Chapter 20 – Ferrin #2
“Sorry, honey. I can’t do that.” One hand dives into his pocket while his other grabs her arm. She yelps and tries to jerk away, but he hauls her in against him and jabs something from within his pocket into her side.
He leans in and whispers something in her ear, and alarm spreads across her face like a Shakespearean tragedy.
Her head swivels left and right, noting the street and the people and trying to calculate how to get away from him.
Somehow she doesn’t look over her shoulder, and because of that, she misses me completely.
He must realize she’s about to scream or do something, and he tugs sharply on her arm, making her whimper.
I glance behind me and across the street.
No one’s behind me, and the people across the street aren’t looking this way.
I slip my knife and gun out, holding the gun down at my side.
I quicken my steps, and my heart picks up speed while the back of my neck prickles with adrenaline.
She tries to pull away from him, glancing about in a panic, and that’s when our eyes meet.
I get a funny look for a flicker of a second before recognition takes over, and she realizes who I am.
Her lips part, and I shake my head. Except it’s too late.
Lars glances over his shoulder, and our gazes collide. He grabs her arm and jerks her in tighter against him, and I move in fast, the knife in my hand but held behind me.
“I’ll kill her,” he warns. The gun in his pocket stabs into her side, making her chirp out a squeal, but he’s distracted and unaware of his surroundings because he was surprised I was here. He genuinely thought I was gone. This is why he let me toss him the tiara and run off.
He’s sloppy.
Careless.
Arrogant.
And it’s about to cost him.
In a flash, I grab the back of his hair and wrench it to arch his neck.
His hand releases her arm and flies back for mine, gripping my wrist, and I shore up my hold, pulling tighter on the roots of his hair.
“Fuck! Let go of me or she’s dead,” he barks. “You’re fucking dead for this. You know that? You will die, and there will be no talking yourself out of it.”
Shit. Asshole is getting loud.
I take two steps to my right into the alley, dragging him with me.
He reaches out for her and catches her hair.
With a startled and pained cry, she swings with us into the dark, where he draws her into his chest. He’s a hell of a lot taller than her, so I can’t see her face.
I can only hear her whimpers and heavy breathing.
“We’re only going to talk,” I tell him. “Take your hand off the girl, and I’ll let you go.”
“Take your hand off me, or I’ll shoot her right here.”
I wrench harder, making him cry out. “You won’t because I’m guessing you’re going to get a lot of money for returning her in one piece.”
“Fuck you. I’ll kill her, and then I’ll kill you.”
Lars shoves her, hits her with his elbow across the jaw, and kicks her into the wall. She bumps the back of her head, pain and fear all over her.
All I see is red.
A beautiful haze of it that hones my focus and makes my hand tingle with bloodlust. His gun is out of his pocket, his arm raised to her forehead, and I don’t hesitate.
I drag the blade of my knife straight across his throat from one side to the other.
Blood splatters the moment his carotids are sliced all over Genevieve’s front, side, and back as she turns around and buries her face in her hands against the building so she doesn’t have to watch.
Lars gurgles and gasps, the sound gruesome and delightful.
His gun drops to the ground with a heavy clatter as he grabs his neck and collapses to his knees.
“Oh my god,” she whispers as she twists her head to see. I’m surprised. I expected her to keep her face hidden.
Lars is bleeding everywhere, a river of red running down his front and pooling beneath him. His lips are caked in it too, his face white. He falls onto his side in a heap, just about dead, and I close my knife before I frisk him.
“Rhys…”
“Not now. I’ll explain back at the hotel, but not now.” I find his phone and unlock it with his face. His eyes are open, haunted and fixed. She makes a sickly noise, but I can’t focus on that at the moment. “Grab his gun.”
She’s blinking about ten thousand times a second. “What? His what? You killed him. He’s dead. His gun was sticking into my hip, and he told me I had to go with him or he’d kill me. That’s twice today. Two men tried to take me and kill me today.”
Shit.
I grab the gun from the ground and shove it in my bag. Once his phone is unlocked, I reset his unlock code and steal his wallet so identifying him takes longer. They’ll have to fingerprint him for it. Then I stand and reach out for her hand.
I don’t grab her. I don’t say anything. I simply offer her the choice.
Her tremulous eyes meet mine, and to my amazement, she takes my hand. Instantly, I run us down the alley in the opposite direction from how we entered. It exits out onto the same street I did earlier, so I know it runs parallel, but this one is more residential than the main drag.
I put my arm around her waist and tuck our heads together, angling us so our faces aren’t as visible. As it is, she has blood all over her dress, and there’s not much I can do about that other than hope no one notices it.
“Move your hair over your face so it covers you.”
She doesn’t ask questions. She simply does and allows me to guide us back the long way to the hotel. She’s shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, her body trembling so strongly with shock that her teeth are chattering.
“Are you okay?” I whisper as we get closer.
“No. Yes. I don’t know. What’s happening?”
“A lot.”
“Who was he?”
“I’ll explain in a bit.”
“You killed him. You sliced his throat just like that. Right there in the alley. I know you told me you killed people and I believed you, but I never thought… I didn’t expect…”
“It was him or you, and I wasn’t going to let him hurt you or take you.”
“But… why? I don’t understand. Why did you do all of this?” Before I can answer her, she continues. “You killed him. I have his blood on my dress. It’s all over me. This is my new dress, and it’s splattered with his blood. And you left me. You’re as bad as he is. I know you are.”
Shit. She’s white as a sheet and going into shock.
“I’ve got you. You’re okay. Stay with me, princess, okay?”
“I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t. Since I met you, two people have tried to kill me.”
She has a point.
“You’re going to be next, aren’t you? I saw it.”
I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I can’t question her now.
We reach the front of the hotel, and I turn us away from registration, keeping her body tucked tightly to mine.
As far as they know, she’s a married woman who lost her wallet and is here alone, and I don’t want them to see her with me.
Thankfully, they’re preoccupied with another guest.
“Your room key.”
“You’re not coming to my room.”
This girl. There she is. “I am. I paid for it. Or you can come to mine, but either way, we need to talk and get cleaned up.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“I know. But we have to do this.”
She huffs, but pulls out her key and, when we reach the top of the stairs, unlocks her door for both of us. I flip the lock latch and close the curtains on the windows.
“Get yourself out of that dress and into something else.” I grab a towel from the bathroom and throw it at her, then I go back into the bathroom, shut the door, and wash my hands and the knife. The water runs pink to clear, and I meet my reflection in the mirror.
I didn’t plan to kill him in front of her.
But more than that, doing so has sealed this for me. And it’s only the start.