Page 151 of Rebel

No, no, no, no, no, no.

The denial is a scream in my head as I stare up at the man I trusted, the man I thought was a friend.

As I stare up into his eyes, I realize I’m not as untouchable as I thought. I was so sure of myself, of becoming Beck Danvers, a rock star. Right now, I’m just a woman, and he’s a man. He’s stronger, and he thinks he has the right to hurt me like most other men do.

In this moment, I realize just how weak I am, and I hate it.

I fucking hate it.

He takes my body and makes it his own, effortlessly using it against me, and never before have I hated being a woman as much as I do right now. I can’t even move him. I’m trapped under him, his length pressing against me since he’s excited.

I know before he finishes this, he’ll take everything from me.

He’ll ruin me completely.

“Finished fighting? It’s futile, Beck. Up on stage, you might be bigger than life, but under it all, you’re just a scared little girl—a little girl who could never beat me.” He chuckles, and thunder roars again as a traitorous tear slides down my cheek.

I hate that I’m crying. I hate that he’s touching me. I hate that I’m alone.

I hate that he’s right.

“It was storming like this the night she died. I guess you both are more alike than you thought.”

I freeze, my eyes widening as I stare at him. He chuckles, brushing away the tear. He raises his hand and licks it away as he looks at me. “I loved your sister. I was obsessed with her, or so she said. I wanted her all for myself.” He frowns in anger, his eyes flashing. “But she turned me down to focus on her career.” He brushes my cheek again before he slowly wraps his fingers around my neck and starts to squeeze. My eyes pop from my head as I jerk and start to fight again, seeing the intention in his eyes.

He squeezes until black dots fill my vision, but he seems clueless as he speaks, even as he drains the life from me. “She dared to reject me! Me! When I loved her. I would have done anything for her. In the end, she wasn’t who I thought she was. She was weak. Rachel saw that. She saw my obsession and approached me. She had no idea that my love turned to hate. I worked with Rachel to bring her down. I thought Willa would come crawling to me when she hit rock bottom and that I could save her and she would love me, but she didn’t.” He slams me into the bed in his anger as I claw at him, on the verge of passing out.

He knocks my hand away when it scratches his cheek so deeply, it draws blood. He hisses as I watch it drip down his cheek as my hand hits the bed. Something warm takes my hand, and my eyes roll to the side, my heart freezing.

Willa . . . my sister. She lies on her side next to me, her lips tipped down. She’s not real. She isn’t. I’m dying. She’s not here.

Still, it doesn’t stop me from using the last of my strength to hold her hand tightly. She smiles so brightly that something inside me cracks. “Fight,” she whispers, and suddenly, she’s gone, and it’s not a hand I’m gripping.

It’s something solid.

Something real.

I grip my phone as he sneers at me.

“I was there the night she died, you know. I was on the bridge.” He reaches for the bridge on my other arm, over the bird I got for her. “She fell just like this bird, but she was trying to back down. She wasn’t going to do it, but when she saw me, she wasn’t happy. She was annoyed, and she screamed at me. I just wanted to love her, but I realized she would never love me. She told me she couldn’t do it to them and to you. She said she was going to fight. I knew in that moment that she would never be mine. She couldn’t be. She was already yours, already taken and drained by this world. She wasn’t the woman I thought she was, and neither are you. I pushed her. I helped her over that bridge, and she flew all the way down. I saved her from everything, and now, I’ll save you too.”

Horror fills me, and as he wraps his other hand around my neck and squeezes so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t snap, I bring the phone up. It smashes into his head, and he roars, his grip loosening around my neck as he falls to the side. Gasping in air, I drag my body up even as it screams, and with clumsy hands, I bring the phone down on his head again. He yells, trying to block me as I aim at his eyes. Blood sprays over me and my phone as I scream with a sore, raw throat.

I bring the phone down again and again on his face.

Centuries of anger fills me from all the women who have ever been wronged.

My throat aches as I cough, the fit overtaking me until I can’t breathe, and he flings himself at me once more as I fight for my life. The air hurts my throat as I breathe, and I bring my hands up and dig them into his eyes as he roars, falling back just as the door bursts open.

We both jerk around to see three silhouettes. Lightning flashes behind them, and then there’s a roar, and one of them lunges forward, hitting Ben and throwing them both from the bed. The sound of fists meeting flesh makes my eyes widen as I turn to my side and cough so hard, I feel blood trickle from my lips, my phone still clutched in my fingers.

A hand touches my side, and I startle, a little noise escaping my lips as I try to shrink away.

“Baby, shh, it’s me. It’s us.” It’s Trav.

I blink, glancing up at him.

His eyes are watering, and his face is pale as he rubs my back. Another hand wipes my mouth, tugging me up, and I meet Chase’s worried eyes.

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