Page 8 of Merciless

This isn’t the first time someone accused me of being a witch—not that there’s anything wrong with it. However, they need to get their facts right before pointing their fingers and accusing people of something.

Katie scrunches her nose at me like I stink. “Are you going to cry about it, loser?” She scoffs. “Do it somewhere else. I don’t want your snot and tears anywhere near my food.”

I step back and stuff the notepad and pen into my apron pocket. “I guess you want nothing, then. If that’s the case, you can leave.”

Derrick rolls his eyes with a guffaw. “And who made you the owner of this place? Even if we don’t order anything, you can’t kick us out.”

“It’s the rule for Patrick’s Pub. Besides, isn’t this place a little too low-class for the likes of you?”

He throws his head back in a fit of laughter. It booms over the buzz of conversation in the bar. Not surprising that an asshole like him would be the loudest in here. He’s always starving for attention, the egotistical bastard.

“The freak has a sharp tongue,” he says between laughs. “But she’s stupid as fuck.”

I glare at him.

A tall, dark form moves into the corner of my vision. By the time I turn my head, Elijah towers over me, his hands in his pockets and a cruel smile lifting the corners of his lips.

I suck in a startled breath. He’s looking at me again, which is throwing me off.

“You must not know who owns this pub, birdie,” he says.

“Birdie?”

Elijah leans down until our faces are at the same level. “Stay on topic.”

“I don’t care who owns this⁠—”

“You should,” he says with a smug smirk. “Patrick Thomas is the owner. You know, Derrick Thomas’s grandfather?”

Elijah’s lips peel back in a snarky smile. It’s the same smile these rich assholes use when looking down on people who are less fortunate. Every time I see it, I’m filled with disgust and irritation.

This time, seeing it from Elijah fills me with rage.

Everyone at the table snickers. I scowl at each of them, my cheeks heating.

How am I supposed to know Derrick’s grandfather? I’d rather crawl over broken glass than learn anything about that asshole.

Elijah’s smile sharpens, never once reaching his cold, merciless eyes. “A basket of pretzels with cheese, and a pitcher of the coldest beer you have, birdie.”

He straightens, hands still tucked in his pockets, and he takes a step back to put space between us. He acts like it’s torture for him to be in my personal bubble.

Everyone at the table smothers their laughter, but they do a poor job of it.

“Do you need to write it down, freak?” Katie rolls her eyes. “I don’t want you to get the order wrong.”

I grind my teeth until they feel like they’re about to shatter as I turn to leave. I make a beeline for the bar so I can put in their order. As much as I would love to change it to something ridiculous, I can’t risk my job for something petty. The money is more important than my feelings.

Once the order is in, I ignore their existence and focus on work and staying on Macie’s good side; she’s the bartender, and she’s not my biggest fan. I assumed the bullying would stop at work, but my reputation followed me to Patrick’s Pub. Now I understand why Macie and the others give me such a hard time. Derrick’s influence followed me here because of his family ties to the owner of this pub.

“She’s so disgusting.” Katie’s screechy voice climbs above the crowd. I know the bitch wants to get a rise out of me. I refuse to give her any sort of reaction.

The others at the table laugh, but when I peek at Elijah, he’s blank-faced, and his gaze tracks my every move. The way he’s looking at me, even while caught staring, reminds me of a predator. His dark eyes border on black, and they’re cold, much like his heart.

Why now, of all times, is he openly staring at me?

And why did he speak to me?

Bullying someone is terrible, but if you’re standing aside and watching it all happen, you’re just as guilty as the bully. You fall into the same category as the rest of them. That’s where Elijah falls into. After years of receiving the cold shoulder from him and his brother, I’ve grown used to it. I even liked it because I could pretend they didn’t exist either.