She stumbled further into the room. Anger showed on her face before she composed herself, blanking her expression so that no emotion showed.
The brief lapse in her mask gave me hope. That maybe she was telling the truth and I’d misunderstood somehow.
I curled a lip at Kat. “What are you wearing?”
She’d dressed up like she was going to a club. Not like she was attending an ambush. Bright red heels, several inches high, decorated her feet. Their height had to make it difficult to walk. Every step Kat took flashed the long line of her legs. Her dress was the same shade as her shoes, bright, look at me, red.
Deborah curled in on herself as if bracing for a blow as Kat stopped beside her. The action drew my attention to signs of trauma along Deborah’s jaw and cheekbone. A gash, crusted over with dried blood, ran into her hairline.
“They hit you,” I said flatly.
No. That was too mild a word. They’d beaten her.
Now that I’d noticed the signs, I could see the ginger way she was holding herself. One arm wrapped around her ribs as if it could control the pain.
I’d cracked my ribs a time or two in my life. It was an unpleasant experience. You never realized how important those suckers were until they were broken. And then you were reminded every second of the day, with every breath you took.
There was an apology in her eyes when she looked at me. As if it was her fault that they’d hurt her.
And not mine for dragging her into the middle of this.
Liam’s hand landed on my arm, keeping me from moving.
Fine. We’d do this his way. For now.
But Kat wasn’t living through this night. I promised myself that.
Kat drew a sharp nail down the side of Deborah’s neck, opening a razor thin, red line. The sharp tang of blood spilled into the air.
The tiny whimper Deborah made threatened to crack my control. I grabbed Liam’s hand, squeezing it as hard as I could. If I didn’t, I was going to throw myself at Kat and probably get us killed.
“It’s amazing how predictable you are,” Kat crooned.
Breathe, Aileen. Just breathe.
Deborah wasn’t in any true danger right this second. Kat was too invested in toying with me and getting a reaction to kill her. The moment I gave her what she wanted Deborah would be dead.
Liam’s answering squeeze helped clear my head.
At least until Kat grabbed a handful of Deborah’s hair and yanked the human’s head back at an awkward angle that allowed Kat to run her nose down the side of Deborah’s neck. All the while smirking playfully at me.
Chadwick’s arrival barely registered.
“All I had to do was put a damsel in distress in your path and you threw yourself into my trap,” Kat gloated as Chadwick came up behind her to set his hands on her hips. The pair’s eyes were hungry as they stared at me over Deborah’s neck.
“Thomas made the right decision exiling you from the city,” Liam said.
Chadwick hissed, flashing his fangs. “He’s a fool who doesn’t know how to run his territory. I had the longest tenure and the most experience and yet he threw me out like garbage.”
“You were also the most corrupt. You’re lucky he didn’t end your miserable existence.”
“His oversight will be the reason you die tonight,” Chadwick retorted.
“Why is Deborah here?” I asked, abruptly.
Was it to cause me mental distress? Throw me off my game? Or were they just sadistic?
I was betting on the last one.
