Page 64 of Perilous

I’m letting Vic get under my skin. The way he talks is just so smooth yet so cocky. The guy shows zero fear.

“Go ahead,” Vic whispers. “I’ve lived a good life. Remember Darla? What was her last name?Sparks? Almost like a stripper’s last name. Remember when I tongued fucked her ass. That was a great time for me. Then you showed up and took over. I never saw a woman squirt from having her ass fucked.”

“Why the fuck are you talking about this right now?”

“We’ve got a sleeping cunt over there, Peri. Let’s give it one last ride before you start killing people.”

I step back from Vic. He’s calling my bluff and I’m a fucking mess right now.

“Can I taste her sweet tight ass?” Vic asks.

I spin around and throw a punch. Vic knows it’s coming and he steps out of the way. My fist smashes against the wall. I drop the knife. I lower my head.

“You’re broken,” Ty says. “They finally broke you, Peri.”

“It’s notthey,” I growl.

It’s…her…

Vic picks up his knife. The room remains in complete silence.

Demo breaks the silence. “I hope she’s fucking worth it.”

That comment is why thisbroodfunctions the way it is. There’s reality we all see when others can’t.

“There’s a war within theLegionright now,” I say. “I’m sure there have been wars all along. I’m sure this kind of thing has happened before. I should just kill her right now. Then what? What happens next? When is enough… enough…?”

“Don’t sell it to us, brother,” Vic says. “We’re already here. You need to sell it to yourself. Once and for all.”

“And to be fair,” Demo says, “if you’re not going to do what needs to be done, then I’m going to help myself to a little snack.”

He takes a playful step toward the bed and my eyes go wide with rage. They’re all fucking with me. Pushing me. They all know what I’m refusing to acknowledge.

There’s a war inside theLegion, which really doesn’t concern us. It’s the war I’m fighting that affects us all.

I look at the bed. At Annika as she exists in her drug induced slumber. I know what I have to do. Inside my heart, I fucking know.

I hold out my left hand. “Vic, give me the knife. I have no choice.”

“It’s about fucking time,” Vic growls.

And he hands me the knife.

ChapterTwenty

ANNIKA

There’s no dreaming.Sleep isn’t even real. The drugs just take over my body and make me numb. There’s no existence. I could understand why people would enjoy the feeling and even get addicted to it.

Personally, I hate the feeling. Even when consciousness washes over me, it’s a weird feeling. It’s like slowly turning on a light.

I can wiggle my toes first. My legs feel oozy but alive. The same feeling moves throughout my entire body. There comes a moment when I have the urge to stretch. My body feels stiff from being in the same position for so long. Only when I try to move my hands I realize they’re tied together.Again.

My eyes pop open and to my right sits Peri. He has a knife in his right hand. My blood runs cold and my teeth chatter. I’m still trying to come back to life, so the sudden rush of panic mixed with my body still gently being exhausted is a strange feeling.

“Peri,” I groan.

My voice is groggy. My eyes and my brain can’t figure out what’s going on.

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