Page 207 of Ominous: Part 1
My chest is heaving, and I want to hit him again, but I settle with shoving him back. He stumbles a step, and it makes me feel good. “Get out.” I whisper the words, but I don’t back down. “Now.”
Slowly, Dom twists his head once more toward me. His eyes are full of malice, his nostrils flaring, a vein ticking in his temple.
My palm still itches, and I dig my nails into it.
Do something else. I fucking dare you.
And I think he’s going to. I think he’s going to lunge at me, or hit me back, or keep running his mouth. But after a tense moment of silence between us, his shoulders sink down.
He takes a step back and sniffs once more, running the back of his hand over his nose, and swallowing hard. Then he nods.
“All right,” he says, my handprint still on his cheek. “All right.” He brings his own hand to his chest, over his heart, then he looks at the floor. “Okay.” He sounds defeated, and before I have to say another word, he turns from me.
He walks by Eli, his steps cautious. “Sorry,” he mutters. “I… Sorry.” Then he keeps walking, shoving his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks. I see the muscles in his shoulders bunch up, and I start to breathe a little easier.
But right at the moment he’salmostout of reach,almostfree, Eli moves violently fast. He grabs Dom’s wrist, shoves him against the wall, and holds the tip of the knife just above Dominic’s heart.
Dom’s palms press back against the wall, as if he knows there’s no use in fighting Eli.
I see spots in my line of sight, my muscles frozen, the hand that struck Dom clenched into a tight fist at my side.
Eli’s face is still strangely devoid of emotion, and it makes this threat—the heavy tip of the blade against Dom’s ribcage, right where the organ of his heart is beneath—all the more unsettling.
“I’m sorry,” Dominic is whispering. “Please.” I’m not sure what he’s pleading for, and I’m not sure what he’s apologizing for, but everything he says fades into the background of Eli’s fingers now wound tight around the handle of the blade, his other hand pressed flat to the wall, his triceps flexed, veins snaking up his hand. “You just don’t know what it was like. It wasn’t even her.It wasn’t even her.”Dom’s voice is ragged, pricking at my conscience.
Eli, though, doesn’t really have much of one.
He doesn’t appear to be at all affected by his friend’s pleas. Still, he doesn’t speak.
Dominic squeezes his eyes tight shut, his face still red from my hand, but now splotchy all over from his grief, the twist of anger probably wrapped up in it all.
I feel for him, but I think it’s best for him to leave, now, before he doesn’t get the chance to.
I try to think of how best to word this to Eli without risking that knife gutting Dominic’s flesh, but before I can decide the appropriate tactic, an anguished wail leaving Dom’s lips, Eli speaks.
“You’re never going to speak to Eden that way, ever again.”
All the blood seems to leave my head.
I sway a little, reaching out to the counter to grip the ledge, keeping myself upright. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t any of that. I feel compelled to tell Eli I’m okay, I handled my own, he doesn’t need to threaten Dominic for me, but I decide the best course of action is for me to be quiet.
Dom slowly blinks his eyes open, and I can tell he’s confused too.
He darts a glance to me, which is apparently the wrong move, because swiftly, Eli brings the knife up to the underside of his chin, and Dominic starts to tremble as Eli directs Dom’s gaze back toward him.
The blade looks wicked sharp, and considering this is a house of wealth, I’m sure the Addisons do not let their knives grow dull.
The chances of Dominic walking out of here without at least one cut are very, very small. The best he can hope for is to walk out at all.
The silver of the blade seems to disappear on the underside of his chin, but I can tell Eli hasn’t yet broken Dom’s flesh.
“Do you understand?”
Dominic is shaking all over. Even his fingers are unsteady against the wall. He glances at the handle of the knife, pressing his lips together like he might lift his chin up, and avoid getting sliced just above his neck.
Eli’s lips curve into a smile all over again, and I push the pads of my fingers harder against the counter. Someone splashes into the pool at my back, beyond the doors, and while it might make sense to get other people involved, to help me diffuse this situation, there’s no part of me that wants anyone else to see Eli this way.
“Eli…” Dom slowly shifts his gaze back up, to Eli’s eyes. He must see emptiness there, because Dominic visibly blanches, a feat considering his complexion. “You just don’t understand. You don’t understand what shelookedlike—”
