Had I repressed that?
“I love you, Callum. I always have.”
He was so close to me I could taste his breath. I couldn’t move.
Why couldn’t I fucking move!?
He leaned closer, and the thought of him putting his lips on me made something deep in my chestsnap.
The idea of having to tell Ryan that this piece of shit kissed me made me feel so violently ill that whatever spell Damian had managed to cast on me broke.
Suddenly, I couldn’t hear the dubstep anymore.
All I could hear was Ryan’s voice echoing through my mind.
All the beautiful things he had ever said to me rolled through my mind, and my breath caught in my chest.
You’re not a killer, Cal, not really.
You were made to help people, Cal. Not hurt them.
You try so hard to protect and help everyone around you, but who’s protecting you?
Somewhere along the line, I had convinced myself thatDamianhad been the one protecting me… But that had never been the case.
He’d always been using me. Manipulating me… in more twisted ways than I ever gave him credit for.
He didn’tloveme.
He just knew how desperately I needed to hear it. This was another form of control.
Not anymore.
Ryan asked who was protecting me?
I was.
ME.
I would protect my goddamn self from this piece of shit the way little Cal never could.
I was Ryan’s dark angel, and I was going to bring hell to fucking earth if that’s what it took to keep us both safe from this monster.
Suddenly, all the barriers in my mind fell away, and my body snapped to attention.
The shaking was gone, and I felt a tranquil sense of calm wash over me.
As Damian leaned closer to me, I gave him my most seductive grin.
“You going to kiss me, Damian?”
He paused his advance, sensing that something had changed.
My grin widened, and without warning, I drew back my gun and cracked it across his face. He cried out and stumbled away from me. The shock on his face was one of the most satisfying things I’d ever seen.
Without waiting for him to recover, I unloaded the clip into his chest, enjoying the arc of blood that sprayed from him like a fucking garden hose.
“What the FUCK!” he cried as he went down. I reloaded the gun as I approached.
