Page 23 of Day

Fuck. To run away fast? Or break them and get a little shock treatment in the process.

I looked back at Emanuel and he was rolling up his sleeves, readying himself for battle. Shit. They weren’t messing around here.

My gaze moved back and forth, waiting for someone to make a move, and it looked like electric boy was going to make his first. Just then something black blurred into my vision, hitting him on the back of his head. A shoe? His eyes narrowed in pure hatred, then he turned around. I followed his eyes and let out a sigh.

Lilith was walking on the dock with a shoe in her hand, and the other was now lying behind bad guy number two.

She didn’t have a look of anger, or malice. She was smiling, which was somehow scarier. Especially knowing part of her history.

“Afternoon, boys!” She hopped onto the boat and strutted over to the man who was ready to zap her. He looked back at Emanuel, who nodded as if to say go for it.

She was maybe about a foot away from him when he reached over to touch her, not expecting her to put up a fight. Boy was he wrong. Even I didn’t expect Lilith to duck away from his hand, spin around, then jam the heel of her shoe into his shoulder like a freaking weapon.

Both Emanuel and I were standing there with our mouths hanging open in shock.

The man let out a guttural scream and fell to the ground, pulling out her spiked heel.

Holy shit.

“No one messes with my Star.” She walked toward me, her eyes on Emanuel, daring him to make a move.

Star. The word was so simple, but it stirred something inside of me that shouldn’t be present in the current situation.

Warmness. I felt warm, in a good way. Like happiness was wrapping itself around me. All from her calling me Star. Weird. She’d used it that first morning when she woke up in my bed, too.

“Well, my dear. You are quite the surprise. I will give you the same offer I gave Mr. Daniels and the same consequence if you choose his answer. We could use a woman of your talents. Join me, or die with your Star.” He stood his ground and watched Lilith with an intense stare. He really wanted her on his side, maybe even enjoying the look of her more than his admiration for her quick reflex to maim.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I stood still.

“I go where my husband goes. So fuck off, Emanuel.”  I smirked at her and to both bad guys that shook their heads. Electric man was bleeding very badly, but it didn’t stop him from coming at us just as Emanuel did too.

“I’m going to take your powers. Not a complete waste,” he growled, and I was just about to push Lilith into the water so she wouldn’t get hurt when Emanuel was on me quicker than I could have reacted. Fine, I’ll fight speed with speed.

I threw a punch, and he dodged it, throwing one back at me and while I was quick enough to move away, it was clear he had training that I did not.

Lilith was fairing fine with her attacker, and he was getting more pissed by the second to be losing.

“Aw, come on, Sparky. Can’t defeat a sweet little woman like me?” she taunted him, and he roared in rage, amping the internal current he was channeling. The hairs on my arms were starting to rise, and I felt the vibrations of static in the air. Things were going down a bad path.

Emanuel tightly gripped my hair and slammed my face against the railing. Shit, he was fast. I came back swinging, but this was a very unmatched fight. I was no killer. I could fight like any other guy, but this man was trained to defeat his enemy. Blood swam in my mouth, and I realized my arrogance was going to be the literal end of me. Shit.

I caught Lilith’s eyes and saw the shock in her face, then she kicked her man in the chest hard, knocking him back a few feet, just enough to get back over to me.

Emanuel gripped my neck, and I felt the power in the air shake. He was going to take my powers from me.

For a moment I thought good riddance, but then reality sat in, and I knew I would die.

Instead of knocking Emanuel back like I thought she would have, Lilith wrapped her arms around me in a tackle and over the edge of the boat we went.

A searing pain ripped through my arm as we hit the water.

My eyes opened, adjusting to the salty water, Lilith was doing the same and having more difficulty than I was. I looked up and saw bullets being shot into the water.  Shit.  Lilith was trying hard not to go up for air and get shot, but she was starting to thrash around with her arms around me holding her down.

Lacing my fingers around her tightly, I swam us far away in seconds. Both of us gasped for air as soon as I took us above the surf, our lungs burning from the lack of oxygen.

I heard an explosion and even before I looked in the direction of my boat, I knew Lily Blue was gone.

“You okay?” I looked at the woman floating in my arms.  She was oddly calm, despite everything we had been through.

“Yep. You’ve got a bullet in your arm, though. We should probably get that out. Your face looks like shit, but hopefully the salt water will clear that up in no time.” She looked at me, and I realized that in that moment, I didn’t feel the need to run from her.

“You saved my life.” My hand lifted up to push her long black hair away from her eyes.

“Not letting you get out of our marriage that easy. Just because he said ‘till death do us part’ didn’t mean you get to run right into death’s arms to get away from me.”  She grinned in jest.

I didn’t have anything to say after that. Honestly, I felt like I’d gotten smacked upside the head in a very violent way for being so damn stubborn.

I couldn’t run anymore from the shit going on around me. That was for sure.