S-O-L-D.
Over and over, he repeated the word as he carved it. The sting from the wound is nothing compared to the eternal loop of his voice burning into my brain, and I wonder which will be more permanent.
“All this forher?”Hespits, snapping my gaze back to them. “Believe me, she’s not fucking worth it.”
Easton’s eyes are so dark, so lethal, I hardly recognize him. He kicks the monster’s legs out from beneath him and grips him by the hair until he’s forced to meet Easton’s gaze.
When Easton speaks, his words are quiet but rough, and they ring of conviction. “She’s worth everything you’re not. You’re just a piece of shit too weak to recognize it.” Easton knees the monster’s already broken nose, and Paul coughs up blood.
I can’t stop staring at him. Not the monster—Easton. He stands tall, towering over the monster, but his skin is too pale. Breathing too fast, too hard, he stumbles against the wall, using it for support. Easton ... strong, selfless, resilient. But he’s only human. A crack creeps up the glass that divides us.
I look at the knife, then at the monster.
Knees on the floor, he’s panting harder than Easton. Red covers his face, sweat and blood soak his shirt. I search and search, but there are still no claws, fangs, or horns. Because maybe monsters are only human too.
The glass cracks, a spider web of fissures, then it shatters.
Paul lunges toward Easton, and my heart stops. I’ve never seen anyone so white. Easton blinks slowly, one palm on the wall to keep himself upright, and it’s too easy for Paul to lock his arms around Easton’s neck like a snake. Adrenaline surges through me, and I will my body to move. I slip off the mattress, crawl on my hands and knees to the knife. Shaking fingers curl around it. It feels foreign, too heavy in my hand. A form at the doorway flickers into my line of sight, but I don’t pause. I don’t think. I lunge.
I shove the knife deep into Paul’s side.
He hisses, falters, and his arms drop. But I don’t let go. I shove the blade deeper, deeper. I hear a scream, raw and broken, but I don’t register it’s mine until hot tears burn my cheeks—I twist the knife until his legs give out. We go down together, the monster and I, but still, I don’t let go.
Icy blue eyes stare up at me. “You can’t run, little girl,” he coughs, heaves. “Not from me.” Blood drips down the corner of his mouth. “You should know by now, I always come back.”
My lungs are tight, cheeks wet, and cold certainty washes over me. “You should know by now that I do too. The difference is, in the end, you always lose.”
Trapped by alittle girl, too weak to move, his eyes spark with outrage, and it’s the most satisfying thing I’ve ever seen.
Something warms the side of my face, and my eyes slide up, up, to find Easton’s gaze locked on me. Even leaning against the wall, pale and exhausted, his gaze is penetrating, so heavy with unspoken thoughts it beckons and soothes.
“Not bad, baby cuz.” I start at the familiar voice, and a gentle hand curls around my waist, easing me to my feet. “But do me a favor and let me play with him before he passes out, yeah?”
“Alejandro,” I whisper, relief and disbelief flooding me all at once. My hands are still shaking, and my voice isn’t much better. “What ... ?” I look from him to Easton, then back again. “How ... ?”
Easton’s lips tip up, and he winces as he pushes his weight off the wall. “I’ll tell you all about it. But right now ...” He nods toward the window. “We’re about to hear sirens.”
Paul sputters, his eyes widen, and he tries to scoot away. Alejandro steps on his stomach, digging his heel into Paul’s gut to keep him in place.
“Let me go,” Paul wheezes. He clutches Alejandro’s boot, but his grip is weak, his eyes roll upward, and he looks moments from losing consciousness. “Let me ... fucking ... go.” He grimaces, drags his unsteady gaze to the window.
Alejandro laughs, the sound cruel and so unlike the cousin I know that it gives me chills. “Yeah, no.”
I don’t understand how he’s so calm. The cops aren’t here yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Alarm clutches me, and I shove Alejandro’s arm. “You can’t be here. You have to go,now.”
Easton looks between us, his brow arching, and Alejandro says with a smirk, “Always worrying about me.” He looks down at the guy beneath his boot, who’s now crying. “They’ll know I was here. I’ll make sure of it. But I’ll be gone before they catch me. I’m just gonna have a little fun before I go.”
My gaze freezes on Paul. I track the stream of tears mixing with blood on his cheeks. He whimpers, actuallywhimpers, and disgust rises in my throat like bile. The longer I watch him, the more he shrinks. Monsters look so big and scary, but without someone to hurt, their stilts get knocked out from beneath them and reveal how small they really are. All this time ... all this time, he told me I was nothing. But without me, he truly isnothing.
A gentle touch wipes the wetness from my cheek, and I swallow, look up at Easton. He’s so close to me, gaze narrowed on my tears. He wipes another one away, his lips brush my temple, and he whispers tenderly, “Unbreakable.”
A quiet sob chokes me.
“Take her,” Alejandro says to Easton. “I won’t be long.”
Easton nods and starts to wrap his arm around me, but he sways slightly, wincing. I catch him by slipping my arm under his. Panic rises in my chest. Just how badly is he hurt?
“Lean on me,” I say quietly and take a small step toward the door.
