Page 298 of Obsession

“And they manipulated you so easily?” Ken interjected.

When Joshua didn’t answer, Harris sank his finger into his wound and made him scream as loud as his lungs would allow. Even the wine bottles rattled in unison with my sanity. The roar would probably have been heard all the way upstairs if the music hadn’t drowned it out.

“They threatened to kill me if I didn’t help them. I didn’t think much of them at first, thought they were just some crazy enemies of yours,” he replied.

Harris grabbed him by the throat and choked him off. His jaw was clenched so tight he looked monstrous.

“And you thought it would be fun, didn’t you? Messing with me.”

“Big mistake,” Mike commented, and I couldn’t believe he was amused at that moment.

Joshua gritted his teeth and fought for consciousness as Harris let go of him. The blood flowing from his eye had reached his mouth.

“There are two of them. Two of them leading the rest. They have planned everything down to the last detail, and they’re just getting started. One of them had been in Katherine’s house, not me.

“Give us a fucking detail, it’s impossible not to have noticed anything,” Jay butted in.

“I was high the whole time, and they had ski masks on. Only one of them was talking, I didn’t hear the other one.”

Harris laughed as if amused by Joshua’s words, but there was no amusement in the tone. Joshua looked at him again.

“I really liked her at first, you know? The first day I saw her. That night I just said she was hot and you freaked out like you always do. You were the one who made me attack her the next day because you beat me up like she was already yours.”

Joshua grinned with his bloodied teeth as Harris clenched his fists.

“You know what? I’m sorry I won’t be here to see you go crazy with fear, because whoever’s after you wants her now. They’re smart, strong, they’re playing you and you’re too stupid to realize it. I was just a puppet and you fell for it.”

Harris grabbed his throat and was about to strike again, but Joshua’s sadistic grin stopped him.

He spat out another mouthful of blood, “Do it if it helps you, you monster. Kill me, then go back and tell her you’ve stopped the danger, that you love her and will protect her from anything.”

“Shut up!”

Harris’s whole body shook as Joshua continued to grin even as he choked.

“All these years you’ve been stepping on everyone’s head without caring about the consequences. I told you the day would come when the pain you caused would come back to bite you.”

Harris said nothing more, but he was shaking so hard Joshua moved with him.

“Where is she now, Hawk? Are you sure she’s safe?”

“She will be very soon,” he said in that cold tone, then his fist met Joshua’s throat.

By the time I realized it wasn’t just another blow, it was too late. Joshua’s face turned to stone, and blood spurted around Harris’s hand, splattering his face.

He struck him with the claws. He sank them into Joshua’s neck.

I pressed my palms to my mouth so hard my jaw ached and leaned against the barrel to keep from collapsing.

The life was quickly drained from Joshua’s remaining eye. Blood flowed over his chest and down Harris’s arm to his elbow. A pool formed around the chair.

With a brutal yank, he pulled out his claws and ripped at his neck.

His head fell forward and he stopped moving, but the blood kept flowing….

Flowing…

Flowing…

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