Free Ravaged River (Men of Mercy #6) by Lindsay Cross Page B

crowded in the middle of the room pushed backwards against the wall of people surrounding him, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the freak show as possible.
    "Where is Hayden James?" Hoyt forced the words past his tight throat. Though he’d attracted plenty of wide, frightened stares, no one responded.
    His gaze fell on the young brunette to his left and he stepped in her direction, intending to question her. The girl let out a shriek and forced her way back through the crowd.
    Hoyt fought the instinctive need to recoil. He knew his face was ruined. He knew how he affected people.
    "Leave her alone. What do you want?" When Hoyt spun around, he found himself facing the blond kid in the toga. The one who'd dared to lay his hands on Hayden earlier.
    A familiar flicker passed through the kid’s eyes when he saw Hoyt’s scar. But he didn't scream, even though fear rolled off of him in waves. The blinding need to crush him hammered through Hoyt.
    Get it together, man. He's better for her than you are.
    "Hayden James." Her name was the only thing he could manage to say.
    The young man flushed but held firm. "What do you want with her?"
    "Where is she?"
    "None of your business."
    Hoyt's already thin-as-ice control snapped. Before he knew it, he had Adonis backed up against a narrow wall next to the stairs, his hand around the guy’s throat.
    "Where is she?"
    Frat boy's eyes bulged and his face turned fire-red. Satisfaction slithered through Hoyt's conscious.
    “Hoyt, drop him,” Merc came running down the stairs. College kids surrounded him and stared in horror, but Hoyt didn’t budge.
    "Hoyt Crowe, drop the boy now."
    Hoyt snapped his head around to see Sheriff Lawson standing a few feet behind him. Arms at his sides, his right hand hovering an inch above his pistol.
    Hoyt snarled and whirled back to his victim, squeezing until the guy sputtered and coughed, desperately pulling at the unmovable fingers slowly cinching around his throat. "Not telling you," he choked out.
    Hoyt roared, "Where is she?!"
    Not even the pounding music could compete with his shout.
    "Hayden is on her way home. I just saw her pull out.” Lawson's hot breath blasted Hoyt's shoulder, his voice low and calm and about as soothing as a bucket of rusty nails prickling his destroyed flesh.
    Hayden was safe. The red haze lowered. Hoyt loosened his grip just enough for the toga boy to hit the ground.
    The kid gasped and retched. Hoyt stood over him, not really seeing him anymore, his chest expanding and contracting with force.
    Frat boy grabbed his neck and stood, lifting his free hand to point at Hoyt. "Monster."
    Awareness slithered around Hoyt like a boa constrictor, strangling his air supply until it hurt to breathe. The panic gut-punched him and he almost doubled over. As if sensing his weakness, frat boy took a bold step forward and repeated, "Monster."
    The crowd seemed to collapse around Hoyt, shoving him deeper into the pit of claustrophobia. Too tight. Shit. He went cold. Hot. The little bastard took another step toward him, but Merc locked a massive hand around the boy's arm, bending it back like a wet noodle. "You think he was scary before? Keep pushing. He'll nail your coffin closed with his bare fist."
    Merc flung frat boy away and yanked Hoyt out of the room, Lawson nipping at their heels. Hoyt didn't draw in a full breath until he was standing in the parking lot, facing his friend and the sheriff.
    "Want to tell me what that was all about? Cause I can guarantee you that boy's parents are richer than dirt and will sue your pants off if given the opportunity." Lawson crossed his arms over the tan police uniform, a hard gray gaze glinting at Hoyt in the night.
    "Nothing." Except that wasn’t true. Hayden was his everything, and if she had been harmed...
    Hoyt turned to Merc. "You get a bead on the other one?"
    Merc shook his head in the negative. With the overhead light casting dark shadows over him, Merc looked like the grim