Denial has never been my strong suit.
Ambrose De La Rosa appraises me with open disdain that borders on disgust.
"You really are your mother's daughter."
He checks his watch, shifting back a step to lean against the edge of his desk.
I spin on my heel and step forward, moving to shove through the men blocking my exit. They shove me back, and I slam my palms on the chest of the one to the right. "Move."
The giant statue of a man doesn't budge. Doesn't speak.
I shove him again, and he grunts, shouldering me back hard enough to make me stumble.
My heart races as I regain my footing and lock gazes with the one on the right.
The one that was labeled as Coyote in Ambrose's files.
"Get out of my way!"
My breaths come fast and loud, and when I go to shove him again, he aims his weapon at me, and I freeze. He gestures with the barrel, telling me to back up while Ambrose sighs behind me.
"You'll regret this," I warn Coyote, fist tightening on my pack.
"No," Ambrose replies for him. "I doubt that."
When I turn back to throw my rage at him instead, I find him boredly arranging the items on his desk, putting some pens back in the marble tumbler with the gold scissors.
Ambrose drops the last pen in with the others and then rests his palms back against the desk's edge. "I know they're here, too."
My blood goes cold.
Sofucking cold.
"Who?"
My skin pricks.
Please,no.
"They're likely close by," he prattles on instead of answering me. "But I'm fairly confident they have no idea where you are."
This isn't happening.
I'm trying to make sense of it—howthis could happen, what I did wrong—but all the connections in my mind are broken and jumbled. Like some part of me is protecting itself from fully comprehending the full weight of what this is.
"I'm sure my men will find them before they have any chance of finding you, and then Julian's sons will finally be made to answer for all their many sins."
At the mention of Julian, something cracks.
I'm flying across the room, curses filling my mouth as I go straight for his stupid fucking face. He recoils as if being attacked by a striking viper, but my fangs don't have a chance to sink in and do the damage he deserves before rough hands drag me back.
I kick and thrash, scratching, throwing my whole body into the fight against Ambrose's men.
"I'll kill you!" I shout, my voice cracking. "I'll fucking kill you if you touch them!"
I'm rewarded with a pained grunt as I claw at Coyote's face, leaving streaks of violent red. I get an inch, but they take a mile, dragging me back until there's a wide valley between me and Ambrose.
Their brutal grip on my arms makes it hurt every time I try to pull free, and I know if I pull any harder, I'll break my own bones.
