“Fuck you,” I snarl through clenched teeth. “Leave. You’re not welcome here.”
She stops in front of me, leaning down to my level. Her presence is suffocating.
I huddle over Mister, shielding him with my body. He’s a flurry of panicked meows and furious hisses, his claws digging into my arm, leaving fiery streaks of pain.
It hurts, but not as much as the thought of losing him. Not to her. Not to this crazed bitch who looms inches away, ready to attack. I won’t let her even pet him with so much as a pinky.
“Why couldn’t you have stayed buried, my little whore?”
Not that I didn’t already know—her being with Lars made that clear—but hearing it confirmed sends a tremor through me. My bottom lip quivers, and a pit forms deep in my stomach, heavy and nauseating.
I refuse to cry.
Biting hard on the inside of my cheek, I force the strongest part of myself to surface, pushing the weaker part of me back into the shadows. The sharp sting grounds me, and as the connection between my mind and body strengthens, I start to move. Slowly, I shift, my knees drawing closer to my chest as I press my feet flat against the floor.
But then her voice cuts through the tension, soft yet commanding.
“Just stay there, hmm? It’ll be much easier this way.”
I’m forced back down, my shoulders slumping forward.
The sharp crash of glass shattering against the floor snaps my attention to Lars. He’s strolling casually beside the fireplace, sweeping his arm out to demolish the beautiful flowers Kairhyse had arranged for me. Each deliberate movement feels like a personal attack.
“I should have killed him the moment I smelled you on him.” My throat tightens, choking off air as a haze of red clouds my vision. “At least he will be dealt with soon?—”
“Don’t you fucking touch him!” I scream so loud that he actually startles. “Do what you want with me, but you better not lay a fucking finger on him. Do you hear me, you piece of shit?!” I’m fighting against the tethers that are holding me down, Mister yowling along with my fury. “Both of you. You hear me?!”
I look up just as Tali exhales, her focus momentarily wavering. Seizing the chance, I hurl Mister as far as I can, ensuring the distance won’t hurt him. He’ll probably run right back to me—stubborn little thing—but I can’t worry about that now.
With a surge of desperation, I tear free from her grasp and lunge at her.
But I don’t even get close.
Before my fist can connect with her face, her hand snaps out, grippingmy throat like a vise. My momentum dies instantly, and she bares her teeth at me. A wicked grin that sends icy fear straight to my core.
“Definitely my child.”
I’m thrown so hard, I can’t even tell which direction I’m flying. The impact sends shockwaves through me, and the sound of crumbling stone roars in my ears, overpowered only by the deafening ring of what feels like church bells reverberating in my skull.
Fingers weave into my hair, yanking me upright by the roots. The pain is blinding, but it pulls me out of the rubble I doubt I could have escaped on my own.
I try to ignore the searing agony as I claw at her wrist, my nails digging deep into her flesh. It doesn’t matter; she doesn’t even flinch. She drags me to the center of the living room like I weigh nothing, before hurling me straight into the glass table.
It shatters on impact, shards biting into my skin. The sharp tang of copper fills the air, and when I force my eyes open I see my blood everywhere. It coats the glass, the floor… and me.
Before I can process the pain, she grabs the back of my neck and throws me against the couch. My body slumps, both arms draped limply over the cushions as my head falls back, barely supported.
As she crouches and leans in close, she shoves two fingers past my lips, invading my mouth. The instinct to bite down surges through me, primal and desperate. As I’m pressing my teeth into her flesh, she jerks down my bottom jaw, popping it out of place so I can’t close it right away.
My head is tilted back, and shespitsinto my mouth.
I swear I nearly vomit.
“Swallow.”
I’m surprised I neither vomit or simply die from that command.
As her saliva slides down my throat, thick with mucus and sickly sweet, my vision trembles.
