Page 82 of Poison's Kiss
Chapter 17
Breaking Point
I don't give him time to chase after me without vaporizing as I shove people aside on my way out the door. I don't care if I have to bleed myself dry, I'll recast every spell to keep him out.
Just as I taste the fresh air of the impure night, I hear him calling for me, his shouts pleading in tone.
"Alyssa! Stop! Please stop! I can ex-"
"Don't you dare say you can explain!" I scream while whipping around, ready to fight - enraged at this point.
His eyes are panicked as he runs his hand through his hair. I turn back, returning to my retreat, but he materializes in front of me, risking exposure as he grips my arms.
"Please listen. I was-"
"Don't! Don't tell me you were just talking, because I saw a hell of a lot more. I realize why you were so opposed to defining our relationship now. It's because there isn't one. I'm just the dumb girl who thought you wanted more than sex. You've definitely proven me the naive fool you once blatantly accused me of being. You win. You were right."
I shove him to the side as I continue on my stalk, but he materializes in front of me again, restraining me.
"Let me go, or I'll fucking make you wish you never fucked me over," I hiss, venom seeping from every orifice of my body.
"No. Not until you let me explain. Alyssa, I'm trying to find a lead."
"By sticking your tongue down another girl's throat? I guess you're really taking one for the team. Go play some more. You've got nothing stopping you now; not that anything was stopping you before."
"Damn it, Alyssa. I was just working a fucking angle. We have to hurry and find-"
"An angle?" I blare in interruption once again. "You were definitely working anangle. Which angle was next? Her legs around your waist? Your body over hers? If you'll excuse me, I've had enough visual scars left behind by youranglesfor one night!"
He holds me tighter, refusing to let me go.
"I won't let you leave until you listen to me. This is nothing. She's nothing. It's a fucking job, Alyssa - a means of gathering Intel."
"Let. Me. Go."
"No," he says, his stubbornness steadily becoming nothing more than a futile attempt to maintain control over the situation.
"Don't make me hurt you," I growl, my eyes still flipping through their random shades.
"Alyssa, you can't hurt me. I'm twice as strong as you while you're in your mortal f-"
Before he can finish that foolish statement, he's sailing backwards, digging up dirt and rocks and then slamming into the lake with a thunderous splash. When he starts to climb out, feeling the weight of my hit in his chest, I hit him again with another powerful blow, this time using his body to tear down trees across the yard.
The loud crashes draw out startled and curious spectators. I'm forced to stop tearing the dark user apart. His eye isn't cut because of the trees; it's because of my power. That second slap of force caught him like a right uppercut.
He spits out blood in near shock, never having known the strength I've held back for the safety of others. I stare down at him, kneeling when I reach him so I can whisper.
"Don't forget where I come from. Stay. The fuck. Away. From. Me. Or I'll finish the job."
The darkness in my tone is unmistakable. The powerful high is taking me, and I love it. The grass beneath me wilts before turning to ash, and Gage's eyes widen, stunned and engrossed in the show of power consuming me.
Thunder rumbles across the sky, sounding out my rage, and I lift my head back to revel in the harsh rain that begins pelting like bullets against my face.
"Alyssa, you have to stop, baby," Gage says, but that just pisses me off more.
"Baby? You're one stupid son of a bitch. Call me anything again, and I'll cut your tongue out."
As the earth cleanses me, I feel the high slipping, the darkness falling away with the rain. At least it's brief when it comes, but it's so painful when it goes.
