“Heard you were a hero,” Bo said and shut the door behind him.
“You’ve heard wrong.” I was lying in bed, hugging my pillow. It had been a couple of hours since the fiasco with Nathan, but I couldn’t fall asleep, and not just because of the lingering pain in my mouth.
Bo sat on the bed. “Let me see.” He held my chin and tilted my head. “You’re still pretty if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”
He let go and glanced at the needles on the nightstand. They hadn’t been much help, even though I’d dug them deeper than usual. “I knew you had a crush on The Director, but saving his life? That’s a serious relationship right there.”
I exhaled, not willing to bite.
“They’re talking about you now, some interesting things.”
I looked at him. “What were they saying?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t get most of it, but Mr. White seemed to be thinking of something, and it got The Director agitated.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Anyway, what are you so upset about? You hate Nathan.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
He leaned next to my ear, making me tense. “I understand just fine, Prey. You’ve officially switched sides, no better than any of us.”
My eyes stung at the weight of his truth. “Leave me alone.”
“Say it.” He licked my cheek, raising goosebumps down my back. “Say that you’re no better than me, that you’re just as rotten. Hell, I think you might be worse than I ever was.”
My rage began to pulse, turning my vision red. “You’re a loser and a rapist. No matter what I do, I can never be worse thanyou. Now, fuck off.”
He forced me onto my back. I tried to shove him away, but he grabbed my hands above my head and shifted on top of me.
“You think you can tell me what to do?”
“Get off!”
He squeezed my wrists, the pain piercing through my bones. “Oh, I’m about to get off, alright.” He rocked his hips againstmine. “You still think you’re special, Prey? A good person in a bad place? Can’t you see that’s crap?”
“Get off!”
He rocked his hips faster, his weight making it hard to breathe. His messy beard filled my vision, the bottom of it rubbing against my chin.
“You and I are gonna have some fun.” He twisted my wrists, the pain so fierce I feared they might snap. “Are you gonna play hard to get?”
Through the pain, I hissed, “No!”
He chuckled and eased his grip, moving his hands to rest on my chest as he sat on my stomach. “I heard you’ve bled a lot.” His eyes focused on my lips. “Sorry I’ve missed that.” He winked. “Let’s see if I can fuck you hard enough to bleed.”
My rage pulsed stronger, overpowering my fear and clouding my thoughts. A predatory urge rushed through my body, slipping into my veins and reaching my heart. “You love blood so much?” I reached for a needle on the nightstand. Bo caught my movement and began to lean back, but I was quicker.
His eyes grew wide, making it easier to slide the needle into his left eye. I gripped his beard with my other hand to keep him in place, jerking the needle inside his eye socket. For the second time today, blood filled my mouth, mixed with whatever else leaked out of Bo’s ruined eye. His screams must have echoed throughout the estate, but I wanted all the fuckers to hear.
He managed to get free of my grip and crashed to the floor, leaving some of his beard in my fist. He squirmed, holding his face but failing to stop the flow of blood.
Feeling out of my body, I stood up and stepped over him on my way to the bathroom, warm blood underneath my bare feet. The cold water turned red until my face was clean. Blood still clung to my shirt and hair, but I didn’t care. In the background, Bo’s screams faded into sobs, with the occasional threat to kill me.
I wiped my face with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom. Without looking at the pathetic form on the floor, I exited the room and closed the door behind me, welcoming the eerie silence. With no destination in mind, I walked barefoot down the dim and familiar hallway, leaving bloody footprints in my wake.
