Chapter 27
I couldn’t have answered back if I wanted to, too busy trying to block his kicks and clutching my stomach when I failed to.
I never would have thought after the night we had shared together that this was how Lincoln could treat me.
Even though I wasn’t able to dodge most of his kicks, I’d clearly dodged a bullet in ending things with him.
He stopped kicking after his last sentence, and I was still reeling from the sudden influx of pain to speak back.
Lincoln began to pace again, trying to keep his composure.
I could tell from the way he tore his hands through his hair that he hadn’t meant to lose his temper and kick me, that he felt bad about it, but that didn’t make it okay.
At this point, I just wanted to see a glimpse of Arze to make sure he wasn’t getting kicked too. Knowing that he could grow his limbs wasn’t lost on me, thinking that the humans guarding him might even be holding guns or something to keep him from attacking outright.
Oh god. Lincoln had overheard us at the picnic area. Which mean he could have heard everything. Meaning he knew that if a tythwig and human sexual encounter were reported to the Triad, bad things would follow.
“How much did you overhear, Lincoln?” I had to know if that was why he’d gathered us together. If it was just because I’d been fucking Arze, then Arze wouldn’t be here with me, or worse. “What is the point of all of this?”
“I heard about the tythwig council or whatever, if that’s what you’re asking.
” He beamed with pride over his discovery.
“One call to any random fucking tythwig and I guess they’ll take care of both of you, won’t they?
” Rage poured through me, and I went to stand but Lincoln produced a gun from the back of his ironed grey slacks.
“Don’t even think about it, Krueger. Stay exactly where you are. On your knees, where you belong.”
A group of the people helping Lincoln came over, towing Arze with them.
My heart lit up to see that he was okay, but that ended when they pushed him to the ground next to Lincoln, right in front of me.
Two of them had guns similar to Lincoln, both of them pointed right at Arze’s head as he tried to balance himself on his knees.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, not caring that we were surrounded by Lincoln and his weird squad of idiots to voice my concern.
“Enough talking.” Lincoln waved the gun around while he spoke, making me nervous that he would accidentally fire it on a whim. “I haven’t even gotten to the best part. How lucky I got that this team is here to help me.”
Surveying the help in question, I kept my mouth shut. It wouldn’t help if I commented on how basic they looked, or how fucked up it was that they were playing into his jealousy.
“I tried so fucking hard to separate myself from the family.” He sighed, still waving the gun around like a goddamn maniac.
Lincoln had mentioned that he had left Massachusetts because a lot of drama was going on with his family, needing a break.
I kept my lips closed. Commenting on that not being a justifiable reason for his actions also wouldn’t do any good.
“But when my brother called saying he’d be coming to town, I took advantage of the new followers to the family.
” He gestured wide toward the mass of people still milling about.
“They’d do anything to make sure an Orb gets what’s coming to them. ”
“Lincoln, what are you—”
“Don’t you get it, Krueger?” That was such a stupid fucking question. How the hell was I supposed to follow this spiteful journey he was on? “I couldn’t get away from the Rhodes family hatred of Orbs even if I wanted to.”
My mouth slacked. Did he just say the Rhodes family?
I’d heard about them, only through various headlines and news clips.
They were gaining a lot of attention right now for their father, Senator Archibald Rhodes, and his decline in health.
There’d also been the recent discovery that Aspen Rhodes, the senator’s daughter, had been behind a massive petrylle kidnapping ring in D.C.
My eyes flared as I recalled another detail about her kidnapping.
She had acquired a hate group of people calling themselves Hellgrammites.
If Lincoln had some sway with the Rhodes family, that had to be who the group of thugs were.
His other daughters, who’s names I couldn’t remember at the moment, had kidnapped a guy in Virginia after following the orders of the eldest Rhodes sibling, Warren, who was under fire for being the current Chief of Staff.
“You’re related to the Rhodes family?”
Lincoln’s smile was not the inviting one I’d seen all those nights ago.
“I’m one of the Rhodes siblings. Archibald Rhodes is my father.
” Fuck, this was bad. If Lincoln was even tangentially connected to those psychos, I wanted to get as far away from him as I could.
I went to open my mouth again, but Lincoln stopped waving his gun around as he spoke, aiming for my head.
I felt my heartbeat hemorrhaging, scared that I was seconds away from having my life cruelly taken from me.
“And now, I’m as bored of you as you were of me. ”
Closing my eyes, I braced myself for the gunshot I knew was coming. I guess he wasn’t waiting to tell the tythwig about us. Oh god, Arze was having to watch me die. The thought of becoming part of his trauma hurt me more than any bullet ever could.
The fates held me in high regard as I heard the sound of a small explosion, saving me from the bullet that Lincoln wanted deliver into my temple.
I opened my eyes to see that Lincoln’s gun had fucking exploded in his hand.
His screams filled the immediate area, blood dripping down his hand as he waved it in pain through the air.
The people I’d learned now were part of the Hellgrammites hate group scrambled to his side, pushing Arze to the ground.
But as I searched Arze’s face, he shook his head. He hadn’t been behind the explosion.
“What the fuck!?”
