He continued to advance on me. I tried to judge the distance to the door. Would I be able to jump over the pew and make it there before he caught me?
“You’ll never make it,” he said, as if reading my mind. “Give it a try though. It will be fun.”
“Can we not do this? I’m here to get help. Maybe you need some too.” My pulse pounded harder as he reached the end of my pew. This was bad. Really bad.
He looked me up and down, grinning like a madman. “All I need is some retribution. Haven’t you ever wanted to make someone pay for what they did to you? To make them hurt?”
Of course I had. I was human after all. I felt that way about my mother on a regular basis. Not that I would ever act on it. I wasn’t a maniac.
Somehow, I didn’t think that was the proper response. Instead, I said, “Whatever your issue is with the Kings, it has nothing to do with me. Please let me go. You work here because you care about people, right? You must be a good person.”
Clearly this jerk was not a good person. Still, I was willing to try anything to get him to back off and leave me alone. Too bad it didn’t work.
He came at me quickly then, backing me up against the wall. Wedged between two pews, I had nowhere to go. When he reached to touch my hair, I visibly shuddered.
“Too bad I’ll have to make this fast. I would love to take my time with you.” He mashed his lips against mine. Trying to force his tongue into my mouth.
I clenched my teeth together, tightly holding my lips shut. A scream bubbled up in my throat, trying to break free. My stomach turned, sick at the thought of this asshole touching me. With both hands I shoved against him with all my strength.
Suddenly, he was gone. Jerked away from me. Auryn threw him into the aisle between the pews.
“You’re a fucking dead man now,” Auryn snarled, barely sounding like himself. He shoved the guy hard, knocking him down onto one of the pews. “You made a huge mistake by putting your hands on my girl. There’s no coming back from that.”
Auryn moved fast. He quickly put the guy in a headlock, holding him tight with an arm around his neck. Taking him down to the floor, Auryn wrapped his legs around him from behind, pinning him in place. With his other hand, he covered the man’s mouth and nose, holding tight.
“Watch the door, doll. Don’t let anyone in.”
I launched into motion, rushing to the door. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. The orderly struggled and flailed. Fighting hard to break free. It seemed to take forever before he finally went limp. Even then Auryn held on a while longer.
When he was sure that the guy was dead, he tossed his body to the side and got up. A clean and hard to place kill. No obvious weapon. No blood. Not even any marks. Auryn really knew what he was doing.
He came to me, cupping my face in his hands. “Did he hurt you? Are you all right?”
Stricken by what I’d just seen, I nodded, unable to form words. Auryn pulled me into his arms, holding me against him. With wide eyes, I clutched a handful of his T-shirt. That really just happened. I was part of it.
Emotion racked me. Panicked, I began to shake in his arms. Struggling to take proper breaths.
“Let’s get you out of here.” Auryn steered me toward the door, his arm around me. “Everything will be okay, baby girl. Trust me on that.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
AURYN
I knew that motherfucker was going to be trouble. Since he confronted me on my first day, I’d been keeping an eye on him. Especially once I noticed the way he was eyeing Ripley.
Now he was dead. It was either him or me, and I had no intention of going out like that. I’d done my best to kill him in a way that would make it hard to trace. A simple smothering without leaving any obvious marks or bruises. At first it wouldn’t be obvious how he’d died. By the time they figured it out and locked this place down, I planned to be out of here.
Ripley began shaking, her entire body vibrating. This was her first real glimpse of my life. The dark parts she’d always feared. The very thing she’d once warned her friends about. Now she’d seen it for herself.
I guided her along to the elevator, taking her up to the third floor. Holding tight to her hand, I brought her to her room, releasing the breath I held once we were safely inside. I sat her down on the edge of the bed, tilting her chin up so I could stare into her eyes.
“Deep breaths, Ripley,” I said. I’d never had to talk anyone down from a panic attack before. “You need to take a few deepbreaths. Calm down for me, baby girl. Everything is all right. He can’t hurt you now.”
“You killed him,” she gasped out between ragged breaths. “He’s really dead. And I was a witness. Holy shit. What do we do now. Are we going to go to jail?”
She continued to ramble on frantically despite my efforts to calm her. Finally, I pulled her into the bathroom and made her splash cold water on her face. It helped snap her out of it, making her suck in a sharp breath.
“Nobody is going to jail. There were no witnesses. No cameras. And no evidence.” Holding Ripley by both shoulders, I turned her to face me. “Listen to me. He was a piece of shit who was going to hurt you. He got what he deserved. People like that don’t deserve second chances. You are going to calm down. Finish what you came here for. Then you and me are leaving, and we’re going to get on with our lives together. Understand?”
