Page 42 of Prince of Pain

“No one’s laughing at you.”

“They are! Why don’t you believe me?” she spat, taking a swing at me with the knife again, and I let her. Her movements were sloppy, and the sting on the shallow cut on my arm barely registered with me as I watched her.

No one was laughing, everyone was quiet as they watched her warily, so she must have been making up scenarios in her head again.

I waited for her to finish yelling and swiping at me, then I grabbed her wrist and bent it back, forcing her to drop the knife.

“Ouch!” She tried to hit me with her fist next, but I grabbed her wrist more firmly and yanked her out from under the table, losing my patience.

“You wanted me here, so don’t fucking attack me, or I’ll leave. No one’s fucking laughing, look around the room. Did you take something? Are you having a bad trip?” She struggled against my grip as I got to my feet, pulling her with me. When she managed to slap me, I grabbed her throat and squeezed, getting in her face. “If you get rough with me, I’ll get rough with you, then leave you on your father’s doorstep. Look around, Tempest. I mean it. Snap out of this shit.”

She glanced around, her body relaxing slightly as she leaned into me.

“They were laughing before. I swear.”

“Did you take anything?” I repeated, waiting for her to shake her head before lifting her wrist to inspect her arm. “Why did you do this?”

She shook her head again and I sighed, letting her slide her arms around my middle as she started crying into my damn shirt. Mason stepped closer, speaking to me.

“She was fine until now, honestly. I didn’t give her anything, we were just drinking and fucking.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t get her father to come and get her. He’d kill you,” I scowled, dropping my arms around Tempest as her legs almost gave out from under her. “I need to get her out of here. I’ll be talking to you later.”

I didn’t think Mason did anything to her, he cared more than the others, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t grill him about it.

“I want to come with you,” Mason blurted out as I lifted Tempest bridal style into my arms, ignoring the phones that were pointed at us. This would be all over the internet by morning.

“No.”

“Please? I want to make sure she’s okay,” he begged, and I sighed, glancing at Hunter who shrugged. If he didn’t mind, then I didn’t give a shit.

“Fine, but we’re leaving right now,” I stated as I carried Tempest through the crowd and out into the cool air, feeling her blood seeping into my shirt. I got her into the back of my car and climbed in with her, letting Mason sit up front with Hunter so I could assess Tempest’s cut better.

The bleeding had slowed, and I grabbed my phone from my pocket to use the flashlight on it to see better.

“You need to stop doing this,” I murmured when I felt her staring at me, her voice soft in response.

“Don’t take me home, please. I want to stay with you.”

“Did you do this tonight to get my attention?”

“No. All I have to do is get my tits out if I want attention,” she snorted, and Hunter scoffed from the driver’s seat as he started driving. She seemed to finally notice him, and she jerked slightly. “You told your dad?”

“It’s a bit hard to hide you. Not to mention they would’ve found out about it when I got home covered in blood.”

“You’ll let me stay at your house tonight?”

“No. You need a hospital, and you’ll likely get a holiday in the nuthouse if you’re lucky.”

She started crying and begging, and I could tell Hunter was waiting for me to tell him where to go. I didn’t want her like this at home, but she was breaking me down as usual.

“You need stitches.”

“You can do them!”

“Not properly. If I call Jade to come and help, she’ll call your mom,” I warned, and she slumped in her seat with defeat. Jade was the best person to do it, she had more medical training than the rest of us, but she was also besties with Lexi, which made things difficult.

“I just want to be left alone in your room. Everyone else will just yell at me and?—”

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