Page 168 of Fallen Princess: Shadow Stalker

My pain of betrayal.

I never had any siblings, but Brittney Davis came very close to being my sister. As teenagers we often referred to each other assisters of a different mother, and that deep bond continued to adulthood.

“Goddamit woman!” she cries out. “I swear, I got played!”

I huff a sardonic laugh.

“I got raped by your boyfriend several times,” My upper lip sneers with revulsion of the disturbing memories. “Let’s not forget the humiliation games he played on me with his other masked minions. So, my problems top whatever your bleeding heart has to hate me this much to do this now.”

She attempts to launch forward, and the asshole violently pushes her back.

Not just violently, but literally punches her chest, and the force of his hit lands her across the room, and she smashes against the bar stool.

She whimpers, her hand holding her dislocated jaw that I think cracked upon impacting against the edge of the bar.

What the fuck?

“You’re gonna kill me,” I growl angrily. “I get that asshole. But at least tell me why. Obviously, you’re some vigilante, anarchist, some psychopath, assassin…” I stop talking because I catch the slight raise of his eyebrows.

“Who hired you?” I ask. “Was it her?”

“What I am is not your concern. I tried to fix you the first time, show you the path to righteousness, and bring you to salvation. But instead, you went against me and reverted to your old ways. You’re a natural-born whore, and it's my purpose to rid the world of the frailties that bind.”

“You’re a fucking lunatic!” I exclaim, taking a step back to further my distance from him. “The only person who needs saving is you and her over there. I don’t know if she is senseless or just a fucking ignorant idiot! How stupid can one person be?”

“I swear, Eden. I had no clue who he was,” she cries, with actual tears as she attempts to stand up.

I look over at her. I’d love to believe Brittney, and for the life of me, I can’t work out why she’d do this. She was fucking half of LA ten years ago, working through the list she showed me to get inside the pants of every film director to add to her inventory of sexcapades. I know she would have played around with all types of genders if she needed to for her career.

Brittney’s talents lie in acting and singing but mainly in manipulating people to give her a chance to show her worth. She will willingly fuck her way to the top if she has to. I never held it against her, but it’s not a method I would select for myself.

So me fucking my four bandmates would never have been an issue for her. In fact, she, of all people, encouraged it.

At some point, I knew my stalker would slip up, and I think he just did.

“When I said ‘How stupid can you be?’ it wasn’t a challenge. Sit the fuck down,” I command angrily, gritting my teeth at her, hoping she does what I tell her.

“I’m going to die,” I say, turning to the lunatic. “So, at least you can tell me your name so I can find you in the afterlife. It might be over for you and me here, but I intend to shove Satan’s trident right up your sick, motherfucking asshole when I find you in the afterlife.”

“He calls himself Ed,” Brittney calls out, “but I heard him on the phone earlier, and the caller called him Victor.”

The stare he gives her could make anyone turn to stone, and he’s fucking pissed off to the core. He rips out his gun from his belt and makes his way over to Brittney.

“You served your role. It’s time to retire, darling.”

She tries to get behind the bar, but he closes in on her with only one intent to inflict on her.

This gives me the opportunity to do something that’s probably ultimately stupid and crazy, but we only get one chance in life to do something that will make or break us, and I’m a firm believer in jumping on the wagon with full force.

There’s no room for second thoughts. I reach inside my bra, grab the small but lethal piece of metal, flick it open, and follow Victor. There’s no second to spare as he lifts his gun and takes aim at Brittney. I dash and jump his back. The gun goes off, and before he has a chance to retaliate, I plunge the knife deep into the side of his neck.

He manages to throw me off, and even with a freaking blade in his neck, he still has the strength of an ox to throw me across the room like a paperweight.

The expression of shock and surprise is evident as his eyes widen, a look straight out of a horror movie, as the knife sticks out of his neck. From the corner of my eye, I catch Brittney scrambling away, and I feel relief knowing she wasn't shot.

While VictorDarkspire—a name I just came up for the asshole—tries to comprehend what happened, I shout at Brittney to follow me, and we make a run for the door.

It’s unlocked, and I didn’t expect it to be. We run out of the room and find ourselves in the same hallway I came from just moments ago.

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