Page 122 of Ashes and Lilies
“Finn!” I hissed. “Stop antagonizing him!”
He didn’t even flinch at my words, which meant he planned to ignore me.
“You bastard.” Daniel glowered at the blond, and a flush moved over his neck. Apparently, Finn’s accusation had struck anerve. “You have no right to get preachy with me. It’s not like you don’t benefit from nepotism.”
“Really?” Finn frowned.
“You hardly earned your position.” Daniel pointed the gun at him. “I’m not worried.”
“Is that what you think?” Finn scowled harder. “That I can’t beat you?”
Daniel’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “I think you’re not nearly as powerful as they want people to believe. If it were possible for you to defeat us, you would have done so already.”
Finn’s form tensed. “What—”
“Goodbye, Finn Abernathy,” Daniel said. “I don’t have time to deal with you today.”
I barely felt myself moving. Finn was much bigger than me, but he stumbled when I pushed him. Granted, it wasn’t much, only a few inches.
But thankfully, it was enough.
Finn’s shocked gaze held mine for a half-second before a red-hot pain ripped through me, and I tripped in Finn’s direction as he regained his balance.
“Bianca!” He caught me as I fell, and his fingers shook.
I wasn’t even sure what’d happened. My ears buzzed, and there was a sharp, pulsing pain radiating from my shoulder, pounding with every beat of my heart.
Had I been shot?
My vision swayed as Finn pulled his hand away. His features were tense, and I could see the thin threads of his control unraveling as he stared down at the bright red thickness coating his palm.
I’d seen this expression often in our earliest past, but he’d learned to control his more feral side. But now, he was making no effort to restrain himself.
“You bastard,” Finn snarled as he stood. There was a slithering note that caused my skin to crawl. I’d fallen, chest to my knees, as he turned toward Daniel, and a blistering heat rose over my legs.
“Stay away!” Daniel’s demeanor was no longer confident as he pulled the gun’s trigger once more.
My sight was hazy, and something was wrong with my vision. Because it’d looked like the bullet passed right through Finn before being embedded in the wall behind him.
“What was it you said?” Finn asked him. “You don’t think I’m strong enough?”
What was this suffocating presence in the air?
“I’m an Er Bashou,” he continued, “and my position was more than rightfully earned.”
The agony in my shoulder was forgotten as a newer, more profound torment took control. I curled over my knees and pushed my fists against my chest to control my raging heartbeat. Lights were streaming through my vision, and my jaw was so tense it might shatter.
I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe past this feeling.
Then, as quickly as it had come, it stopped, and I was left trembling. My hearing felt muffled as something warm trickled across my cheek. Everything around me felt strange and disconnected, but I was eventually able to raise my wrists and touch my face.
It was warm and sticky. My hands shook as I studied my fingers.
Blood.
“I’m sorry!” Finn was kneeling in front of me, commanding my attention as the spots drifted away. “I didn’t mean to!”
Why was he apologizing? Why was I shivering?
