“I was going to have Harrington kill you once you turned yourself in, but no, I’d rather do it myself.”
Penelope rushed Reyna in a fit of anger, jealousy, and fierce rage. Reyna launched away from Penelope. At the same time, Beckham lunged toward her as he fully opened himself up to her. She felt everything all at once. An overwhelming melee of self-hatred. So much that she could hardly tell her fear from his fear, and her anger from his.
Beckham pushed her across the room. One minute she was standing in front of Penelope, about to get her head ripped off. Then the next she was standing across the room, out of harm’s way.
Her head spun. Her legs felt like jelly. The entire fiber of her being was unsettled and discombobulated.
What the hell just happened?
She put a hand to her ears to try to stop the ringing as she regained her balance. She was so busy trying to stand up straight, she didn’t see Lance until he was nearly on top of her.
“Stay away from Penelope!” Lance bellowed as he held a lamp over his head.
Reyna ducked with a screech. “What the fuck? She was trying to hurt me!”
“You’re human,” Lance said with wide eyes.
“No shit.”
“You just…you didn’t…”
Reyna ignored him and found Beckham circling Penelope. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t already ended this. It was as easy as subduing her and getting out. And by the way Penelope had talked about Reyna turning herself in, now would be the time.
“Becks, it’s a trap. Let’s go,” Reyna called.
“You just realized that?” Penelope muttered.
“What did he offer you?” Beckham spat.
“You, of course.”
“In exchange for Reyna, again?”
She shrugged. “Good deal to me. Even if you left now, you wouldn’t make it out of the building.”
“And you were going to turn me in?”
“Why not?” she asked with a maniacal laugh. “You never chose me. You always chose her. You both deserve to suffer.”
“You’re a monster,” Reyna cried.
“Don’t worry,” Penelope told Beckham in a soft, sinister tone. “After I break you, we’ll have a great life.”
Beckham laughed. He actually laughed. “You could never break me.”
“Would have been fun trying,” she said.
“Becks, we have to go,” Reyna said again, gesturing to the door.
Beckham moved as quick as lightning. Penelope tried to veer away from him, but Beckham had years and years of training on her as a vampire. She was no match for him.
In seconds, he had Penelope’s back pressed into his chest. His hands on either side of her head.
“You were better than this,” he told her.
“Beckham,” she said, fear finally breaking through everything.
“Now you’re just a loose end.”
