Page 443 of Once Upon a Fable

I shook my head, trying to snap out of it before it was too late.

Gem!

“Oi, you bastard!” The man didn’t give me a chance to stop myself. Completely unaware that I was seconds away from murdering him, he stalked around the coffee table and stabbed me in the shoulder with his finger. “Tell me where she is!” He stabbed me again, triggering self-preservation. “Tell me, right now! Otherwise, I’m gonna knock you so hard on your ass, I’ll be able to pull whatever answers I want out of you!”

“Oh, you’re in trouble, Kas. A new guest has a fetish for your sweet ass.”

I stumbled backward, bumping into the couch.

“Stop ignoring me!” the guy yelled.

“Strip, darling Kassen. Let’s see that pretty cock—”

“Where is my damn sister!”

I buckled over.

I tried to stop it.

I truly did.

“Bend over, pretty Kas. Spread those cheeks and let him stick his cock—”

I snarled.

“I always loved your ass. You were always the most reactive one whenever we’d play—”

STOP IT!

“What the fuck is your problem?” he yelled. “You’re mumbling like a crazy person.” He crowded into me. Trapping me between his body and the couch. My mind hissed. Whiteness teased my already manic vision. His body language bristled with aggression. His hands fisted. His face twisted with hate. “Cat got your tongue, you weirdo?”

“Cat got your tongue, Kas? Come here, and I’ll show you where tongues belong—”

“You know I’m speaking to you, right?” The guy’s hand landed on my chest, pushing me.

And that was it.

I shoved him backward, leaped over the coffee table, grabbed him from behind, and hurt him before he could hurt me. Spinning him to face me, I pulled my arm back. My fist connected with his jaw as his yell tried to weasel past the whiteness inside my mind.

“Gemma!Gem!” He kept yelling as I punched him again, throwing him away from me with ease. He crashed against the wall before scrambling to his feet and throwing a vase at my face.

I spun to deflect.

The heavy porcelain landed between my shoulder blades, shoving me to my knees.

He took off with the sound of pounding feet. “Gem!”

Fuck.

He was running toward what was mine.

“He’ll hurt her, Kas. He’ll hurt her like Levin hurt you.”

I roared and ran after him.

“If he gets to her, he’ll break her, just like we broke you.”

I snarled and bounced off the walls, knocking a sunset print to the floor. The whiteness continued to blend my present and my past, tangling the human part of me that wanted to stop and the monster part of me that wanted to destroy everything.