“I lied,” he said simply.
Rourke spat onto the floor. “Well, that wasn’t very nice of you, was it?”
Kyllen shrugged, not dignifying the man with a verbal answer.
“I guess we’ll have to get our money back another way, then.” Rourke tipped his chin at his accomplices, and they moved onto Kyllen and Amira. “In addition to the cash, I’ll take that other cuff of yours.” Rourke smirked. “As a compensation for my disappointment.” He guffawed.
Kyllen cringed at the sound, then punched the first man lunging his way.
The man flew back a few paces, hitting the wall with force. Kyllen hadn’t held back his strength. Why would he? He was too irritated to play nice. It was their fault—annoying him before he’d even had breakfast.
“Shit.” Rourke gaped at his friend sprawled on the floor. Tossing the side of his leather coat back, the human yanked a knife from his pocket.
Another one snuck up behind Amira.
“Do as Rourke said!” the human yelled, grabbing her. “Or she’ll pay.”
Amira gasped in horror. The man gripped her throat, cutting off all sound from her. His other arm seized her around her middle, pressing both her arms to her torso.
Kyllen’s annoyance sparked into white-hot rage. The low-life dared putting his hands on what belonged to him.
The human deserved to die.
“Close your eyes, Amira,” he gritted through his teeth. “Keep them closed, no matter what you hear.”
She squeezed a strangled sound in agreement and shut her eyes.
He yanked his hood off.
But he didn’t just want to kill the scum. He wished to terrify the life out of them.
He spread his senties in a wide halo around his head—wild and undulating. Tipping his head down, he glared at the one holding Amira. Jerking his senties, he directed their eyes, all forty-eight of them, at the offender, too.
Fifty deadly, golden gorgonian eyes stared directly into the human two. Color bled out of the man’s irises, pale blue replaced by granite-gray. The gray spread, leaching into his skin, hair, and clothes. A living, breathing person fully became a dead stone less than a second after meeting Kyllen’s eyes.
Slowly, he moved his lethal gaze over to Rourke next.
“What the—” The words froze on Rourke’s lips as his tongue solidified into rock.
“Hey—” Another one.
“Ugh—” And another.
One by one, all four of them were dead. None had run. People usually ran from danger after taking at least a glance at what the danger was. And a glance was all that Kyllen needed.
Anger still coursed through him. Throwing punches might’ve released some of it. Killing with a look wasn’t nearly as satisfying. But they had dared threaten Amira. He had to deal with them quickly.
“Amira?” He coiled his senties quickly and pulled his hood back on.
She was locked in the unbending arms of the statue. Her eyes shut so tight, the skin around them crinkled and paled from strain.
“Good girl,” he thought fondly.
“Keep your eyes closed, my sweet pea.” He made his voice sound soft and soothing, coming closer.
The cold, gray fingers of the statue tightly gripped her throat. She could barely swallow against them.
He broke them off one by one, wishing the human was still alive and could feel each of his digits breaking.
“How dared he?” Kyllen seethed. How dared this pathetic excuse of a man touch her delicate neck?
“Thank you…” She gasped for air the moment he freed her throat.
He ripped the entire hand off, then broke the arm that held her around the middle.
“Amira…” He yanked her to him.
In a flare of anger, he kicked what remained of the human who’d trapped her. The statue crashed to the floor, exploding into dust and pieces on impact. The stone might look like granite, but it was more brittle than most rocks found in nature. Flesh didn’t make for a solid material, even when it hardened to rock.
Amira was breathing rapidly, sucking in air in quick, shallow gasps. Her heart thundered against his chest pressed to hers.
“Are they…gone?” she panted.