Fuck him and fuck his words. I just need to get through the next couple of minutes and then I’ll be able to put the past behind me.
“You didn’t have to leave like you did, Saint. Darling, you really left us in the lurch.” He leans closer and I instinctively shy away from his proximity, my nose wrinkling at the scent of decay on his breath. “Things have been... difficult recently.”
I scoff. “Couldn’t swindle more money out of enough vulnerable people without my help?”
Clenching my fists under the table, I regret the words instantly. I shouldn’t engage, I should keep my mouth shut.
Where the fuck is Iri’s mobster? He should be here by now.
“We lost our heart when we lost you, Saint,” the Herald continues.
I scoff internally. Better than me losing the rest of my soul.
I smile and his eyes widen, like I’ve surprised him. I guess I didn’t smile too much when I knew him. Not true smiles, anyway. Certainly not how I’m smiling now, one dripping with malice.
“I hear you owe money to the wrong people. Sounds like you’ve been running with your tail between your legs for a while now. It’d be a shame if things finally caught up with you.”
Stupid, really. I should keep my mouth shut until he’s in the hands of Iri’s mobster. I realize that a minute too late.
The Herald freezes for a moment, and then his expression changes to a mask of fury.
“What. Did. You. Do?”
Before I can move, he lunges. His hand grips my wrist. Hard. He then yanks on my arm and I let out a little yelp of pain.
My body freezes as something hard and very sharp digs into my side.
Oh fuck. He’s got a knife.
One that’s digging into the top layer of my skin.
“Saint. Tell me what you did.”
My heart is beating so loudly I can barely hear his words over the rushing of blood in my ears.
I’m frozen in place. His grip on my arm is punishing and I just know I’m one wrong move away from him sinking that blade into my gut.
Why the hell didn’t I expect him to have a weapon? He’s desperate.
And desperate people do desperate things. Like stabbing someone in broad daylight in the middle of a city café.
There are people all around but they’re not doing anything. No one knows anything out of the ordinary is happening right now.
Should I scream? Or will that just make him stab me?
My breath comes out unsteady as I try to fight the wave of panic threatening to take me under.
“To your feet,” he says through gritted teeth. “Now, we’re going to make our way out of here slowly. And you’ll pay for whatever little trick you were trying to pull.”
I stand on shaking legs as he presses the knife harder into my side. There’s a stinging pain and warmth. I can tell he’s broken the skin.
Fuck.
Why did I think I could do this? I should have ignored him and swanned off into the sunset. Maybe he’d have faded into obscurity and I could have had a future with my rock stars.
Now, though, that future’s not guaranteed.
He manhandles me out of my chair, away from the table and I peer around blindly, trying to do what,I don’t know.
