Page 10 of Pawn

The minute she pulls the trigger, something takes over. A force. A pull. The devil.

My hands hit her chest the same time Damien reaches for her legs before a loud, shrill scream pierces through the air.

POW!

Her body disappears before I can piece it all together. Damien pulls me close, the smell of peppermint and spice enveloping me before his hand comes to my eyes.

THUD!

My breath stops in my throat, my ears ringing.

No.

No, no, no.

Looking up at Damien, his hold is strong and tight while I’m trembling against his chest, his body stiff. There’s silence in the air as the queasiness in my stomach gets harder to ignore.

My head is fuzzy. Dizzy, but Damien steadies me between his palms before he tilts my chin up to find my gaze. Settling my stare on his grey and blues, I’m able to take a long deep breath.

Swallowing a large, dry lump, I know the answer to my question but I ask it anyway. “D-did y-you—” Swallowing hard, I try again. “Did we …”

“We gotta move, Jo.” His voice is firm and rigid but I hear the waver in it. The shaky croak.

“W-we …” I can’t even say the words.

“Did you come here alone? How’d you find me?” He releases me from his hold before I can answer.

“I-I …” The cold settles in my bones through my jacket, chills and nausea rising in my body. I finally find the words. “I-Is she dead?”

Damien stares over the rail again, a lock of hair falling into his eye. A groan from the man gets his attention instead and Damien walks towards him.

When I turn around, he scrunches the man’s shirt in his fist, lifting his back off the ground before he looks into his eyes.

“You want a King to work for? You’re better off siding with me.” Damien gives him another punch to his gut, a spew of blood coming from the man’s mouth when he scoffs, “Pathetic. Clean this shit up or you can take Marion’s way out. Your choice.”

Hearing him say that makes my gut wrench, my body in full shivers.

“O-o-kay! Okay! I’ll call my crew!” The man winces in pain, his hands in front of his face and I’m too frozen to move. I can’t even tell if I’m breathing. “I’ll take care of it and I didn’t see nothing.”

Damien smirks, “One last thing.” He looks up at me, finally meeting my eyes again. “Jo, this is the man that put his hands on your sister. He hit her. Slapped her. Mocked her. Do you have anything you wanna say to the filthy pig?”

“He what?” The tension in my body goes straight to my fist and my feet as I storm up to him. I’m seeing red again, my body buzzing with rage and whatever else is inside as I get closer to this man’s bulldog face.

Spit flies from my mouth, hitting him in his cheek and when I look at how battered Damien’s face is, my boot connects with his jaw.

I’m not thinking when I pull my leg back and give him another and it’s Damien who has to stop me from kicking this guy’s face in.

“Get to it, Baldy,” Damien orders.

Baldy groans as he picks himself up off the floor. It’s hard not to give him another kick as he stumbles towards the door. Damien watches him leave as I take a look at the dust settling around us.

Shit.

My legs shake, nausea building.

“Holy fuck.” Leaning over, my hands hit my knees, hair flopping in front of me as the contents bubble in my stomach. “Ho-lee fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” It’s getting harder to breathe the quicker reality sets in.

“Jo?” Damien sounds like he’s trying to talk me off a ledge, caution in his voice.

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