Page 130 of Revival

My arm is a blur as I sidearm the cocktail into an empty wall behind us. Glass shatters in a cascading shower. Pink juice runs down the wall in rivulets like an exploded firework. A couple of high-pitched screams join the cacophony. Conversations cease, but the music plays on, the upbeat country song a mockery to the destruction unfolding.

“Spencer, what—” Cortney doesn’t finish her sentence.

In the next breath, I have Sebastian by his shirt. Fear replaces his satisfaction from a moment ago.

“No, hold on. It was just a sedative! I just wanted her to go home. I wasn’t going to do anything nefarious.”

I don’t even give him time to flinch before my fist flies into his face. Bone crunches beneath my knuckles.

“Wrong move, motherfucker,” I snarl.

His body crumples into a heap on the sticky hardwood floor with a scream.

My heart thunders.

Nobody breathes.

Nobody moves.

I shake out my hand and flex my fingers. My cheek twitches with a wince.

“Oh my god, Spencer. Are you okay?” Cortney leaps from her seat.

“You didn’t drink anything, did you?” I hold her on either side of her neck, tilting her head back as I run my thumbs over her jaw.

“No. I didn’t get a chance.”

Relief swims through my veins.

“I… you… you came out of nowhere and just…Wham!” Her energy radiates off her as she punches her fist into her palm. “You decked him. What the hell happened?”

“He put something in your drink.”

She sucks in a shocked breath. “What?”

I toss a wad of bills on the table. “Date’s over.” Cortney lets me sling my arm over her shoulders and steer her toward the door.

“Wait!” The bartender rushes over. He holds out a white towel filled with ice for Cortney to take. “For his hand.”

“Thanks, Bobby.”

Or not. In order to put it on my hand, I need to stop holding Cortney. Something I’m not keen on doing.

Noticing my dilemma, she pulls out of my hold.

“Put this on.” She gingerly takes my right hand in hers. She scrutinizes the redness and swelling knuckles before setting the ice on top. The cold more than the pain coaxes a hiss from between my teeth.

“’Bout time someone put that kid in his place.” Bobby adjusts his red bandanna and stalks off.

“We should get out of here.”

I follow Cortney’s gaze over her shoulder to Sebastian on the floor. A group has formed around him, but he’s still on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his face.

“Let’s go.”

My body vibrates with rage. The sooner we get back to her house, the better.

We make it two strides before the last person I want to see walks through the entrance, a vengeful gleam in his eye.

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