Chapter 24 #2
I stare at Nicole, my gaze flat and cold.
The mention of my sisters usually sends me spiraling into a dark hole, but right now, the adrenaline is pumping, and the sheer stupidity of this girl is acting like a catalyst. I feel a strange, sharp power humming in my veins—something that tastes like the ritual, like Rhys, like blood.
"You must have a fucking death wish," I say, my voice low and dangerous. I lean in slightly, sniffing the air with a look of pure disgust. "I smell something fishy. Bitch, it must be you."
Amara’s jaw literally drops. For a second, she just stares at me, and then she bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter, doubling over.
Nicole’s face twists, her expression shifting from smugness to absolute rage.
She takes a step closer, trying to use her height to intimidate me, puffing out her chest like some pathetic little pigeon.
I don't move an inch. I just smile, and it's not a kind smile.
"And why would anyone—especially Amara—be mad about you being a total thot?" I continue, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Letting every prick in town put his dick in your pussy just to feel something? That's not a flex, Nicole."
I step closer, invading her personal space until we're nearly nose-to-nose.
I can see the pores of her makeup, the desperation in her eyes.
"Tell me, how does it feel to let so many men beat down your walls, and they still don't want to wife you?
You're just a warm hole for the weekend, aren't you? "
I don't know her. I wouldn't have known to say these things to her if she hadn't bragged about it a few seconds earlier like a badge of honor to try and shame my mate.
Nicole’s face contorts. Her carefully applied makeup begins to crumble as she scowls, her eyes brimming with a mixture of fury and humiliation. She crosses her arms, struggling to find a comeback, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Finally, she snaps, glancing back at Amara.
"What's the matter, Amara? You want to fuck me now?
Is that why you went gay? Because you're obsessed with me?
" She whirls back to me, a cruel glint in her eye.
"Or maybe the freak is in love with her?
Is that why you're acting out, Ophelia? You just want a taste? "
I don't even blink. I just tilt my head, looking at her with genuine pity. "Don't make me mad, Nicole, before I make you my stepdaughter and start fucking your mom."
The silence that follows is absolute. Nicole’s eyes go wide, her mouth hanging open in sheer shock. She looks like I've just slapped her across the face with a wet fish. Panicking, she immediately turns to Gray. "Gray! Do something! Fucking do something!"
Gray, who is still simmering from being called a 'prink,' snaps. He steps forward, his face red, towering over me. "Back the fuck off, you little freak!"
I let out a scoff, looking him up and down. "Intimidating a girl? That's pretty fucking pathetic, isn't it? How is it that I'm the girl here and I've got more balls than you? You're just a sissy boy. A total pussy."
That does it. Gray loses it. He lets out a guttural snarl and raises his hand, his palm open and ready to strike me across the face.
In one fluid motion, Amara shoves the pepper spray into my hand. I don't hesitate. I bring the nozzle up and blast him square in the eyes.
Gray lets out a blood-curdling scream, the sound echoing through the street as he clutches his face, stumbling backward and crashing hard onto the concrete. He's wailing like a toddler, rolling around in the dirt.
Before Nicole or the other lad can even process what happened, the air shifts.
Out of the shadows, Rhys’s bodyguards appear like ghosts, moving with a lethal, synchronized precision.
They swarm the group, pinning Gray to the ground and grabbing Nicole and the other boy by their arms, twisting them into submission.
And then, he appears.
Rhys steps out from the gloom, his presence instantly sucking the oxygen out of the street. The moment they see him, the three of them begin to tremble. The arrogance is gone, replaced by a primal, shivering terror.
Rhys doesn't look at me yet. He looks at the pathetic heap of people on the ground. His voice is a low, predatory rumble that vibrates in my chest.
"Did you attack my woman?"
They look confused for a split second, glancing between the towering man and me, before the realization hits them like a freight train. They know who he is. Everyone in the underworld knows who Rhys Castellan is.
"No! No, please!" Nicole screams, her voice cracking. "We didn't know! We swear! We didn't know she was with you! We were just... we were just talking to Amara! Please, forgive us!"
Rhys steps closer, his eyes dark and void of any mercy. He leans down, his voice a cold whisper that makes the hair on my arms stand up.
"You dared to breathe the same air as her with malice in your hearts," he murmurs, his tone almost conversational, which makes it a thousand times more terrifying. "I don't forgive. I erase. I will peel the arrogance from your skin and leave you as nothing more than screaming meat for the crows."
The color drains from their faces. They start begging, sobbing, pleading for their lives in a chorus of desperation.
Rhys looks at his guards, his expression bored. "Make them pay. I want them to remember this day every time they try to close their eyes."
He turns to one of the remaining guards and gestures toward Amara. "Take the girl home. Now."
Amara throws her arms around me, squeezing me tight. "Holy shit, Ophelia! I didn't know you were such a fucking badass! Where has this been hiding?"
I smile, feeling a strange warmth. "Stay safe, Amara. I'll see you soon."
"Definitely, darling," Amara says, pulling back but keeping a hand on my arm. "We have to go shopping soon—Goth Weekend is coming up and I need new boots." She hugs me one last time as I press the pepper spray back into her hand.
As she's being led to the car by the driver, she looks back at me. "About Gray... it was just a moment of denial, you know? I slept with him once. Just one fucking time. It definitely confirmed that I don't like men at all. He was... well, you heard me."
"It's okay," I tell her with a laugh. "We'll talk about it later."
Amara leaves, and the street falls silent, save for the distant, muffled screams of Gray and Nicole being 'handled' by the guards. I turn to Rhys, ready to tell him I had it under control, but before I can get a word out, he speaks.
"What did you just say about fucking someone's mom?"
I freeze. His voice isn't predatory now; it's sharp. Cold. I look up at him and realize his jaw is set, his eyes narrowed.
He's actually mad. At me?
My eyes go wide. "I—I didn't mean it! I was just defending Amara! It was a joke!"
"A joke," he repeats, his voice dropping an octave. "By joking about giving your pussy away to another person's family?"
Before I can even process the jealousy radiating off him in waves, he moves. In one swift, powerful motion, he grabs me around the waist and hoists me over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
"Rhys! Put me down!" I screech, pounding my fists against his muscular back. "Where the fuck are you taking me?"
"To teach you a lesson," he growls, his grip tightening possessively. "Since you're so fond of talking about other people's beds, I think it's time we reminded you exactly whose bed you belong in.”