Adrenaline soaked my brain as I braced my legs and shoved him back with as much force as I could. He stumbled a step, the knife reeling in the air, but it didn’t stop him.
He lunged again. I twisted in time, grabbing his wrist and slamming his arm into the wall. He roared, but didn’t drop the knife as he staggered back from me. His chest heaved with heavy breaths, his skin breaking out in sweat.
I stepped back too, putting as much space between us as possible. Squaring my shoulders, I put my hands up in a defensivestance. In my periphery, I searched for anything I could use as a weapon, but I wouldn’t take my eyes off Ash fully.
“Ash,” I said, my own breathing wild and heavy. “What are you doing?”
Anger blazed within him as he righted himself. He pulled his shoulders back, lifted the knife like he was ready to attack at any moment.
A flash of our old life hit me, as if we were back in the fighting ring. Back when we beat up each other, and ourselves, for sport. Just to feel something.
Now, I was defenseless against an unhinged man with a knife.
How the hell had we gotten here?
“Skye left me because of you, Fox,” Ash said, quieter now, more broken. “She’s always been safest here, with me. I know what happened between the two of you. I know you got her pregnant. I know she almost died.”
The room spun. Vaguely, I was aware of a throbbing near my shoulder, of something hot and wet running down my arm, but the pain hadn’t fully set in yet. This didn’t make sense. I couldn’t reconcile the man in front of me with the Ash I’d known.
“You think I wanted her to leave?” My voice came rough, furious. “I begged her to stay. I loved her.” I sucked in a breath so deep my ribs ached. “I still love her.”
Ash’s face hardened into stone and steel. His muscles went taut, and I prepared myself for another attack.
“No.” He shook his head, a humorless laugh escaping him. “If you would’ve loved her, you wouldn’t have let her leave. You would have protected her.”
A cold sweat broke across my skin as my stomach dropped through the floor. Something dawned on me, the way he said those words…
“Where is she?” I demanded, strong but controlled. No matter how much I was panicking, I needed to stay outwardly calm.
Ash’s expression didn’t waver or betray his secrets. “You can’t have her anymore. You can’t be trusted.”
I kept my eyes on the knife, trying to predict his next move. “What did you do, Ash?”
“She’s safe.” His voice cracked. “She’s with me. She’s not leaving me again.”
“Jesus.” I took a step back, adrenaline burning like fire in my blood. I needed to disarm him. Fast. “Ash, listen to yourself—”
“You don’t get it!” he shouted, slashing the blade wildly.
I dodged right, bumping up against the wall.
“Even now, you bring her to talk to fucking serial killers for no good reason! She’s not safe with you.” He came close again.
I ducked low, the knife slicing air above me. I drove my shoulder into his side, knocking him off-balance, but not enough. He caught himself, regaining his footing.
I used the brief moment to create some more space between us, almost hitting a floor lamp near the couch.
A lamp. Not looking away from Ash, I tried to remember what the lamp had looked like walking in. I thought it was made out of some kind of metal.
That was good.
The knife shook in Ash’s fist as he blinked at me. I needed to keep him talking. Hopefully, I could catch him off guard.
“And she’s supposed to be safe with you?” I inched my back foot closer to the lamp. “Make me understand, Ash.”
“The plan was to always keep her safe,” Ash seethed. “Even when my father was around, I watched out for her as best I could.”
I froze. His father. Where did he fit in all this? “Where is he now, Ash? Your father?”
