Page 138 of Inception

“I was referring to your choice in men. You certainly know how to pick them.”

I felt the sting on my palm even before I registered what I’d done. Ihithim. I hit Dominic Huntington right in the face.

I held my breath for what felt like an eternity as I waited for him to delve out the consequences for my massive misstep. But none came. He barely flinched nor did he say anything. My eyes moved to his hand still wrapped around Taylor’s porcelain neck. I wondered if he was pressing down. If he was slowly strangling her to death. And then suddenly, as if responding to my thoughts, he released her from his grip.

“Go.” His dark eyes bore into hers. “Forget everything that happened here tonight and go home.”

Taylor turned on her heels and started off towards the door. I immediately tried to follow suit but Dominic snagged my wrist and pulled me back.

“Let me go, Dominic. Please, I’m begging you.”

“Oh, I intend to,” he said, his tone harsher now. “I have no desire to walk in the wake of the death and misfortune you leave behind.” He stared down at me, watching me with his dark eyes as though trying to read me. “Utterly infuriating.”

I shifted under his unrelenting stare, uncomfortable by our proximity. By his words. By the fact that I was alone with a soulless vampire who had no empathy or self-restraint.

He took a step towards me, surprising me. His hold on my arm tightened as he inched closer to me, moving as though he were going to kiss me. As though he were invited. The very thought of it sickened me, enraged me.

I shoved him back with both hands, freeing myself from his grip. He let out a sharp mocking laugh, showing me once again that this was all a game to him.Iwas a game.

But I would not be played any longer. Not by him. Not by Trace. Not by anyone.

I reached around and grabbed the chair from behind me and smashed it to the ground in a fit of rage. My strength surprised both of us. I looked down at the scrambled pieces and without even making the decision, I reached down and snagged a piece of jagged wood from the wreckage. Long and pointed, just the way I needed it to be.

I looked up at him, makeshift wooden stake in my hand and lifted it into position.

“You won't do it,” he said, so sure of himself and of me. “You don't have it in you, angel.”

“Yes I do.”

“You would have already done it.” He took a step towards me, and then another, putting himself right in my line of fire.

A moment of deadened silence passed between us as we stared each other down in remnants of the old church. Me with the wooden stake in hand and him with that lopsided smirk that made my blood boil. I hated that smirk. I hated him. The world would be better off without Dominic Huntington existing in it.

So then why wasn't my arm moving? Why wasn't I doing the one thing I swore I’d do if I ever had the chance?

A bustle of men burst into the room, jolting me upright. Dominic snatched my elbow and pulled me to him, stepping in front of me as if to hide me, to protect me. I looked up at him baffled; one minute he's trying to kill me and the next minute he's protecting me? This man, this godforsaken thing, was not only depraved, he was obviously insane, too.

Let me handle this, said a balmy voice inside my mind. It wasn’t my voice. It was a man’s voice. Dominic’s voice—familiar and sultry. Either he just spoke to me through my mind or I was going crazy…again.

“Dominic, my friend,” said the leader of the pact. He was much smaller than the men that followed but there was something alarmingly unsettling about him. His long dark hair was slicked all the way back, accentuating his disproportionally large forehead. “I trust you have what we're looking for.”

“There's been a slight problem, Engel.”

Engel?TheEngel? My eyes zeroed in on him.

This was the man that has been tormenting my sister for months, haunting her like a nightmare, and yet there didn't seem to be very much to him. In fact, he looked rather sickly—thin framed, pale skin—especially in comparison to the other men around him.

I took each of them in, assessing their strengths and weapons, and noticed the long blond locks amidst the group.

Taylor.

The tall, burly man standing behind Engel had her by her arm, holding her against her will. They must have grabbed her on their way in.

“A problem you say?” Engel’s pale eyes glowered with supremacy.

“The Reaper has the Amulet,” explained Dominic. There was a definite nervous pitch to his voice.

“Tsk, tsk.” Engel shook his head in a scolding manner. “I'm disappointed in you, Dominic. You hadonejob.”

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