Page 168 of Ruthless Legacy

I need to even up the odds. It seems Slim left out a few crucial details before he rounded up his friends. I can use that to my advantage. “It’s notnothing. Why don’t you place a call to your buddy? What’s his name?” I swallow thickly. “Brick? And ask him what I’m talking about.”

Someone steps up to my right and asks, “How do you know, Brick?”

“Oh, you know. Me, him and Slim met at a party. It got messy, so I dipped out early.” I swipe sloppily at my nose. “I gave Slim a new nose that night and saved Brick’s life. Good times.”

Slim steps closer. “Don’t listen to her. We’ll be fine. We’ve got all the protection we need from this guy.”

“Protection? From him?” My eyes blink and take too long to open. I shake off the sleepiness. I need to stay awake. “You owe him money. He’s gonna pin this shit on you. How do you think your boss is gonna react?” I try to smile. “How is Dante, by the way? When you see him, tell him Thea says hi.”

“Sh-shit.” Someone stutters. Then I hear the sound of feet running away, doors slamming, and cars driving away.

And then there were two. “What now, Slim? It’s just the two of you. Is this really what you want to be known for? As the Skullz, that was stupid enough to be some rich boy’s scapegoat?”

He looks over at Michael, who hisses, “Don’t listen to her. You owe me. Now take her into the alley, so nobody sees us.”

Slim grabs my arm, dragging me down the alley. I stumble as we go. I’m well past the point where I’m fully in control of my body. The drugs have kicked in. For the next few hours my Central Nervous System is fucked.

My speech pattern is slower than usual. “You sure. You. Wanna. Do… This. Slim? There’s still time. To. Save. Yo-yourself.”

“Shut up!” I trip when he shoves me forward.

Michael laughs. “Perfect. She’s already in position.” He stands over me, a smug smile on his face. “You brought this on yourself, Theona.”

He grabs my hair and smacks me across the face. “All you had to do was give me what was owed.” He backhands me this time. “Instead, you got The Trium all up in my business, costing me challenge pointsandmoney.”

The next hit is closed fist. “We didn’t get to finish what we started on Mayhem Night.” Another hit. “Nobody’s coming to interrupt this time. And when me and Slim here are done, no one in a legacy family will touch you.”

He laughs. “I guess that satisfies two debts I owe. One to Eloise because Finn won’t even be able to look at you, and the second to the mystery man who paid good money for me to make sure you didn’t make it to your little event tonight.”

The next punch lands in my stomach. I lean over and dry heave. “Sit up.” He yanks my hair, pulling me up too fast. The world spins, and I puke on his shoes.

I know what annoys Michael. My mouth and my refusal to submit to him. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I manage to get out. “Is that all you got?”

He does exactly what I expect him to do. Lunges at me. I don’t hesitate. Not this time. When he grabs for me, I dig my blade into his gut. It takes every bit of strength I have to hold on to him, making sure it’s in nice and deep.

“How does it feel to have me on my knees for you?” I ask, mimicking the threat he’s given me so many times this year. I pull the knife out and plunge it in again, thrusting up. “Is it everything you dreamed it would be?”

I shove him away, my blade slips free. I struggle to get to my feet. I hold my knife in front of me, swing it back and forth, looking for the other threat.

The silver blade is coated dark with Michael’s blood. Slim is nowhere in sight. I stumble past Michael, leaving him bleeding out in the alley, shocked and confused about how I got the better of him this time.

There’s no mystery to it. It’s like Wolfe said. In a fair fight, he never stood a chance. That’s why he jumps me with his friends around or waits until moments like this when I’m drugged to come after me.

I shouldn’t be the one walking away right now. Michael had the advantage, even without the Skullz and Slim backing him up. A girl raped and beaten in the Skullz territory. Nobody would ever suspect him. But, he was working on pure emotion and got cocky.

I lean against the wall for support as I make my way down the alley. I stumble onto the sidewalk, weaving back and forth as I finally make it across the street, and out of Skullz territory. I ignore the looks I’m getting. I just need to go a little further to call a ride.

My eyes roll shut, and I feel myself falling forward, but my body never hits the ground. When I force my eyes open again, I’m in a moving car. “Wh-where are you taking me?” My voice is scratchy, barely a whisper.

“Conserve your strength.”

I ignore the voice, forcing out another question. “Who are you?”

“No one.”

Chapter67

Holden

---