tossing the keys onto the floor before Lina’s knees. “While she watches. And when you’re done with him, take what you want from the whore.”

He walked to the door. Someone opened it for him, but before he left, he turned back to face us one more time.

“Make sure he watches that part. They’re free to go after that. If they can walk, that is.”

Alexi walked out the door, leaving three guards behind. I looked at Lina’s desperate face, watched her struggle helplessly with her restraints. I didn’t think at that point. I didn’t hear anything either, at least I didn’t hear anything apart from rage.

It does have a sound, rage. It’s like an all-consuming, wordless, formless sound, something like chaos. Like a fucking battlefield. I wonder if that’s the sound of blood boiling. Whatever it was, it filled my ears. The room around me receded, leaving only Lina there, Lina kneeling, chained, and at their mercy. Lina on her knees beneath their hands.

I let that thought fuel me, those images burn into my retinas, and somehow, some way, with a wild roar, I fisted my hands and heaved my arms forward, dragging the men who held me from behind me, gaining power as I listened to her muffled cries, to their angry voices, and flung them into each other, skull crashing against skull, until they released me, dazed and confused. While they stumbled, the third man’s fist collided with my jaw. Pain momentarily flashed like lightning before my eyes, but I didn’t have time for pain. I didn’t have time for anything. Because this was it. This was it for her.

I’d fought before, not much, but enough, and I beat three of Alexi’s men before me, one after another after another as they landed hit after hit on me, my face, my gut, my kidneys. I struck back every single time until finally, somehow, I gained the upper hand. After the first guy fell away, I loomed over the other two, backing them against the wall. I dragged down the drapes hanging there, tore the material to reveal the brick wall beyond. Taking them both by the hair, I smashed their faces against it, hearing bone break, feeling blood splatter onto my face, my clothes. I don’t know how many times I did it. I only know at some point, even after they went limp, I continued, unable to stop. Not until hands closed over my arms and dragged me backward, forcing me to release them. I kicked at one lifeless body before I stumbled back over another, slowly coming back to reality, someone shouting orders, the sounds of screams from beyond, the feel of cool metal circling my wrists.

I turned to Lina as men in black, FBI across their protective gear, stormed the room, disappearing behind a curtain where a door had been. One man bent over Lina, and again, I tried to tug myself free of those who held me now. They wouldn’t hurt her. I wouldn’t let them hurt her. I wouldn’t let them fucking hurt her.

“Lina!”

The man straightened, pulling the Scold’s Bridle from her, freeing her. I followed her gaze to his and redoubled my efforts to free myself, failing again as he stood at his full height.

“Maxx?” Lina managed.

It was Alexi’s man, the one who’d been at my apartment.

“Get these things off me!” I ordered, twisting against the two who held me, handcuffed, dragging me farther and farther from her. “Lina!”

Maxx moved behind her, and I would have lost it then. Hell, I had already lost it, hadn’t I? Didn’t at least one man lie motionless on the floor just feet from me? He was dead. I knew dead, and he was it.

“Don’t fucking touch her!”

But he didn’t, not like that. He undid her bonds and helped her to stand. Granules of rice sprinkled onto the floor, but too many were still etched into the flesh of her knees. He then picked up the cape—mine, it must have fallen off during the fighting—and wrapped it over her shoulders and let her come to me.

“Damon,” she wept, burrowing herself into me, holding me tight, tighter than she’d ever held me before. I couldn’t move my own arms to wrap her in them, to drag her away from this bloody scene, from the screams and shots coming from the outer room.

“Take them to the hospital,” Maxx said. “Don’t let her out of your sight.” He gave the room one more glance, me one more look, and disappeared into the outer room.