Page 112 of Malice and Surrender
Blood thrummed through my veins, and the world slowed down as Avro stumbled back and Kai stepped into the house. I could hear the thump of his boots, and they echoed in my mind like a movie. I thought he’d leave me alone. I was so stupid.
My stomach flipped and then tied itself into knots at the sight of him with his hands clenched into fists, and his lip pulled up like he was snarling. My heart pounded harder with each step he took, but when those enraged eyes found mine, the world narrowed in on just him. I sucked in a shuddering breath and felt paralyzed, like his eyes alone could hold me in place.
Kai was almost at the kitchen doorway when Jace came out of nowhere and tackled Kai. I sucked in a breath as Kai and Jace disappeared. They crashed into the front sitting room so loudly that it jerked me out of my shocked state. The noise around me came crashing back as loudly as the sound of the two men swearing and growling like a pair of animals.
I forgot I was holding the glass until it slipped from my fingers and shattered on the tile floor, sending little shards and banana milkshake in all directions. I blinked as a flash of my childhood hit me. I could see the blood on my hands and remembered the feeling of the glass cutting my feet. I shook my head and closed my eyes to rid myself of the image.
Leaving the mess in my wake, I ran from the kitchen and rounded the corner to the sitting area. In those few seconds, it looked like a cyclone had taken the room in its grip. Kai and Jace rolled around on the floor, exchanging and taking blows with even measure. Neither seemed to have the upper hand, and I stood there feeling useless as I tried to figure out how to help.
“Kai!” I screamed, but he didn’t glance my way.
If he heard, he ignored me, but it seemed more like he was so focused that a car could have driven through the window and he wouldn’t have cared.
They rolled again, and this time Jace was on top, but Kai used his feet in a wrestling maneuver that tossed Jace over his head. Jace crashed down on top of the large glass coffee table, and it shattered on impact. He groaned, his face grimacing in pain.
“Kai!” I screamed again and ran at him as he lifted his arm to punch Jace. Slamming into his side only knocked him off balance. He glared but then looked away like I was a pesky insect.
Avro jumped into the fray as Kai got to his feet, blood dripping from his split lip. Avro wasn’t as skilled as Jace, but he held his own as he and Kai took turns swiping at one another like a pair of boxers in a ring. They were saying something to one another, but I couldn’t hear over the roaring in my head.
Darting around the two, I knelt by Jace, who rolled onto his side. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I will be. I’m going to kill this fucker.” He shook off my hand as he stood up.
“Jace, don’t. I’ll get him to leave.”
“Fuck that. This asshole is mine,” Jace snarled, the glass shards falling off him as he stepped away from the table.
My heart leaped into my throat as Kai pulled a switchblade. I screamed like a banshee when he slashed at Avro. Jace charged, and as Kai turned to face the attack, he kicked the blade from Kai’s hand with an impressive move and sent it spinning through the air until it stuck into the couch.
It was two-on-one, yet Kai looked like a feral dog in a fight to the death, and it terrified me. They all terrified me, and there was way too much testosterone and not enough brains between the three of them. I suddenly knew what it felt like to be the bone all the dogs were fighting over, and I didn’t like it.
Avro gripped Kai from behind but got two hard elbows to the gut. The blows made him let go, and he was doubled over as he tried to breathe.
Jumping in, I tried once more to stop Kai. My hands gripped his leather jacket, but I was no more effective than a flea as he lunged for Jace, and the material was ripped from my hands.
The two men collided like bears. Kai and Jace gripped each other and pushed one other around the room. I had to dance out of the way as they ran sideways at me and crashed into the wall with a thud. A very sick and twisted part of me loved the ferocity of the moment and wished this was just for fun, but there was nothing fun or amusing about their intent.
“Enough!” I tried again and marched toward them, but Avro charged Kai again and gripped him around the waist before I got there. They managed to destroy everything they touched as it fell from the walls or clattered off tables. Avro and Jace picked Kai up and slammed him down hard on the floor like wrestlers I’d seen on television with a tag team maneuver.
Kai wouldn’t stay down, and blood flew as his elbow cracked Avro across the jaw. Kai jumped up, but before he and Jace could go another round, he pulled a gun.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Kai growled, his voice as threatening as the night he’d been in my home.
Jace gripped Avro’s shoulder and pulled him back before holding his hands up.
“No, Kai, don’t you dare!” I yelled, jumping in front of Jace and holding my arms out in my pathetic attempt to block the shot. “Kai.”
“Get out of my way, Tink,” he snarled, wiping at the blood trickling from his chin, his eyes focused on the men behind me.
I could see Jace in the glass, moving to grab me out of the way.
“Don’t touch me, Jace,” I said and glanced over my shoulder.
He was going to have a black eye. It was already swelling, and blood was flowing from his nose. My heart broke as our eyes locked. At that moment, I knew that Jace was right, Kai would always keep coming unless I locked him back up, and I couldn’t do it.
Even now, I knew I couldn’t put him back in the cage that had turned him into this. I loved Avro, and my feelings for Jace were wild and new and would eventually turn into love, and I couldn’t put them at risk. This needed to end.
When I was sure Jace wouldn’t try to yank me out of the way, I turned my head to look at Kai again.
