Page 35 of Ricochet
Cillian was the same. He had to feel stronger than me, and I was going to give it to him. For now. Some sick part of me always knew I would end up getting hurt. It was always there, simmering beneath the surface, waiting, haunting. Until the other shoe dropped, and the life I knew went out in flames.
I was being hated for something I didn’t even do, but I was sick and tired of trying to explain myself.
When I wanted to talk to them, they chained me to the wall like an animal, waiting for an execution. When I cried, kicked and screamed, they sliced my skin with their blades, and broke my heart with their words.
“Are you going to kill me, little bird?” The idiot in front of me sneered. And to think we were once friends. “Are you going to stab me like you stabbed her?”
Her.
Ava.
The pain I buried for so long sliced through me, freezing me in place. When you lose someone you love, it stays with you. The bad memories were not what caused me pain. It was the good ones that drove me to the brink of insanity, knowing I will never get new ones.
Faster than my eyes could follow, the fire iron was snatched out of my hand, and my head hit the floor as Cillian threw me down, his legs pressed against my sides, his eyes crazed, hands squeezing my neck. I coughed, wheezing for air, but the grip he had on me just tightened. Black dots started dancing around his head, and I knew I was minutes from passing out.
“Fight me, little bird,” he mocked, his lips next to my ear sending shivers all over my skin. “Or do you just want to die like the sad little bitch you are?”
I was running out of air, and no matter how hard I tried to move his hands away from my throat, they just squeezed harder and harder. I was panicking, out of control.
I could hear somebody shouting, but my mind was so far gone, that the only thing I could see were his eyes. Blue just like the ocean, and as cold as the Northern Seas.
Ty doch’ drakona, Ophelia. Ty ne klanyayesh'sya, ty pobezhdayesh'.
You are the daughter of a dragon.
I was the daughter of a dragon. Yes.
You do not bow. You conquer.
How many times did my father say that to me? I snapped my eyes open.
I wouldn’t bow, I wouldn’t cower. They wanted me dead? They wanted to play the game?
“Cillian!” somebody shouted. “This is not what we talked about.”
“I’m just having a little bit of fun, Brother.”Then let's have some real fun.
With the last atom of strength I had in me, I pulled my legs up, connecting my knee with his back, causing him to stumble forward and loosen his grip on my neck. I was going to show them so much fun, by the time I was finished with them, they wouldn't want to go to an amusement park ever again.
“Shit,” he exhaled.
I pushed my torso off the ground, wheezing from the sudden onslaught of air in my lungs. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to recover. I had to get out from underneath him, and I had to do it fast.
With one hit to his throat, Cillian started wheezing, clutching his neck and rolling off of me. My hands were sweaty, my lungs still trying to catch up with the air finally coming inside. On unsteady feet, I pulled myself up, stumbling away from him. My knees were shaking, and wave after wave of dizziness kept hitting me, trying to knock me down.
If I lost consciousness now, there was no guarantee they wouldn't kill me immediately, or do something even worse. I looked away from Cillian toward the other two. Tristan looked ready to attack, while Kieran kept his usual composure. What I wouldn’t give just to see a chink in that cold armor of his.
It was inhuman seeing how little all of this affected him.
I frantically searched for my previous weapon, and once I spotted it lying next to the couch, I lunged forward, my hand once again gripping the steel handle.
“Impressive,” Kieran drawled lazily, his hand around Tristan’s arm, holding him in place. “So, you aren’t as useless as I thought you would be.”
“I am going to kill you, you bitch.” I looked at my attacker again, still kneeling on the floor, sneering at me.
“You asked me if I wanted to kill you.” I coughed, my throat constricting. “It would seem that I do.”
“An eye for an eye.” I turned, and my nightmare stepped closer. “A tooth for a tooth.” He continued prowling toward me. Cillian stood up, joining Tristan who seemed frozen in his spot, looking at me.
