Page 13 of Serpent King's Revenge

The guy who tried to choke me out came at me again. This was just anger—sloppy, easy-to-read anger. I could deal with that. I sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and used his momentum to hurl him into the wall. He hit with a thud, the plaster cracking.

Then there was Mr. Shiv, blood dripping from his mashed nose, holding the shiv like it was his precious lifeline. He swiped at me, wild-eyed and desperate, but I was clearly far more experienced with a knife. I blocked him, felt the jolt run up my forearm, and grabbed his wrist. With a twist and a yank, I broke his arm with a sickening pop.

And now the shiv was mine, falling smoothly into my free hand.

"Clearly you didn’t know who the fuck I am," I snarled, the words rough in my throat.

I drove the shiv into his thigh, feeling the resistance give way as it sank into muscle and flesh. The guy howled, his voice joining the chorus of chaos around us.

And there it was—the familiar rush, the heat in my veins that screamed for destruction, for vengeance.

My hand tightened around the shiv, ready for more, the bloodlust roaring in my ears like the crowd that egged me on. It was a dark craving, one I knew too well, one that whispered seductive promises of power and satisfaction if I would only let it consume me.

The guy before me, the one whose arm I'd twisted like a wet rag, was howling on the floor, his broken limb a grotesque angle. The cheer from the crowd of inmates swelled, feeding off the violence, a soundtrack to the madness.

I barely heard them. My focus was narrow, locked onto the last man standing, the other two groaning and writhing on the floor. I rushed forward and grabbed hold of him, slamming him against the floor, his head snapping against concrete. My grip slid from the shiv to his throat, squeezing tight, the pulse under his skin pounding against my fingers.

He clawed at my hands, his face turning a shade of red that would soon go blue. Pleading eyes met mine, but there was no mercy left in me to give.

But then, the metallic clank of the cell door echoed over the jeers and the jailhouse noise. My head snapped towards the sound, the distraction costing me precious seconds.

"Get down!" a voice commanded.

Before I could react, I felt the biting sting of a taser's prongs embedding into my back. Electric currents surged through my body, hijacking my muscles, stealing my strength. I shook violently, unable to hold onto the man or the shiv any longer.

I went down hard.

The cold floor of the cell came up to meet me like a slap across the face. My body jerked, out of control, as the taser did its work. Sparks danced in my vision, little fireworks popping in a pitch-black sky.

I tried to speak, to spit out a curse or a threat, but my tongue felt thick, heavy like it was made of stone. My arms and legs weren't mine anymore. They flopped around, useless. The shiv clinked against the floor somewhere nearby. But this time, I couldn’t reach for it, couldn’t use it.

"Stay down, Zhou," another guard joined in, his boots thumping closer.

My head was spinning, and the cheers from the other inmates faded to nothing. It was just me and the buzzing in my ears, like angry bees swarming inside my skull. Ma's face flashed before my eyes, her eyes cloudy and dead.

"Nighty-night," someone laughed, but the laughter was getting sucked away too.

Then everything went black, just like that.

Out like a light.

Chapter Six: Abby

Ineeded to get back.

I should have never left them, they needed my protection…but fuck, I had to find out if I was pregnant. And now I knew and everything felt even more dangerous than before.

After swearing Erika to secrecy again, taking a shower and changing my clothes, along with packing a small bag full of toiletries and other essentials, I decided that my best bet was to go back to the apartment. I texted Lily to let her know I was on my way and then it was back to business as usual.

Driving back was surprisingly quick, though traffic had picked back up to normal…like the world wasn’t holding its breath anymore. It gave me a good distraction from the baby, from Nathan…from everything.

I didn’t want time to think. I just wanted to get Nathan back.

I parked outside of the building he’d brought me to so long ago and grabbed the groceries from the passenger seat. The morning sun did little to warm the chill that clung to my bones as I made my way back to 118 California. Each step felt heavier than the last, a rhythmic thud against the pavement that echoed the pounding in my head. My jaw was clenched tight enough to cause an ache, a futile attempt to keep the turmoil inside from spilling out into the world.

And my side still hurt, though the painkillers were helping.

As I pushed open the door to the apartment, a thick silence enveloped me, the kind that presses in on your eardrums and makes your heart beat a little faster. It was the quiet of mourning, heavy and suffocating. Lily and Justin were huddled together on the couch, lost in a private sea of grief that seemed to flood the entire room. Their eyes—so like their mother's—lifted to mine, taking in the state of me: fresh clothes, hair still wet, and something indefinably shattered lurking in my gaze.

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