Page 147 of The Reluctant Hero

Instead of regaining my feet I sweep the stick through the air, hitting him in the knee. There’s that crunching sound, a little wetter this time. And then a lot of screaming as he falls over, clutching his knee.

South’s brows go up as I struggle to my feet.

“You broke it! You bitch!”

“Why is that always the first curse word,” I mutter angrily and stand over his writhing form. I move into a flat wrist twirl with the stick. The move is fast and made a lot more menacing with the mallet end spinning around at speed. I’ve still got it.

His face gets even paler, if that was possible and South tilts her head with both brows raised.

“Just answer the fucking question, dipshit. You did this to you.”

“Blake paid me to harass you, that’s it!” He screams out as tears roll down his cheeks. Then, he spends a lot of time rocking and moaning in pain.

“He doesn’t own this place?” I ask after he settles and stop the twirl with a snap of the baton.

“No,” his voice cracks, his wide eyes firmly on the weapon.

“Was that answer worth a knee?” I ask him in a bland tone.

“Please don’t kill me,” he sobs.

I give South a skeptical look. “Can you believe this guy?”

“I’ll tell them everything,” he babbles over me.

That regains my attention.

“You’ll tell who what?” I ask darkly.

“Matthias’ guard. The big guy. I’ll tell him about Blake. I’ll tell him I lied. I swear.”

I stare down at him without expression. He’s talking about Mikael. They said the landlord told them I was a liar. Yet he knows that Mikael is Gabriel’s bodyguard. A niggling suspicion raises its hand in my mind.

“Who owns the building?” I ask flatly.

“I don’t know. Someone with Matthias. I don’t know a name!”

Then, the eviction letter is real. I was so blinded by my faith in them when the red slip of paper burning a hole in my back pocket was the first shot over the bow.

“Gabriel is not involved in this,” South says, watching him cry at our feet.

“He just admitted it right in front of you,” I glare at her.

The landlord looks at me and then where I’m looking.

“W-who are you talking to?”

I blink at him and look up at South again. She’s already staring at me with a hair-raising psychotic grin on her face.Being this close to her, with that expression, should terrify me. Instead, it pisses me the fuck off.

“You don’t see her,” I kick his foot, forgetting that I just broke his knee.

He screams and cries, but I don’t remove my stare from South, and she doesn’t look away from me. She looks like a frozen sculpture waiting to make a jump scare.

“You’re the only one here! Please! Leave me alone.”

He keeps begging as my head tilts to the side.

Either I’m crazy, or the rest of the world is. I don’t think I give a shit anymore.

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