Page 42 of Forged in Blood

Anger prickles beneath my skin. “People like me? Rejects?”

Xavier’s knuckles turn white as he tightens his grip on her neck, and he presses his face close to hers, his fangs on full display. “Who left the message under your door?”

“I d-don’t know.” She’s back to trembling with fear. “It was there when I came back from class.”

A rumbling growl rolls out of Xavier’s throat. “I think you do know.”

“I swear I don’t. Puh-please, let me go,” she whines.

Xavier glances at me. “What do you think, Cupcake? Should we let her go?”

I take in the tears running down her face. The raw fear in her eyes as they bore into mine, silently pleading with me to spare her. And a part of me can’t help but think she deserves every second of this. This girl has made my life a living hell, and she wants me dead. I suspect it will only be a matter of time before she pulls something else, but I still can’t let him do this. Not for me. I nod. “Let her go.”

“You see how merciful she is, Penelopee? Such a kind soul, our little Ophelia.” He hoists her into the air, and her feet dangle a foot above the ground. She claws at his arms, but her struggle is futile. “Isn’t that right, boys?”

Malachi and Axl hum their agreement.

Xavier grins wickedly. “Too bad we’re not.” With a single flick of his wrist, he tears her throat out and lets her lifeless body drop to the ground.

I freeze. My feet take root in the ground, and my mouth falls open on a silent scream. My limbs tremble. My stomach rolls. I’m going to be sick. Placing my hand over my mouth, I swallow it back down. “Oh my god.” The words are a mere whisper, but they seem loud in the quiet of the night.

Xavier crouches down and wipes his hands on Penelope’s blouse. “No god here to save you, Cupcake.”

“You just…” My eyes dart around the parking lot. More bile burns the back of my throat. “You killed them all.”

“They were about to do the same to you,” Xavier says with a shrug. “Not with quite the same flair as we pulled off, but they had no intention of letting you walk away from here tonight.”

“You can’t know that.” I insist.

“Youknow that, Ophelia. Come on, sweet girl.” Malachi tucks my hair behind my ear. “What the hell do you think they had planned?”

“M-maybe they just wanted to scare me?”

Axl wipes the blood from his shoe on Penelope’s jeans. “You’re not afraid of anything, Pyro. Pretty sure they knew that too.”

“I’m afraid of what you just did,” I admit, my knees still trembling.

Xavier grins. “Well, you should be afraid of that.”

I swallow down the horror and guilt that burn in my throat. Despite everything that just happened, I am grateful that they saved my life. “Thank you,” I murmur, although thanking Axl and Xavier, two men who have tormented me since the moment I met them, feels completely unnatural.

Axl dismisses my gratitude with a shrug. “We were in the right place at the right time.”

“We knew she was up to something nasty,” Malachi says, his breath warm against my neck.

“Wait. What?” How could they possibly know that?

Axl shoots Malachi a stern look. The kind that makes Xavier let out a psychotic laugh and Malachi mutter something unintelligible.

I step out of Malachi’s embrace and turn so I can see all three of them. “How did you know she was up to something nasty?”

Axl shakes his head. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He turns to leave, but I refuse to follow until I have answers.

“No. How did you know she was planning something?” And then I remember what Malachi told me about vampires being able to tune into the emotions of the people they’ve bitten if they choose to. Axl must have been monitoring Penelope. Which means he likes her enough to tune into her thoughts.

My heart sinks, and I’m filled with shame for believing for even one second they were being kind to me because they like me. But if he likes her, why did he just…

My head swims with confusion. I need to get away from them and sort through the jumble of thoughts and emotions clouding my senses. I shrug out of Malachi’s arms and walk away from them. It’s not fully dark yet. I’ll take the bus back.

---