Chapter 18 Rory
Rory
“Did you bite him?”
“Of course I bit him, he hurt you!” Plus, Dev was trying to kill me, but that line sounded good.
My muscles ached from shifting so rapidly into a wolf and then back again, fibres protesting the violent transformation.
The pain threaded through my limbs like barbed wire, but it was nothing compared to the chaos in my head.
The world felt tilted, spinning on an axis that had shifted somewhere between Dev’s hollow smile and Maxwell’s unbelievable acceptance of our bond.
In the space of five minutes, my missing ex-boyfriend had almost murdered me, and then I’d confessed to my archnemesis that I’d tethered us together for life.
And he hadn’t been repulsed.
And he’d even called me baby again.
Dev. Newfound supervillain powers. Almost killed us. Focus, Rory, focus!
“If you seriously injured him, he couldn’t have gone far.”
“Nah, he bricked it out of here like it was just a scratch. He wasn’t Dev, Maxwell.”
“I could see that. What are you thinking? Necromancy?” he suggested, though I could tell he wasn’t convinced.
As if summoned by the word, Freddy scampered onto my lap. I scooped him up, looking for signs of damage to my undead friend. If he died again, there was no Issac to resurrect him this time.
“No… it didn’t feel like that. Nothing like the handful of deadwalkers Killigrew Street has come across either.”
“Okay… has he… had a psychotic break? Plus taken up martial arts and strength training?” Maxwell shuffled into a more upright sitting position, wincing as he moved. The bleeding from his wound had more or less stopped, though it still looked sore.
“Did you manage to read his thoughts at all?”
He shook his head. “I barely had the chance to try. It was all too chaotic. But should we keep moving? Follow Dev’s scent?”
“No. This is too weird. We need time to think.” I reached out, fingers ghosting over the tender spot on his scalp. “Plus, you’re hurt.”
Maxwell’s eyes fluttered closed at my touch, and our bond hummed between us, a silver current alive with shared sensation—his pain becoming mine. If only I could take it away from him.
A snap of a twig echoed through the darkness.
We both froze.
“Fuck, is that him?”
Terror shot through me like ice water flooding my veins, each drop crystallising into sharp fragments that pierced every nerve ending. The world narrowed to a pinprick of focus—Dev’s approaching figure—whilst everything else blurred into insignificance.
I’d barely survived our last encounter. Now we were both injured—Maxwell bleeding from his head wound, and I felt like I’d been trampled by a herd of particularly vindictive Highland cattle.
Should I shift again? My muscles screamed in protest at the mere thought. Another rapid transformation might tear something vital, leave me writhing on the ground whilst Dev finished what he’d started.
“Rory!” Dev’s voice rang out. “It’s really you!”
What the actual fuck?
Somehow, Maxwell hauled himself to his feet, though he swayed like a drunk sailor. He stepped in front of me, arms spread wide in a protective stance that made something warm unfurl within me.
“Stay back!” Maxwell roared, his voice carrying every bit of authority. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”
But Dev kept approaching, completely ignoring the warning. His face lit up with what appeared to be genuine delight. “Why are you naked?” he asked, tilting his head with curious confusion. “Have you just shifted?”
What the bloody hell was happening?
I stared at Dev, my brain struggling to process what I was seeing. Did he genuinely not remember what had just happened?
The man before me looked nothing like the Dev I knew.
Gone were the designer clothes that had always shown off his model physique—now he wore a plain grey hoodie that swamped his frame, paired with ordinary black slacks.
Stubble covered his brown skin in unkempt patches, his dark hair hung limp and greasy, and purple shadows bruised the skin beneath his eyes.
Even his posture was different. Dev had always moved with the confidence of someone who knew he was gorgeous, carrying himself with unconscious grace that commanded attention.
But this version seemed uncertain, shoulders hunched inward as if trying to make himself smaller.
His left sleeve hung in tatters where my teeth had found their mark, dark stains blooming across the fabric.
The man who’d once lectured me about “serious journalism” whilst checking his reflection in shop windows now stood before me looking lost, diminished, and distinctly injured.
“Rory?” Dev’s voice carried none of the menace from before. He cradled his left arm against his chest, and I caught a glimpse of angry red beneath the torn cotton. “Are you alright? You look terrified.”
Because you just tried to murder us!
But the confusion in his eyes seemed real, and the way his forehead crinkled with worry looked exactly like the Dev I’d fallen in love with. He stepped closer, one hand reaching out towards me. “I’m so glad to see—”
“I said, stay back!” Maxwell barked.
“It’s okay,” I told him, stepping out from behind his protective bulk. This Dev seemed… different.
Before I could process what was happening, Dev had moved, throwing his arms around me in an enthusiastic bear hug, squeezing me so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Dev sounded like he might burst into tears.
I stood frozen, completely gobsmacked. Wordless, for once.
Click.
Dev was suddenly wrenched backwards, away from me. Maxwell had managed to snap handcuffs around his wrists from behind.
“What the— What the hell? Get off me, man!” Dev thrashed against the restraints, fury replacing joy. He twisted out of Maxwell’s grip, gaze locking onto his face, recognition dawning. “Wait… you’re the one who arrested us that night! Even though you work with Killigrew Street!”
Tension radiated from Maxwell.
“That was the worst night of my life,” Dev spat. “Rory had nightmares for months after that! Months!”
I felt Maxwell flinch through our bond, a tsunami of guilt and regret flooding our connection.
“Stop it,” I snapped at Dev, before he could elaborate any further and tell Maxwell that being locked in that cell triggered all sorts of memories of being locked up by my father. “That whole thing was sort of our own fault, Dev. Anyway, we don’t have time for that right now.”
“Get these handcuffs off me!”
“You just attacked us!” I gestured wildly. “Look at Maxwell’s head. You threw him to the ground! You almost strangled me to death, Dev!”
I touched my neck, where I was convinced there must be a bruise. Dev’s eyes followed my hands, his eyes widening.
“Dev, just what is going on here?” Maxwell demanded. “Where have you been? We’re up here looking for you.”
Dev glanced nervously over his shoulder, scanning the darkness. “They might be watching. We need to go somewhere safe.”
“You are safe,” I assured him, reaching out to touch his arm. He jumped like he’d been electrocuted. “We’ll keep you safe. We’ll take you back to our cottage.”
“Your… cottage?”
“On my family’s land.”
Dev looked skeptical.
“It’s our best option right now,” I insisted.
“Fine, but get these handcuffs off me,” Dev said, rattling the metal against his wrists.
“Okay,” I said at the exact same moment Maxwell snarled, “Absolutely not.”
We turned to face each other, matching scowls etched across our faces.
“Rory—”
“Maxwell—”
I could sense Maxwell’s frustration crackling, but underneath it lay something deeper—a bone-deep terror at the thought of Dev hurting me again. The intensity of his protective instincts almost stole my breath away.
And it definitely stole my heart.
“I’m not letting him hurt you again,” Maxwell said firmly, his voice carrying the weight of absolute conviction. “You can hate me for it all you want. I don’t care.”
Though, of course, he did care. He cared very much. I desperately wanted to press a soft kiss to his cheek, to reassure him that it was going to be okay.
Dev shifted impatiently behind us, the handcuffs jangling. “Listen, I don’t know what happened before, but now, I just want to get somewhere safe.”
I looked between Dev, the ex-boyfriend who I’d spent weeks crying over after he broke my heart, and Maxwell, the man I’d accidentally bonded myself to for life. The man I couldn’t bear to see hurt again.
“The handcuffs stay on until you prove you’re not a demon wearing Dev’s skin,” I declared, crossing my arms. “Final offer, I’m afraid.”