At my words, a spark flickers in Ollie’s emerald eyes and some of the desolation morphs into anger. “I want to watch,” she says, her voice almost a snarl as she looks up at me. “I want them to pay for what they did.”
Goddamn. The savage fury on her face is stunning and so much better than the destroyed expression she had earlier.
“They will,” I promise before bending down and pressing my lips against her forehead. “I’ll make damn sure of it.” I’ll do just about anything to never hear her speak in that dead voice again.
Even if that means burning the world around us.
I reluctantly pull myself away from Ollie, even as every part of me wants to stay close to her. From the knowing looks on Theo and Alex’s faces, they can see how much it pains me to walk away from her.
I turn back to the room to see only the security team and the supply team left. The supply team are lounging in the chairs, looking a little confused but mostly at ease, like they weren’t responsible for the deaths of countless people tonight. The security team, on the other hand, are glaring at them with a mixture of anger and grief.
“Security team, you’re dismissed,” I bark, knowing that most of them will want to leave.
And they do, hurrying out of the dining room wrapped in blankets and towels with their dirty clothes in hand. No doubt going to find their loved ones. Only a few remain, including Anthony and Simon, and all of them are staring at the supply team with hatred.
The fury I’d shoved to the side bursts inside me like an icy wind, turning my blood to burning ice. I stalk towards the supply team with a rumbling growl I don’t even try to suppress. My control is gone,shattered, and I don’t give a fuck.
“What happened tonight—what youfucking ignorant, idiotic cuntsdid—has cost this community the lives of several good people,” I snarl as I stand in front of them. “Because of your cowardice and lack of protocol—protocols thatIput in place for afucking reason—an entire horde was led to our gates.”
Several of the supply team look shocked at my outburst, however, one or two have petulant expressions on their faces. Those are the ones I direct most of my ire towards, especially when one of them has theaudacityto complain.
“We weren’t the ones who opened the gate and let the zombies in,” one of the men huffs as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“No, you weren’t,” I concede but I continue, wiping that smug expression off his face. “But you wanted us to. In fact, I remember you demanding we do that several times, regardless of the horde around you. Not to mention, once the gate was open, you fucking cowards stayed nice and safe in your car instead of helping the people that weredyingto save your pathetic asses.”
At least a few of them have the decency to appear remorseful about their actions. Although it enrages me that there are a few still clinging to the idea of this not being their fault.
Especially when the same guy as before speaks up again.
“We were surrounded! What did you expect us to do?” he says as he rolls his eyes. “If we got out of that car, we could have been eaten, too.”
“And nothing of value would have been lost,” Ollie says caustically as she sneers at the man.
His eyes narrow. “Now listen here, you little bi—”
My hand is around his throat before I’ve even realised I moved, squeezing hard enough to cut off his airway. The man gasps and chokes as he tries to fight against my hold. “I’d suggest you don’t finish that fucking sentence if you at all value your life,” I snarl, sounding like a savage animal. Honestly, I feel like one too.
His eyes widen and the colour drains from his face as his body trembles in my hold.
A feral grin stretches across my lips at his obvious terror of me.Good. Maybe he’ll take my next threat more seriously.
“If you or anyone else in your shitty band of cowardly menevertry to insult my girl again, I’ll cut your limbs off one by one and then leave you for the infected to eat.Do you understand?”
He opens his mouth and tries to speak, but the hand around his neck prevents away sound. Instead, he nods furiously.
Satisfied that he’ll heed my threat, I throw him to the ground. He collapses, choking and gasping as he clutches his now bruised neck with his hand. The rest of the supply team are staring at me in abject horror, some of them looking like they’re seconds from pissing themselves.
“That threat includes you lot.” I point at them, relishing their squeaks of terror and emphatic nods. With my threats heard, I move back to the main subject of my anger.
“Since you fuckers couldn’t be bothered to follow protocols to keep yourselves and others safe, you’re all off the supply team. In fact, I’ll make sure you’re assigned to the worst manual labour jobs I can find for the rest of your miserable lives here. And if you step even a pinky toe out of line, you’ll be thrown out of her faster than you can blink. Understand?”
“I don’t think you have the authority to give out threats like that, Rhys,” Elsa says from behind me.
I glance over my shoulder to see all four Council members standing there, all of them looking shocked and slightly ill. Well, Elsa and Katherine look ill. Charles looks pissed, and Adam looks almostgleefulat the threat. He’s also the only one who’s looking a little wary of me, understanding that I am not in the mood for bullshit.
He grabs Elsa’s arm and tugs at her. “Maybe we should—”
“Youaren’t the one authorised to kick out people, Rhys. You know this,” Elsa snaps, shrugging Adam off and completely ignoring the warning in his tone. “You’re completely disregarding established rules and guidelines that have been in place since the beginning of Haven’s inception.”
