Page 9 of Pawn

Marion’s approaching them but I cut her off, standing in her path with a clenched jaw and what I’m sure is a red face.

“Get out of my way, little girl,” she demands. When I glance behind her at the balcony railing I see what looks like a King party. Bottles of scotch, beer, pills and cocaine.

“Really?” The quicker I piece this together the tighter my fists become, the more my nails dig into my skin. She was trying to take him away from me. I’ve had enough people ripped out of my life. “You were gonna kill your own nephew?”

“I have no family!” she laughs.

“So why the fuck are you here?” Taking a look over my shoulder, Damien gains the upper hand again. He’s on top of the man while he fails to block Damien’s punches. Looking back at Marion, I narrow my eyes. “You’re that desperate for money?”

“You think this is about money? You are as stupid as you look!”

SLAP!

Her hand comes to my face, a slap stinging my cheek. Pausing, I take a second to piece together that this bitch just hit me before I let out a cry. “Ahhhh!”

Lunging at her face, I’m out for blood. Marion’s quicker than she looks. She dodges my first swing but I tackle her to the floor, flying at her like a spider monkey.

She screams before it’s an all-out tumble on the King mansion rooftop. Slaps and scratches come to my skin, a tight grip on my arms and legs while I’m trying to land my fists into her body.

Cracks and thuds come from behind us, Damien handling his own battle. It’s like we’re lovesick heroes, taking on the villains that try to separate us.

SMASH!

The world blurs. “Wh—”

“Jo!” Damien’s call comes right after a hard thud to my head.

It’s only when glass breaks around me that I realize Marion found herself a weapon. A bottle.

The rooftop gets fuzzy and blurry, another pull on my hair. I’m drawn from the ground, heels clicking beside me before my body touches what feels like a rail. When my eyes blink open, the world tilts, the sky above me.

“Wait!” I reach for her face, anything for leverage.

Marion’s quicker, her hand pushing my face over the rail, her fingers digging into my cheek, the ground feet below me. “I will take two for one,” she says through her breaths, using her weight as she tries to push me over.

The air is cold against my neck, a boot lifting off the ground.

I’ve been here before and now I’m starting to think this is how I’m supposed to die. Right here on this roof.

Marion uses the rail to her advantage. Squishing my small frame against it, the stone digs into my side as she pushes me up. “Say bonne nuit.”

Both my Docs lift off the ground and I’m starting to lose my momentum. My energy is already shot and I’m not sure if fighting back is any use.

With my eyes on the sky, his voice rings loud. A thunderous roar. One that could only be Damien’s. “Stop!”

Marion’s body tenses, the hard thud of boots coming closer. There’s a scream before the weight lifts off my body and when I push off the ledge, all I see are Marion’s heels in the air.

Damien’s standing over her, her legs pedalling like a bike while he has her over the edge. She looks down at the ledge below, her eyes wide before they land back on her nephew’s, his narrow and cold.

He has her pinned by her chest, half of her body hanging over the ledge.

“Damien!” I scream, wind whipping my hair but he holds her there, staring into her eyes like he can read her brain.

“He won’t do it,” Marion laughs, her voice way too certain for a woman one shove away from death. She still has that confidence in her voice, and when she reaches into her blazer, I see why.

Damien’s eyes widen when she points a small silver gun at Damien’s head. The world blurs, everything slowing down, my stomach churning like it’s about to cave in and fall out.

She cocks the gun with her thumb before I scream, “No!”

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