He staggers back, wiping his lips and laughing through red teeth. “She ever tell you what she does in her sleep? Those little noises she makes? I’ve seen them, I’ve heard them.” He sneers. “Oh wait — of course you do. You live there, right?” He rubs his crotch, rolls his eyes. Steps closer. “Or those cute noises she makes when she comes?” Sweetest thing in the world, knowing she doesn’t even realize she’s giving it all away.”
My vision goes white with rage. I slam him into the nearest tree, instinctively creating a sight and sound shield around us. My forearm digs into his throat. He claws at it ineffectively, spittle flying in my face as he wheezes.
It brings me a grim satisfaction.
“Pathetic,” he rasps. “You think you’re the only one who knows her? I know the books she reads, the songs she skips halfway through, the panties she leaves on the floor between getting off and the shower. Hell, I bet she tastes like–”
The rest of it is cut off when I drive my fist into his gut. He folds, gagging. I hit him again.
And again.
Every word he’s said sticks like barbed wire under my skin, but the one that guts me the most is that hebelieves it.He firmly believes that his obsession entitles him to witness her in her most private moments. Entitles him to be in involved in her life. To behers.
I throw him to the ground. He tries to scramble to his feet, but I’m already on him, raining blows until his laughs turn to choking, until the only sound left is the dull thud of my fists against his flesh.
Fuck. I’ve broken a cardinal rule.
When in the human world, abide by their rules.
Yes — I’ve used my powers on the humans. Technically a breach of the rules, but no harm was done, no evidence left.
That rule, passed down from the elders, is the sole reason I haven’t beaten Brett to a pulp before now. Why I haven’t followed through on any of the threats I’ve made against him. At the bar, yes, I had put my hands on him.But that I could explain away as being in defense of others.
Was part of it hoping — desperately — that Ash would remember, come back into herself, and finish him on her own? Absolutely.
He coughs, dragging himself onto one elbow. “You hit like a jealous boyfriend.” He wheezes. “Have you noticed she cries at night? Maybe she’s remembering another man. Maybe she’s remembering me. Bet that’s why you’re so fucking desperate — you know you’ll never measure up.”
The white in my vision is replaced with red. My boot connects with his ribs, hard enough that the air leaves him in a strangled gasp. He curls into himself, like a steamed shrimp, coughing wetly.
“You don’t know her,” I snarl, leaning close enough that he can see the truth in my eyes. “You’ve never known her. You’vestolenpieces — glimpses she’s never even offered you — and twisted them into something foul. That isn’t knowing someone. That isn’tlovingsomeone. That’s poison.”
He tries to laugh again, but it comes out like a rasp. “Poison or not, I’m under her skin. You’ll never get rid of me.”
That’s my final straw. The warnings, the teachings from the Elders fly out of my head. I drag him up by the collar, shoving him back against the tree until the bark scrapes his scalp, leaving bloody furrows in their wake.
“You’re nothing but a shadow, lurking in the dark,” I growl. “And I’ll burn every shadow if I have to.”
My fist connects, one final time, and his body goes slack. I let him crumple to the ground, chest heaving. Theearly evening sounds of the park filter back to my senses — crickets, distant traffic, children laughing, the leaves rustling. The world is moving on, but here I stand, shaking, bloodied, with a man at my feet who hasdaredto make Casie afraid.
Terrified.
For just a moment, doubt with Brett’s voice slithers in, cold and sharp.She’ll never forgive you for this. You’ll remind her of me.
I clench my fists, forcing the thought back.I am not him. I’d fight tooth and nail, and have, to keep her safe — not take, not trap. Not twist.
I crouch beside him, grabbing his jaw and forcing his swollen eyes to meet mine. “If you so much as breathe near her again,” I whisper, voice low and steady, “I will end you. No more warnings. No more second chances. Understood?”
His answer is a whimper, broken teeth clicking as he nods.
I shove him back, and stand, hands dripping with blood that isn’t all mine. The air bites into my skin, grounding and cooling. Bringing me back into myself, I turn back to the path that will take me home, to Ash, chest still pounding with fury, disgust and fear.
I need to wash the blood from my knuckles before she, or Betsy, sees me. I have to decide how much of tonight I need to bury — because some truths will only add to her scars.
I stare down at Brett’s broken body, chest still heaving, the weight of what I’ve done sitting heavily on my shoulders. My fists throb, but the ache inside is so much worse — the knowledge that I’ve wanted this since thefirst time I saw him at Wanderlust, all predatory eyes and swaggering confidence.
The truth? I could have ended him weeks ago. From the first time I saw him circle her like a vulture, from the way his hand lingered too long on her arm at the shop, from the smirk he worked like he already owned her. Every part of me had screamed to tear him apart.
But I didn’t.
