Page 71 of Those That Don't Exist
“What do you mean?” I go back to acting dumb. I need a few more minutes.
“Come on. You think I didn’t see how you omitted details in your reports. You think you were the only one watching her?”
I suck in a breath.Who else has been watching my Red?Before I can respond Adicious carries on.
“You come home smelling like her. You’ve been ignoring curfews and skirting me for months. I admit you were good, in everything you told me, in what you avoided telling me.” Adicious starts pacing the room, he seems to be enjoying finally informing me of how in the dark I’ve been.
“I’ll admit I’ve had to play this carefully. Half the pack looks up to you, respects you. I needed today to confirm your betrayal. Neither of you could hide your feelings for the other.”
That’s why he had Mitch and Atlas amongst the guard party. To my horror, I realise he’s set up the board perfectly. Those that would question his decision to turf me out the pack have seen my disloyalty with their own eyes.
Fuck it, I’m not going down without a fight.
“Then they also saw her refusing to fall in line to you.” I let all pretence drop. “They saw how she reacted to you, to your attempts at bringing her under your control.”
“They saw how I managed to expose you both,” he fires right back, his face red with anger. “When she gets here tomorrow, she won’t be leaving.”
I release a small chuckle.
“I won’t be letting her cross the threshold.” This time it's me stepping towards him as I stand to my full height.
“Is that so?” Adicious almost purrs. "And how will you manage that when you won’t be here?” He motions to Ronan and I see written on his smug face he was in on this showdown all along. They plan to lock me up, or kill me, here and now.
Yeah, not happening.
I launch myself at Adicious, managing the element of surprise. I get a quick right hook to his face before Ronan is on me. Adicious, caught off balance, nearly hits the floor but catches himself on one of the chairs.
Strong arms grab me from behind, hauling me back as Adicious rights himself with a growl.
“I’m done,” I shout. “Let me out of the pack and I’ll go.”
“Ha, do you honestly think I’d allow that?” Adicious sounds confident but the way he rubs his jaw tells me he wasn’t expecting me to be so strong. Sparring with Red these past weeks wasn’t solely for her benefit. I’m stronger and fitter than I’ve been in months. Years probably.
Ronan grunts behind me as I try to shake his hold.
“Kill him,” Adicious orders.
It unleashes something in me. It's exactly what I expected from him if he found out. It's been part of every scenario I’ve had running through my mind as I’ve been planning to get free. I also know Ronan’s moves.
As the vampire behind me swings a leg to take me to the ground I slam a heel onto his standing leg as a distraction. At the same time I swing my head back, making contact with his nose with a crunch.
In a blink I’m throwing myself forward, straight into Adicious’s punch which lands on my ribs. I don’t feel it as I wrap a hand around his throat, attempting to turn his head to the side. I need access to a vein. My fangs are already extended, I just need a clear shot.
Ronan recovers quicker than I anticipated, making it two on one. I take a punch to the kidneys and another to my ribs. I throw my weight back again as Ronan tries to pull me off Adicious. The twist causes us to lose balance in the small space and we all topple.
We crash against the chairs in front of the desk. Wood splinters as Ronan takes most of the impact but the wind is forced from my lungs too. They both make unsuccessful grabs at me as I roll out from between them.
The scent of blood permeates the air and I’m sure the noise must be alerting some of the others in the pack of something going down. I need to end this now or I am not leaving here alive.
Adicious and I recover to our feet quicker than Ronan, who is squirming on the ground groaning. I think his back took the impact against the chair which is now nothing more than kindling. I look at Adicious almost a second too late as he swings a piece of wood at my skull. I manage to duck by spinning into him. Exactly what I needed. With his arm outstretched I lunge.
My fangs enter his forearm with no resistance. I drag them down hard and fast. Flesh and tendons rip as blood floods my mouth. I use the momentum of my spin to fling him off me, doing maximum damage in the process. As he roars in pain I spit the blood to the floor, not wanting to swallow a drop.
Magic washes through me on a tidal wave of relief. It's a physical cleansing. The bond holding me to this pack snaps. My head clears as if it has been under a heavy fog. I see the shock on Adicious’s face as he stumbles back into the desk, blood spraying everywhere. I injured him. Opened his veins from wrist to elbow. Endangering his life. Ending the blood bond.
With the tendons snapped his hand hangs uselessly. He will heal easily but it makes him vulnerable for now. Whilst he’s distracted in finding something to staunch the bleeding I grab a heavy sculpture from the side and swing it down onto Ronan’sskull, knocking him clean out. Pretty sure I hear bones crack. Again it's not a fatal injury but it buys me enough time to lunge for the door.
Not pausing for a second I sprint down the hall and out of the house. I hear shouting amongst general scrambling noises, but I don’t stop.
