Then I lift the chair leg and slam it down into his side. He howls. “You’re going to rot in a cell—” I hit him again, “for the rest of yourgoddamn life.”I sneer down at him. “I doubt you’ll make any friends in prison. You haven’t made any out here, have you? They’ll hate you just as much as everybody else.”
He grabs at my ankle and yanks, trying to tug me down, but I kick him off me. I feel feral. Like a wild animal. My throat is full up of thorns, my heart is beating out of my chest. This man has had power over me for so long, and now, finally, I’m standing over him holding a weapon. It feels good. I want to hurt him. I want to hurt him so badly he can never hurt another woman again.
“You’re pathetic,” I spit. “Everything about you is pathetic. This whole seduction routine was pathetic. You kidnapping me like you’re a bloody Bond villain is pathetic.” I shake my head. “What, you can’t get a girl to like you the normal way, so you decide to justtakeher? Is that it? You think you have therightto women?”
He sputters. “I deserve—”
I lift the chair leg and drive it down like a stake into his crotch. He screams, but I barely hear it. “You deserve nothing! You are not entitled to have sex with me!” I scream at him. “You’re ajoke.You’re a disgusting human being. You’re a goddamn roach.” I drop my makeshift club and grab the bloody, serrated knife on the dining table, pointing it at him. He goes still.
My head swims, and my fingers shake on the knife handle. I could do it. I could end this, right now.
He looks up at me. He looks battered. One of his eyes is swollen, his glasses are shattered, and there’s blood coming out of his mouth. Matching blood trickles down my slashed cheek and onto my neck, soaking into my dress.
“Angel,” he says softly, his eyes imploring.
I drop the knife with a clatter, then bend and spit in his face.
There’s a deafening bang, and the huge metal door falls inward. Light flares through the doorway, and I see silhouettes stepping forward. Shouts fill the room. All of the adrenaline fades out of me, and I drop to my knees.
I did it. I did it. I stayed alive long enough for them to come.
I did it.
I watch through hazy eyes as the men charge into the room. It’s almost like watching a dream. I see X rolling over, grasping for the gun. I see a group of officers, led by Kenta, diving onto him, holding him down.
I see Matt and Glen standing in the doorway, frantically scanning the room. Matt turns to me, his eyes on fire. His gaze trails over my front, and I suddenly realise what I look like. There’s blood on me. All over me. On my dress, my skin, in my hair.
For a second, everything seems still. Then Matt lunges at me.
I flinch hard. If I had any energy left, I’d get up and run, but all I can do is go still as he throws himself onto his knees next to me, grabbing me.
“You’re bleeding,” he whispers. “Bleeding—” He starts frantically running his hands over me, trying to cover my wounds.
“No,” I choke. “Get off.” He doesn’t respond. The look in his eyes is terrifying me.
It’s Matt.A voice in the back of my head reminds me.Just Matt. Just Matt.I try to remember that, but looking at the wild man in front of me, I don’t see Matt at all. Just another violent man trying to maul me. “No!” I shout, trying to shove him off me. “No, no, no, no,no—”
“MATT,” Kenta barks. “You’re scaring her! Stop, man!”
Behind him, there’s a sudden volley of gunshots. Matt goes still on top of me. I lay under him, my heart thudding in my chest. He’s panting, breathing too hard.
“Matt.” I flap my hand out and hold his hand, lacing our fingers together. “I’m okay.”
His eyes shine suddenly. “Briar,” he whispers, lifting a hand to my cheek. He swallows thickly, then drops his hand and stands jerkily. I want to reach after him, but warm arms wrap around me from behind, and I slump back onto a hard chest. “I’m here, lass, it’s okay,” Glen whispers in my ear. I could cry. “It’s okay. God, you’re bleeding. Oh, God, your poorface.” He tugs me closer into his arms. “Is this okay, baby? Am I hurting you?”
I shake my head, burying my face in his shoulder.
He keeps talking, rocking me back and forth. “That was incredible. I think we should invite you to join the team. You’d make a very convincing Angel.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Look at you. You didn’t even need us, you took him out all by yourself. God, let me look at your face, sweetheart. What the Hell did he do to you?” He tries to pull my face out of the crook of his neck, and I shake my head.
“No.”
“You don’t want me to look at you?” He cups my cheek, and his fingers come back wet with blood. “It won’t be as bad as mine, love, nowhere near that bad. I… we’ll find you the best surgeon, sweetheart. The best in the whole country, I promise, there won’t even be a mark.”
“Shut. Up.” I groan. Everything is spinning. I can feel my heart rate getting faster and faster. I cling to him, huffing in his dark earthy scent. I just want to hide away where no one can see me. I try to gasp in a breath, but I can’t. I start to shake.
“Briar.” His hand cups the back of my head. “Briar. Breathe.”
I can’t. I can’t breathe. I try to take in a breath, but my lungs are too tight. I try harder and harder, my breathing turning to noisy, frantic gasps, but nothing is getting in.
