Page 107 of Marked By Him

I advance on him, ready to end this.

But Seung-min’s desperation knows no bounds. Heaving for air, he cups his hand among the broken glass and scoops up some of the small fragments. As I’m closing in on him, he throws the crushed glass at my face like it’s dust.

“ARGH!” I scream.

White-hot agony slashes across my face.Burrows into my fucking eyes.

It’s the worst pain I could ever imagine. It tilts the world on its axis, making down and up feel like the opposite, causing me to stagger and claw at my own face.

“Jin!” Monroe cries out in worry.

But I can’t even hear her—the little piece of glass that’s slipped into my eye socket is an explosion of blinding pain. Itsears me down to my core, tunneling deep enough that nothing else matters in the moment. I can’t think, can’t coordinate the movement of my own body, can’t do anything except erupt into chaos.

I’m howling like an animal. I’m bleeding when my hands touch my face. What’s left of my vision is a cloudy haze that makes it impossible to function, much less fight.

“FUCK!” I growl.

Then comes Seung-min’s merciless kick to the jaw. I’m knocked over, crumbling onto my back, defenseless and open. His boot crashes down, slamming into my ribs. I howl as he goes for another, then another.

Bones crack in my side, my left eye still burning with pain.

“Stay down, Jin-tae,” comes Seung-min’s voice from the blinding darkness. He’s panting, his tone triumphant and satisfied. “Stay down and let the pain take you away. It’ll be over soon.”

His boot collides with my ribs all over again. He kicks me harder, faster in the sides. He switches up and crushes it against my jaw again.

I’m in more pain than I’ve ever been in in my life. It’s the kind of paralyzing, gripping pain that makes you almost vomit. My head pounds while the rest of my body aches. But it’s the hot, sharp pain in my eye that’s the worst—it cuts into my eyeball like a thousand knives.

I curl up, trying to shield my head from more blows.

“Look at you,” laughs Seung-min. He drives his boot into the back of my head. “On the floor where you belong. You’ve been outmatched, Jin-tae. Now you’ll die like you deserve.”

“Get away from him!” Monroe screams in interruption.

I can’t see what happens next—the sounds and flurry of movement are the only things I have to rely on.

But Monroe’s thrown herself at Seung-min, presumably to get him off me. I hear the pound of their footsteps as Seung-min’s laughter drops off and Monroe grunts in desperation. There’s a crash of what sounds like a lamp, then the whoosh of limbs moving, likely punches or kicks being thrown.

Get up. Get the fuck up!

I scream inside my head, teeth gritted, blood pouring from my mouth.

Every muscle in my body strains as I push up on my knees and urge myself to transcend the burning pain. For me to tap into my other senses and do what I need to do in this moment—beat Seung-min until he has no breath left to give in his lungs.

I have to get up and stop him from hurting Monroe.

She may last a minute or two fending him off, but as I hear another crash from the other side of the room, I know my rabbit is barely holding on.

GET THE FUCK UP!

“ARGH!” I grunt, pushing myself to my feet. I rise for the Baekho Pa and its honor that I’m defending after Jae-hyun’s death. I rise to prevent a piece of shit like Seung-min from taking over like he desires. But most of all, I rise for my rabbit, for Monroe as she’s done for me.

Blinded and bloodied, I let my other senses guide me.

“Seung-min!” I roar, then I tap into my hearing, into my sixth sense. I wait for the second my instincts tell me he’s turned around, then lift my fists to signal I’m ready. “Don’t you want to come finish me off?” I taunt. “Or do you need more weapons to help you?”

He chortles. “I’ll kill you with my fists, Jin-tae. How about that?”

I can’t see Seung-min. But Icanhear him. He starts toward me, his body lumbering in my direction, footsteps heavy.

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