“I would drop the guns, if I were you.”
I turned to the new voice, shock and relief washing over me as I saw Khalice standing at the edge of the clearing, hands on her hips in defiance.
Her promised, Jgel, stood next to her, their children, Chrizel and Betz, clinging to their parents.
Chrizel let go of his mother’s arm as she stepped forward.
Jgel gave me a curt nod, silently telling me that everything would be okay.
I watched as he sent the same nod to Arze, who returned it swiftly.
Arze righted himself, returning to his stance on his knees as the Hellgrammites and Lincoln stood dumbfounded by their sudden attendance in the forest.
“Unless you want more of your guns to explode, then please,” Khalice chuckled with a devilish smile. “Give me a challenge.”
Everyone froze as the four stellymn stood on the edge of the clearing, not daring to make a move after Khalice’s threat.
I’d never been happier to see her, and it finally felt like I could breathe.
No way were these despicable humans that Lincoln had at his disposal going to be stupid enough to wave their guns around after Khalice had just made one explode in Lincoln’s hand.
Though I’d hooked up with a stellymn before, I had no idea they could do something like that.
I’d learned from Khalice and her family that stellymn could produce fire, but being able to cause a gun to misfire and dismantle itself with the twist of their hands?
It made me wonder what else they could manage, but now that Khalice was leading the charge in saving us, my eyes flew to Arze.
It didn’t look like he’d been roughed up like I had been, relief pouring over me like a downpour.
He was only a couple feet away from me but it was a couple feet too many.
I wanted to console him, to have him console me, to reiterate that we weren’t going to die today.
Even if Lincoln was hellbent on making that statement as untrue as possible.
Lincoln was still wincing as one of the Hellgrammites was twisting his hand and inspecting it. That was the most movement they were daring to muster, Khalice just waiting for a change in their bravery.
“Chrizel,” She said, turning her head in her son’s direction without taking her eyes off of Lincoln and his temporary cronies. “Take your sister and check with the campground director we spoke to and ask when the police will arrive.”
Without an ounce of hesitation, Chrizel grabbed his sister’s hand, unlatching her from their father, and the two went sprinting out of sight. Once the children left, Jgel stood forward, joining his promised in a defiant stance, giving the tainted humans a death glare.
“Krueger, can you stand?”
Her words propelled me to accurately check, unable to take my eyes off of Lincoln as I got to my feet. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Arze?”
The man I was head over heels for mirrored my earlier action, standing on his own two feet with relative ease. “I’m okay.”
“Splendid.” Khalice walked forward, Jgel following in stride just a few steps behind until they were right by our sides.
I wasted no time in throwing my arms around Arze, feeling his embrace wrapping around me. “God, I’m so sorry, Arze.”
“It’s not your fault, Krueger.” He pulled back, cupping both sides of my jaw with his hands. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“Yeah,” I nodded, feeling tears stinging the tips of my eyelids. “I’m glad you’re okay too.”
One of the Hellgrammites went to run, wanting to get the hell out of there, which I wouldn’t blame them if they weren’t already horrible human beings.
Khalice caught the movement, outstretching her hand and twisting it in a clockwise formation.
Another small explosion emitted from his hip as the gun he’d had holstered there was completely torn apart.
The man’s screams filled the forest as he fell to the ground in agony.
Khalice returned her attention to the rest of the group that was accumulated around us.
“Anyone else want to test their luck? Keep in mind, you don’t need a gun on you for me to hurt you from a distance.
” They averted her gaze, too scared to look her in the eyes.
They remained silent and she gave a smile in response. “Didn’t think so.”
“Thank you, Khalice.” Arze said, giving her his undivided attention as we unfurled from one another.
“Of course.” She laid a hand on Jgel’s shoulder. “Betz saw one of them dragging you into the forest and told Jgel what she witnessed. We informed the campground director and headed right over.”
“Yes, thank you.” I said, nodding emphatically. “I owe you big time.”
“You owe me nothing, Krueger.” She walked over until she was standing in front of Lincoln.
The Hellgrammites by him cowered, shuffling away from her.
But whether it was his fear, his pain, or his pride, Lincoln didn’t shy away.
“You however, human, can never repay for the horror you attempted today.”
I joined her, standing before Lincoln. When he looked at me, he had angry tears in his eyes, his normal hand cradling his ruined one as it continued to redden.
“I just wanted to get away from my family,” Lincoln explained, staring into my soul through his eyes. “I thought I could leave them behind. And then getting here and meeting you, I thought I could find someone who could really give a shit about me. It seems I was wrong twice.”
Sympathy pulsed through me at the same time an unnerving wave of anger crashed through my nervous system. Both had their weight within me, but I couldn’t bring myself to be belligerent toward Lincoln. He might have done some awful things, but I knew that deep down, he wasn’t a bad person.
“You went about it the wrong way, Lincoln.” I stated, giving him an even glance as I saw Chrizel and Betz returning with police officers. “I’m sorry you weren’t able to prove yourself right.”
Without another thought, I reached for Arze’s outstretched hand and curled into his side to regale the police officers of the devastation that we’d been able to evade.