Page 75 of Cedar Edge
He doesn’t stop dragging her towards the helicopter, I feel a sense of pride as I watch her bite and kick and scratch. She even manages to break his hold and bolts towards me. I’m so focused on her that I don’t register the sound, only the scream that flies from Thea’s mouth and the utter devastation that paints her face. She screams my name, the sound so full of agony that I’m shocked. I’m right here, why is she so upset?
Until I feel warmth trickling down my chest and arm, the light around me dimming as I look down and see blood dripping from my finger tips into the white snow.
Oh fuck.
The feel of the bullet now fully takes over as I try to shake myself out of the darkness that is edging my vision. I feel the impact of a second one, the pain ripping through my body. Thea keeps screaming my name but the sound is muffled, and when I try to step forward I fall to my knees instead. I watch as Royce tackles Thea, dragging her back to the helicopter as she keeps screaming for me. I raise my hand, desperate to get to her, but my body won’t move.
Failing. I’m failing her again.
Move.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’m frozen as Thea is thrown into the helicopter. Royce smiles triumphantly as he slams the door shut, the last thing I see before the darkness claims me is the helicopter taking off with the one person I was never supposed to fail again.
Thea
I wake to agonizing pain, my own screams pulling me from the sleep that had claimed me after watching Law fall in the snow. The grief in my soul feels big enough to drag me under and for a split second I want to allow it, until more pain overrides it.
“Cut it the fuck out of her or they’ll track us.” Royce demands. The sound of his voice makes me want to wretch.
Another scream is violently pulled from me as I feel a blade and then fingers digging around in the side of my neck before it stops, finger retreating and I’m left with a dull, throbbing ache and warmth trickling down my chest.
“No you were… you were in jail.” The words feel heavy on my tongue. The confusion evident within them.
Royce’s face looms in front of mine with a pleased look as he holds up a small, metal device. “They will never keep me from you. No jail could hold me from my little doll.” I watch with horror as he drops the metal to the floor before crushing it with his boot. Gripping my face hard he yanks my eyes back to his. “You are mine. No one is coming for you. Not anymore. That tracker is dead and gone just like the sheriff.”
Sudden rage, hot and swift, blooms through me as I listen to his words. “Fuck. You.” I hiss. “I’llneverbe yours.” I spit the last word, literally, my saliva dripping down his face.
Royce looks shocked for a moment before he flushes a deep, crimson red as rage flows through his body like electricity. I don’t even register the impact before my body flies back, hitting the ground hard as he kicks me over and over again. I curl inward on myself in a desperate attempt to not end up with another shattered rib, or worse.
The blows finally stop and I uncurl myself with the grace of a newborn. Royce says something but the words sound muffled, as though I’m at the bottom of a pool listening through the water. Hands drag me upward, from the helicopter floor and push me into the blinding light. My world tilts as I spy the skyline of Seattle, knowing full well we are in the one place I never wanted to be again.
Royce picks me up and I bite back the urge to yelp as he drags me over the roof and towards the elevator doors that will lead down to the penthouse. I try my hardest to push against him but my body feels sluggish and weak. The doors slide open and the moment we are through he drops me to the ground, the sounds of the helipad shutting out as the metal doors slide shut. It feels like my coffin just shut.
The trip down takes a matter of seconds and he’s dragging me into the pristine hell I escaped months ago. My body slides across the marble floors as Royce drops me and continues towards the bar, I can already smell the tequila.
“Strip.”
I jerk my head towards him. “Fuck you.” I spit.
The bottle is flying from his hand and shattering around me before my mind can process the action. Glass shards and liquor shower me and the floor around. “I SAID FUCKING STRIP!”
My hands shake as I stand and start to peel the layers off my body knowing full well how this will end once he sees the covered brand. “Royce please… if you let me go now I won’t press charges, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
He lets out a cackle, the sound rough and edged with violence. “Oh Theadora you will never leave my side again.” His eyes devour my legs as I slip my pants free, followed by the heavy jacket. I pause at the flannel which only enrages him further. “Take. It. Off.” Slowly I peel it from my body to expose the intricate tattoo that covers the brand.
Royce walks with a predatory step as he closes the distance between us. Glass crunches under his black shoes. I don’t flinch when he raises his fist, don’t block the hit as he slams it into my chin. I do however allow myself to fall into the black out as he screams obscenities and ruins my body all over.
Ace
The four agents that circle me are nervous. Their bodies tense and I would bet my life that behind those masks they are each sweating. To be fair, they should be nervous. They were sent to eliminate The Grim Reaper, the one typically doing the eliminating. My kill count is higher than all theirs combined. They are lambs expected to kill the monster standing in front of them.
“So this is it huh?” I keep my hands in my pockets, facing off against the group. “A fake call for a job to get me in front of this piss poor executioner squad?”
“You are hereby removed of all titles from The Fallen, stripped of protections, and life forfeit." One of the assholes says.
I roll my eyes. “You know why they call me The Grim Reaper?” I ask it casually, no fear or concern in my steady voice.
