“What did you do to him?!” I scream as I slice out at her. The knife rattles when it hits her skin, and I slash again without hesitation, wanting to throw the sharp edge out twice for every time Damien was touched. The blade cuts right across her forearm as she tries to scramble away, but I don’t stop. Ican’tstop. She screams as she cradles her arm, and something about that sound just pushes me harder. Even as she manages to bob and weave, I continue to go after her like some malevolent creature has taken over.
“Get the fuck away from me!” she yells.
“Ash! Stop!” Zeke shouts and jumps into the frame. He grips my wrist in his hand and easily pushes me back against the kitchen counter, careful not to be too rough. I try to pull myself free and release the cagey fury running through my veins, but his hold is unwavering. “You can’t do this!”
“The fuck I can’t! Did you see what she did to him?!” I scream back as more tears run down my face.
“It wasn’t my choice!” she yells back.
I lock eyes on her and try to move again, but Zeke keeps me in place. I don’t know why he’s taking her side or what the hell is going on, but as warnings flash through my mind, the only thing I can think about doing is killing her. Somehow, nothing else matters right now except making her pay. If I can’t hold Damien in my arms and make his pain go away, then I’ll at least make sure she feels the same agony.
Serena comes into view at lightning speed and throws her fist into Victoria’s face. I gasp at the loud crack and stop moving, completely in shock. She falls to the ground with a small whimper, and Serena stands above her, now shaking the pain away from her hand. I’m not sure Ser has everactuallyhit anyone, but she looks damn proud of herself right about now.
“That’s for Damien, bitch!” Carter then wraps his arms around Serena’s waist and drags her away, kicking and screaming.
“Knock it off, Ser! Go help Derek!” he screams as he moves her towards the back room. No matter how she tries to weasel her way out, he continues to carry her like a sack of potatoes. As the entire house turns into a hub for chaos, I can’t help but smirk, knowing my best friend still has my back.
Victoria stands back up, a little straighter than I would’ve liked for her to, and it only pisses me off even more. I can’t help but stare at her like her mere presence is tainting our space. She turns to look at me and glares as ifI’mthe one making the environment hostile.
“There! You feel better?!” she shrieks.
“Zeke, why the hell is she in our house?!” I ignore her completely and shout at my brother as he pries the knife out of my hand.
“Honestly?” He looks at me with wide eyes and a haunted stare, like the past hour has spooked him more than the past ten years. My heart plummets to my stomach, and that queasy feeling comes back at full force. “I don’t know, but one of thelast coherent things D said was that she comes with us. So, she’s here. Trust me, I wanted to kill her, too.” I try to look back over to her, but Zeke just grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “Settle the fuck down. You shouldn’t even be up right now. That’s why I told them to keep you away from the God damn room. You can’t get this worked up, don’t you understand that?”
I take a few deep breaths, but as my heart races and pounds in my head, I start to feel guilty. The doctor’s warnings are still fresh, and while the situation isn't as bad as it could’ve been, the rest order was to prevent that from happening. I know I need to calm down, but how can I when one of Damien’s captors is standing in front of me? This bitch took him from us. How can I just stand by while she stands freely in our kitchen?
I snarl at Victoria and push my way past Zeke.
“You are going to tell me everything that happened to him, or so help me God, I will match every single one of his injuries on your body, then saw through you until your guts spill on the floor,” I threaten, but I don’t get very far. Zeke then grabs my arms and starts to lead me back to the living room.
“Come on, Ash. You’re going to sit on this fucking couch, and you’re not gonna move until I tell you to. You can try to stab her again when you’re allowed to walk around.” He sets me down on the couch and lays one of my blankets over me, regardless of how heated I am. Daisy immediately sits in front of me—clearly still on high alert with her perked-up ears—and as I reach down with one hand to pet her, Zeke drapes my other hand on my belly. “Remember what we talked about.Thisis how you can be strong for Damien right now, yeah?”
I can only nod back at him as I angry-wipe my tears away. His cries still barely reach my ears from the back bedroom, each one like a ghostly wail. Every groan and yell chips away a piece of me, and I just want to make it better. Killing Victoria wouldn’t do that, but at least she’d be one less problem.
“Victoria, sit down,” he commands her, and she just tilts her head like he’s crazy.
“Hell no! I’m not sitting down with her!”
Before she can argue any further, Zeke stands straight and pulls his pistol from behind his back. He aims it directly at her, and I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed such hatred in his eyes. His face is tight, and his eyes aresodark, so eclipsed by disdain, that I’m not sure there’s any color left around his enlarged pupils. His grip on the pistol is so harsh that he’s trembling; it’s clear that her mere presence has shaken him to his core.
“I said, sit the fuck down, and Iwon’ttell you again. You’re seriously testing my patience, and until I know exactly why Damien wants to keep your pathetic ass around, you’ll dowhatI say,whenI say it.”
She snarls and stares at him for a brief moment, like she’s actually thinking about disobeying him, but then she comes to her senses and starts to move towards the living room anyway.
“He’s helping me! Alright?” She holds her arms out from her body, letting blood drip on our fucking floor. “We haven’t exactly worked out the details, but he agreed that if I got him out of there, then he would help me.”
Rage instantly overtakes me once again, and my limbs start to tingle with that murderous anticipation.
“He would never help you!” I cry.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about! Do you have any idea what I went through to help him in there?!”
“Don’t give me that shit! I sawexactlywhat you did to him!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” she shrieks.
“There’s always a choice!”
