Page 99 of Pretty Lethal
“Where did you get that?” I mumble, swiping my hands over my face.
“I keep a spare strapped to my ankle. Just needed the opportunity to get to it.”
I nod, instantly regretting it when drums start beating a vomit-inducing rhythm against my brain.
Kai glances over my head, concern etched into his features at whatever he sees. Fear for Wilder has me forgetting all about my own pain as I recall seeing him dive for Robbie and the gun firing.
Spinning to face him, I stall when I notice the pool of blood he’s leaning in. From where I’m sitting, I can only see Wilder’s back as he straddles a prone, unmoving Robbie. One arm hangs loosely at his side, but he doesn’t let it hold him back as he drives his fist into Robbie’s face, over and over as the wet squelching sound of a face being pummeled echoes around the chamber.
Shoving to my feet, I hurry toward him. I slip on something and nearly go crashing to the ground. “What the hell…” Glancing down, I expect to see the blood that I slipped on. “Is that… an ear?” I ask no one in particular.
My gaze flicks to Wilder, eyes widening when I see the blood literally dripping from his face. He looks more vampire than human. Blood coats his mouth and drips from his chin, with more splatters across his forehead and the front of his clothing.
His pupils are blown wide as he stares down at Robbie with an unhinged, vacant expression. The Wilder we know and love has officially left the building, and his monster is in full control.
Unsure what to do, Kai and I stand and watch as he turns Robbie’s face into a pulp with just one hand. He’s completely unrecognizable. Teeth are missing, and his one open eye is twisted at an unnatural angle and glazed over in a way that only comes with death.
Glancing at the carnage, I notice a small knife discarded nearby.Seriously? Am I the only one who didn’t have a backup weapon on them?We all agreed to go armed to Wilder’s grandfather’s. Even Emilia had the knife Hadley gave her stashed in her pocket, yet I naively hadn’t considered needing a second one.
Of course, I hadn’t expected the Elites to make their move while we were there and steal our weapons. You can be damn sure, though, I’ll be going everywhere with a backup weapon from now on—Elites on our ass or not. I sure as fuck don’t want to get caught off guard a second time.
Kai gets my attention, cocking a brow in a silent question. All I can do is shrug, as unsure as he is on how best to approach Wilder when he’s in this state. He’s practically feral, and I have no idea if he’s so lost in his head that he’ll even recognize us if we go near him.
“Wilder?” I say tentatively, not approaching him.
He either doesn’t hear or chooses to ignore me as he continues pummeling his fist into the bloody lump that used to be Robbie’s face.
“I think he’s dead, dude. You can stop.”
Still nothing.
“Wilder,” Kai says in a sharper tone, one I imagine was used to reel out-of-line men in when he was in the Marines.
Still no response.
My eyes clash with Kai and I nod before the two of us tentatively approach him, one from either side.
Warily, I reach out a hand to touch his shoulder. The second he registers my touch, he turns on me, snarling viciously with those vacant eyes directed at me. At the same time, Kai wraps his meaty arms around Wilder, careful not to do any extra damage to Wilder’s dislocated shoulder as he traps his arms at his side.
“Wilder!” I bellow. “Wilder, it’s me. Hawk. Come on, man. We don’t have time for this shit. We need to get to Emilia.”
At the mention of her name, he stops struggling against Kai and falls still. His eyes are still eerily blank, but he blinks and I see a bit of Wilder reflected back at me.
“Emilia,” he says in a choked voice.
With several more blinks, Wilder fully returns to his body, and when Kai lets him go, he turns his head to look down at his cousin. “Fucking piece of shit,” he snarls.
Pressing his hand against Robbie’s abdomen, he pushes himself up, but as he does, his hand must hit something as voices come from somewhere beneath Robbie’s cloak.
“The tablet,” Kai realizes as Wilder shoves the cloak aside in his search to find it. Pulling it out, we all lean in and watch in horror.
“Is she standing in a fucking grave?” Kai exclaims in disbelief.
Neither Wilder nor I answer—it seems pretty evident that, yeah, she’s standing in her own fucking grave… with Carrie standing over her.
“I told Wilder last time that that would be his only warning. Now, he can watch helplessly as you suffocate to death.”
Carrie’s voice comes out tinny through the tablet’s speakers, but there is no misconstruing her words. Robbie was planning to murder Kai and me and force Wilder to watch whatever the hell they had planned for our girl.
