Page 122 of Knox Academy Omnibus
Rough hands grab the top of my arms, hard enough to bruise, and spin me round to face my assailant. I’m shoved back against the door, my head bouncing hard enough to make me see stars. I blink and try to clear my vision but before I can, his huge hand wraps around my throat and squeezes. Even though I can’t, I still attempt to draw in a desperate panicked breath as he lifts me up so that my toes barely skim the floor and I scrabble for purchase. This guy is huge and strong. I don’t recognise him at all, and all I can see is the malicious intent in his eyes.
“Where to start?” He leans in and murmurs into my ear, his breath hot and rancid on my cheek. My stomach roils and I gag. Frantically, I claw at his hands around my throat with my free hand.
Over his shoulder my eyes lock onto someone else’s. We have a spectator. Is it a friend of his, lying in wait for their turn? I fightharder, unwilling to go down without a fight. I bring my other hand – the one holding my damn room key that I had forgotten about – up and using as much force as I can, I jam the key into his cheek. I was aiming for his eye but he still howls in pain and drops me.
“You fucking bitch!” he cries. “You’re going to pay for that too.”
Unfortunately, he dropped me so quickly that I landed in a heap. I’m too concerned with gasping in lungfuls of air, like a fish out of water, to bother with getting up. I’ve dropped my key anyway and I just don’t have the energy needed to get to safety.
A brutal kick to my ribs has all the air rushing from my body again and suddenly my body is telling my brain that I’m drowning. Terror seizes me and my eyes widen in fear as my panic-stricken body desperately tries to save itself. I just gasp and pray that it makes it.
My attacker grunts and walks away, his heavy boots sounding loud along the corridor, even though it’s carpeted. My eyes seek out the voyeur who just watched shit go down. If he attacks too, I won’t stand a chance. He’s still there, standing in the shadows, watching me. I can’t work out who it is, but after a few moments stare off with one another, he turns his back on me and punches the wall. Then he walks away with silent steps. What the fuck?
I let out a sigh of relief and allow my body to relax on the rough carpet. Iwillget up, I just need a moment. I reach for my key and slowly get to my feet. Everything hurts. It’s agony to swallow and I already know that I’m going to be covered in bruises by morning.
I let myself into my room, locking the door behind me. It doesn’t feel like a safe haven, but at least there’s a locked door between me and anyone else that wishes to make their displeasure at my return known. I limp over to the bed and haveto sit down to remove my boots and socks. Bending over is way more painful than it should be, and once I’m fully naked, I can see why.
A massive angry purple bruise is already forming on my ribs where he kicked me. Tentatively, I touch the mark and hiss in pain. Frowning, I try to work out why I’m bruised so badly. The only conclusion I can reach is that the assailant was wearing some sort of reinforced footwear. Like workers’ steel toe capped boots or something. Fuck, it hurts so bad. I gently reach for some of the clothing I discarded earlier in favour of Elsie’s suggestions, and carefully pull on some leggings and a long-sleeved shirt to sleep in.
I hobble over to the bathroom to get freshened up, then back to bed. Just as I fall into bed, my phone buzzes on the nightstand. Cursing, I roll over to check it and see that it’s a message from my least favourite Knox brother.
Onyx
You have pepper spray for a reason...FUCKING USE IT!!!
His timing is suspect. Was ithimwatching in the shadows? I can’t bring myself to care or question why he would. Grunting, I drop the phone, roll over and fall into a pained, fitful sleep.
Chapter Ten
Kalen
Kicking my brothers’ door open, my anger radiates through me like a surging tidal wave. Onyx’s voice is ringing through my head about not making it known that she’s under our protection, but Branson’s threats alone do not hold enough weight here.
“What the fuck?!” my brothers yell in unison, as the loud bang of the door smashing against the wall echoes through the room.
I charge towards Onyx, throwing a right hook straight to his jaw. I knew I had to get him blindsided, because either he would beat me to a pulp after one hit, or Slate would intervene.
“Let’s not protect her, you said! I just fucking spoke to Elsie and she was hurt!” I shout.
“Calm down, she has bruised ribs,” Onyx says like he doesn’t even care.
“Calm down? You’re telling me to calm down when the girl I love was attacked! Show me the footage because whoever it was is going to fucking die! I’m going to ass fuck them with barbed wire.”
“Who are you fucking with barbed wire, and why, little brother?” Sawyer asks strolling into the room, taking in the hole in the twin’s door that my foot must have made on impact.
“Whoever attacked Amelie.”
His face drops, so he clearly also wasn’t made aware of her attack.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Sawyer,” Slate warns.
“I’m going to see her,” he says.
“You shouldn’t even be here!” Onyx snaps.
“I will do whatever the fuck I want. I’m no longer a teacher here, but our father works here, and let’s not forget who we really are.”
“How can I forget?” I mutter. “All you dickheads are so easily manipulated by The Order that we’ve put her in danger. Her being back here is dangerous and we all know it.”
