Page 34 of Broken Empire

Irecoil back from her, feeling disgusted at her touch.Itdoesn’t feel right, it’s all kinds of wrong.Theonly personIwant touching me isWinter.Hertouch is the oneIache for, not this woman’s.Whenshe goes to touch me again,Igrab her hand and pull it off of me, squeezing it.Itmust be a bit hard because she lets out a yelp.

“Ifucking said no,”Igrumble in her face before letting go of her hand.

“Sorry, time to go, sweetheart,” a voice says from next to us andIlook up to seeHunterand all the guys standing there.Hunterpulls the girl away before saying, “He’snot very good company tonight.”

Thegirl takes the hint and scurries away.Igrab the bottle and take a long drink, half of the bottle already gone beforeIspeak to them.

“Whatare you assholes doing here?”Igroan out.

“Whatdoes it look like, dickhead?We’reobviously babysitting your ass,” he mutters.

“What?Can’ta guy just drown his sorrows in peace these days?”

“No.You’renot in any position to be alone right now.Ifwe left you alone to your own devices, you’ll probably die of alcohol poisoning in a few hours or some dumb shit like that,” he grumbles.

“Howdid you assholes even find me?”

“Islipped a tracker in your pocket before you left,”Huntertells me while smirking at me.Ishove my hands in my jacket pockets and fumble around untilIfeel something foreign in there.Ipull it out to see a tiny black thing in my hands.Whatthe fuck?Thatthing is so tiny, no wonderIdidn’t notice it.

“Deviousfucker.Whatever.Fine.Youdickheads can stay,”Imutter while grabbing my bottle and taking another swig.

“Geethanks, bro.It’snice to see that you care we’re looking out for your dumbass,”Graysongrumbles with a roll of his eyes.Theguys all take a seat in the booth and order their own drinks and start drinking with me a moment later.

“Howcome you look like you’re fine?”IaskHunter, slurring my words. “Howcome you don’t look like you’re not dying from the inside out?”

“Trustme,I’mas fucking worried as you are, dickhead, butI’vebeen in the game long enough to knowIhave to put my emotions aside to deal with this situation.I’llfuck up ifIdon’t have a clear head and that’s how motherfuckers get themselves killed.Besides, one of us has to keep it together since you’re falling apart for the both of us,” he grumbles andIignore his jab.

“Weneed to find her man.I-Ifuck!Idon’t know it feels likeI’mfucking dying with every minute we don’t hear something andI’mabout ready to lose my shit completely.”

“Ithink you’re already losing your shit,”Graysontells me unhelpfully.

“Thanksbro!”Igrumble, holding up my bottle to him in salute.

Icontinue to drink without paying attention to them after that.PrettysoonIget plastered and thenIsuddenly feel something on my nose before passing out.Whatthe hell was that?

* * *

Freezingwater raining down on me causes me to wake up with a start before it cuts off a moment later.Myhead is pounding asItry to open my eyes but the light’s intensity is too much andIclose them right back.

“Whatthe fuck?!”Iyell out.

“Riseand shine princess!”Hunter’svoice comes out sounding cheerful and it instantly makes me want to punch the asshole in the face.Ilet out a long groan at being disturbed, especially since there’s a party going on inside my head.

“Goaway asshole!”

“Nope.Timeto get shit done.Ilet you have one day to lose your shit but now we have to get back on track,” he mutters as he turns the cold water on again.

“Fuckinghell dickhead!Wouldyou stop that?I’mfucking awake!”Iyell and he turns it off again.

Ifinally manage to open my eyes and see thatI’min a bathtub.Thisbathroom looks familiar and it takes me a moment to realize that it’sWinter’sbathroom in her apartment back inRavenwood.Huh?I’mso confused right now.

“Howdid we get back here?”Iask, my voice sounding kind of scratchy.

“Flewin last night afterIchloroformed your ass,” he tells me gleefully.

“Asshole!”Imutter.

“Takea shower and get dressed and then meet us in the kitchen.Wehave shit to take care of and you will not fucking let my sister down any more than you already have.Youare going to forget your fucking pain and think about hers because that’s all that matters!”Hetells me andIknow he’s right soIjust nod my head at him.

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