24 Everleigh From Finner—Of Monsters and Men #3
“Eden is a family friend. It concerns me.”
“Ah yes. Eden.”
The cruel, lifeless look Christopher casts my way makes me want to collapse into an open sinkhole just to escape him.
“You don’t know who she really is,” he lashes out. “Eden here has been lying to you. I wouldn’t recommend risking your life for someone who hasn’t once told you the truth.”
If he was hoping to scare her off, the result is disappointment. Piper doesn’t even blink. Instead, she takes a step closer, pulling house keys from her coat pocket and flicking out a hidden safety blade disguised on the ring.
“There’s plenty of assholes like you out in the world.” She laughs hollowly. “You don’t scare me, dickhead.”
“Got quite the mouth on her, doesn’t she?” Christopher laughs over his shoulder at me.
“Leave her alone,” I wheeze, trying to stand upright.
“Oh, no. I’m going to teach this mouthy whore a valuable life lesson.”
“Piper! Please go! Run!”
And she does.
Just not in the right direction.
Whether brave or foolish, Piper advances towards Christopher without any idea who or what she’s up against. Still, that doesn’t slow her attack. The spitfire hurls herself at evil incarnate and doesn’t even hesitate.
Flinging myself forwards, I try to intervene and prevent their collision. Christopher rewards me with a vision-blackening strike across the face before he intercepts Piper, letting them both crash to the ground.
Blood stings the corner of my mouth. I’ve landed hard on my bruised side, offering me a horrifying view of Christopher straddling Piper’s waist, pinning her wrist to the side so he can prise her blade free.
“You picked the wrong moment to be brave, little girl.”
“Fuck you!” Piper hawks up, then spits in his face.
Now dripping with saliva, Christopher tosses her keys aside, then raises the scalpel to rest against her exposed throat. In an instant, Piper stops wriggling, her eyes widening at the press of serrated steel.
“I am taking my wife home tonight, and some stupid fool isn’t going to stop me.”
“Christopher!” I beg. “Stop!”
“Silence, Everleigh! Else I’ll do it!”
Where he digs the blade in, glossy red blood dribbles down her neck. The sight seems to stir something in Christopher. He’s fixated. With Piper’s helpless body trapped beneath him, unable to escape his wrath, he’s banking on me being too afraid to intervene.
I was weak before.
But I’m no longer that person.
Ignoring the pain screaming through me, I leap on his back to deliver a side tackle. Christopher curses, absorbing my weight as he’s ripped from Piper’s limbs and dumped on the hard ground.
“I said leave her alone!”
“Argh!” he howls. “Stop, Everleigh!”
We roll and grapple, both attempting to seize the other. The blade has fallen somewhere in the mêlée, forcing him to use his fists. Two strong punches smash into me, creating a dizzying explosion. But still I refuse to relent.
Just as Christopher gains the upper hand and swings one leg over my waist, movement blurs above him. Something collides with the side of his head where the hood has ripped free, causing crimson droplets to mist over us both.
He falls unceremoniously, allowing me to wriggle from underneath him. I scramble to my feet, only swaying for a stomach-churning second before forcing myself to hold steady.
“Eden,” Piper pants, dropping a red-stained rock.
“Shit, are you okay?”
“Yes, but we need to—”
Metal scrapes on cobbled stone, the only warning before Christopher launches himself at us again. I scream in alarm when the retrieved scalpel stabs into Piper’s shoulder, causing her to wail louder than a banshee.
“Piper! No!”
She crumples in half, collapsing into my arms when I move to block her fall. Blood spews from the wound in her shoulder, forming a crimson geyser. We both hit the ground in a heap, eliciting another hair-raising scream.
Bracing myself for the next hit, it never comes. Christopher pauses above us, his bleeding head cocked as he listens to the night air. Voices suffuse the breeze, causing him to stiffen, wiping the sleeve of his jacket over the gash in his forehead.
“Shit,” he curses. “Who did you tip off?”
“If you don’t go now, they’ll arrest you.” I weep uncontrollably. “You can’t kill us.”
“This is all your fault!”
“Just go! Leave us alone!”
“This isn’t over, Everleigh.” He stoops to pick up the scalpel, erasing any evidence. “Say a word to anyone and I’ll tear through every goddamn person in this pathetic town to get to you.”
Christopher takes one last look at us, then limps down the street as fast as his injuries will allow. Rather than follow or call out, I cradle Piper close, bleating repeated apologies when she shrieks at the force I push down on her wound.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I chant through sobs. “I’m so sorry.”
Torrid blood coats my palm and spills through my clenched fingers. Her tears join mine as we huddle on the pavement, watching Christopher flee the street to locate his escape. But at the last second, he spares a glance back at me.
The message is clear.
We won the battle, but he’ll win the war.