I freeze.
My uncle grins, his teeth yellow and dark. “I recognize who he is. What’s Senator Greene’s stepson doing with you? Does he know his son is—”
I am on him before he can finish his sentence, the tip of my dagger digging under his chin.
“Say another word. I fucking dare you.” I tell him, blood already trailing down the blade.
My uncle laughs, “Do it. Kill me, and watch how this will all fall on you. Do you think I don’t personally know Philip? You think I don’t know who he was?”
I snarl, letting him go. “Fuck you, asshole. If you have nothing worthwhile to say, I’m leaving.”
I turn to leave anyway because fuck him. But before I could turn my back on him, he pulls on my ponytail and yanks.
Hard.
I fall back, accidentally letting go of my dagger, and it clunks on the floor. My uncle is on top of me before I could do anything. He slaps me across the face, but I punch him back, hitting and kicking anything I could reach.
He slams my head against the floor, and I scream, darkness surrounding my vision.
Oh god, not now.
“You ungrateful bitch! Do I need to whip you again until you remember who took you in after your useless parents—”
His whole body weight is peeled off of me, and I lift my head enough to see Rurik tackling my uncle on the floor.
“You disgusting asshole!” Rurik shouts, grabbing my uncle’s face so that he can punch him hard.
I stare, completely stunned.
I’ve never seen Rurik lose control like this before.
He looks absolutely terrifying, his face scrunching into pure loathing as he delivers punches and kicks with rage, shouting and screaming like he's some avenging angel hellbent on punishing those who cause harm.
My avenging angel.
But this isn’t Rurik… This isn’t like him. He hates violence.
I quickly jump and throw myself at him, forcing him to stop. I make him look at me, and he freezes when our eyes meet. I place my hand on his chest, and I don't like how super fast his heart is going. It's really fast. Is that normal? I don't like how he's breathing heavily, like fighting to bring oxygen back into his lungs.
“Rurik,” I say, trying to calm him. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Are you?”
He stares back at me. His eyes are wild, and his breath comes in rough, staccato bursts. His eyes keep darting back and forth all over my face and body. His lips are moving, but no words are coming out. His body is so rigid. It’s a miracle I could turn him to look at me.
Please don’t tell me I broke him.
What’s happening, why is he breathing like that? Why are his eyes so red… What is happening to him?
See? You’re killing him. This is your fault. All you do is kill.
The darkness that greeted me earlier is back. My throat tightens, and a sob escapes me before I can stop it. But that seems to wake Rurik up because he blinks and sucks in a deep, long breath; his hands jump to my face at lightning speed.
“Briar,” Rurik croaks as he turns my face so he can look at where my uncle hit me. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmur, nodding as I throw my arms around him. “Are you?”
“Better now,” He inhales deeply, “I’m better now.”
I don’t believe him, but I’ll let it go for now and question shit later. Right now, I just want to get the fuck out of here. I pull away and glance at my uncle, who is staring at us the whole time, his face bleeding and clearly in pain as he clutches his stomach.