Page 57 of Temptation
Twenty-five years ago, Judah and Joanne got married. Twenty-five years ago, Judah did the same thing as Dylan. He killed those girls, sacrificing them for their fucking wedding.
“Will you stop?” I asked as he slammed the door open and started going down the stairs.
“No,” he barked. “And stop fucking fidgeting.”
“Then stop telling me what to do and let me down.”
His hand landed on my ass, the slap echoing around us.
“Did you just slap me?”
“You deserved it.”
“You motherf—”
Another slap. This one harder.
Son of a bitch.
I reached down and lifted his shirt, exposing his naked back. I dug my nails into his lower back, earning a small yelp from him.
“You’re gonna pay for that.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You just can’t stay quiet, can you?”
“Pot meet kettle. You always have an answer to everything, so don’t pull that bullshit on me.”
“And you couldn’t stay home, when I explicitly told you not to do anything stupid.”
“Going to school isn’t stupid,” I argued.
“It is!” he roared as we reached the bottom of the stairs. He put me down and pushed me toward the wall. “It fucking is when there’s somebody out there trying to hurt you. When you’re the only one who knows about Judah’s dirty secrets. Coming to school is the stupidest thing ever.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” I pushed him away from me and started walking deeper into the basement. The buzzing of the machines filled the air, mixed with our steps. I walked, he followed. “Stop following me.”
“Then stop running away from me.”
I swiveled around and almost crashed into him. “I’m not running! I’m just—”
“You’re just what?” He came closer, hovering over me. “Don’t tell me you’re just thinking. Don’t lie to me, Moonshine. I think we’re over that.”
“What do you want from me? You want me to stay home like a good little girl?”
“Yes!”
“Well tough luck, buttercup! I’m not a doll. I’m not going to stay home just because a bad man is after me.”
He placed his hands on his hips, looking at the ceiling. “You really don’t get it.”
“I don’t get what?”
“If something happened to you…” He shook his head. “You have no idea, Skylar.”
“Then enlighten me! Stop treating me like a child!”
“Then stop acting like one!”
