"It's a warning, Nyx. We know what your rich boy did to Chase, and justice won't be served to him on his side of town. Bring him to us and we'll take care of it. Show us who you really stand with."
"You've got some fucking nerve," I snap. "It never bothered anyone that Chase treated me like shit. Who stood with me when he cheated on me? When he made me feel like I wasn't deserving of anything? When he hit me? None of you. You egged him on because it was funny to all of you. And now you want me to help avenge him?" I throw my head back, laughing at his stupid behavior. "Yeah, don’t count on it."
His hand wraps around my upper arm so quickly I've got no chance of stepping back. He pulls me closer to him, holding me in a bruising grip.
"Bring him to us. Or the next body they'll find in the trailer park will be yours, bitch."
A touch. That’s all it takes to break my confidence. It triggers something inside me again.
My whole body goes on high alert, failing me as the alarm bells ring and I feel the fear take over. My blood feels thicker, my limbs heavier, and I’m incapable of moving, let alone defending myself.
"If you want me that badly, all you have to do is ask. But I'll warn you, I don't tend to call back once I've fucked you. So think twice before giving me your virginity." Achilles's mocking voice is a wave of relief as it crashes over me.
Bennett lets me go like I never existed, turning to him instead. I stumble back a little from the gesture and finally look at Achilles. There’s a cigarette between his fingers, and smoke billowing around him. His eyes are stuck on something. On me. More precisely, on my arm. And when my gaze drops, I notice the bruise starting to form.
Achilles tilts his head, a brief look of worry creasing his eyebrows before it switches back to his casual demeanor.
"Pretty Nyx," he says with his smooth voice. "I'd come to take you to lunch. Why don't you get in the car while I finish over here? And pick what you want to eat too."
"Why don't we just both leave?" I say tentatively, now eyeing Bennett's hand as it goes to the back of his jeans. "We'll leave, Bennett," I tell the asshole who broke my car.
Achilles's eyes finally leave my arm, and he smiles at me. That exact fucking smile we all hate. Never quite reaching his eyes, always hiding something.
"I don’t think so, baby. Get in the car."
He drops his cigarette, crushing it under his barely tied Dr. Marten.
"Please," I insist. I just want us safe. "Achilles, this isn’t SFU; it's not the South Bank. You're far from where you grew up. People who look for trouble die."
"Don't try to save him, Nyx." Bennett snorts. "He's already a dead man."
Bennett slowly pulls out his gun, pointing it at Achilles's chest.
"Put that shit away," I hiss, looking around us.
There's not much in the empty parking lot, especially since The Basement is underground, so there are no windows on the main floor. There are a couple of guys leaning against a car, probably dealing. The second they see what's going on, they get in their car and disappear. None of their business, why would they get involved? And so what if someone dies?
Instead of recoiling, Achilles takes a step closer to Bennett. And another one until he's pressing his chest against the muzzle of the gun.
"Achilles," I panic, chest seizing. "What are you doing?"
"No one cares about murder in the middle of the day around here, rich boy. I'll kill you."
"Or so you keep saying. And I'm waiting," Achilles answers lazily. "Or did you want to make sure your other friends are with you just in case?"
For the first time since I've known Bennett, I see his hand tremble as he holds the gun. Achilles doesn't miss it either.
"Ah. It's hard to make decisions without Chase, isn't it? That's why you always cut the head off the snake first. Then it's fun to watch all the little boys run around wondering what to do next."
My heart thrashes against my ribcage as I wonder what kind of suicidal move he's pulling. Bennett presses against his chest, finger on the trigger, but nothing happens.
"Are you wondering what happens when someone as important as I am is murdered?" Achilles keeps taunting him. "How badly in trouble you'll get? How many cops I have in my pocket? If you'll ever see the light of day again?" He shakes his head. "You won't."
He slowly wraps his hand around the barrel of the gun. "You don't know me, and that's a shame. Or you'd know I'm the most suicidal motherfucker around. Kill me for all I care. Then you'll be thrown in jail, and it'll be one less man putting his hands on my girlfriend."
The way he says his last sentence makes me swallow back any fear for him. He's not scared, at all. If anything, I'm the one who should be scared by the obsession in his voice when he says the wordgirlfriend.
"Kill me, Bennett," Achilles sing-songs mockingly like the psycho he is.
