Page 76 of Power
Turns out they are attached to the walls in front of a long counter and mirror, like old hotel ones.
Well, it’ll dry my hair, and that’s all I’m bothered about.
I set up and flick the towel off my head, combing my hair out and ignoring the woman next to me as she does to me.
Before I can pick up the dryer, a voice behind me makes my blood run cold.
“Oh, look, it’s slutty Alice.”
I spin, coming face-to-face with Trish. She is freshly showered and dressed, with her hair still coiffed and immaculate by being in a shower cap.
“Fuck off,” I grit out, seriously not in the mood for this bitch. Why is she always lurking in the ladies’ rooms? Fucking creep.
The other woman, who was drying her hair, glances between us and hastily packs up her stuff, hightailing it out of there as fast as she can. I don’t blame her. If my body weren’t so stiff, I’d be doing the same.
Except Trish blocks my way and gives me a shove on my shoulder. “You pretend to be so innocent, but you’re just a snake,” she hisses.
The irony makes me snort. Pot and kettle come to mind. “Leave me alone, Trish; I’m not interested in fighting with you.” I draw in a steadying breath, hoping she will just go away.
No such luck.
“Too bad,” she drawls. “I’m not going anywhere until you realize you fucked with the wrong person.”
Panic hits my chest when she pulls something out of her bag and holds it up. A blade flicks out of the knife menacingly.
I step back. “Trish,” I say calmly. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Actually, I do. Alice was supposed to be mine, and you swooped in and took it from me. You’re a fucking bitch, and I hate you.”
Freezing in fear, unsure of what to do next, I gasp. Before I can even blink, she takes a step forward and lunges with the knife, completely delusional in her rantings. Its sharp silver blade glints in the light. I raise my arms in defense, my body, if not my mind, remembering the self-defense classes I took at university when a predatory stalker was roaming the campus.
The blade slices across my forehead as I struggle with her, searing pain spreading like wildfire through my skin. I meet her gaze. She is triumphant, thrilled that she hurt me, but she isn’t done yet. Grappling with her, the tip of the blade getting closer and closer to my eye, I stamp suddenly on her foot. She grunts and loosens her tense arms slightly. I manage to duck out of the way and stagger back, hitting the cold tile wall. Trish, who was leaning so heavily into me, loses her balance and stumbles forward, her grip on the knife loosening as she struggles to regain her balance and trips over a towel that the other woman had left on the floor in her haste. Trish falls, the side of her head hitting the counter with a loud thud before she slumps to the floor, blood pooling around her.
The room suddenly goes silent as I stand in shock, my body shaking from the sudden surge of adrenaline. I can feel the warmth of the blood dripping down my face and neck from the cut she gave me, and I touch it lightly with trembling fingertips.
Gazing down at Trish, I’m like a deer in headlights, frozen to the spot.
Then, the world rushes back to me, making me lightheaded and nauseous.
“Owen,” I croak out and then clear my throat. “Archer! Owen!”
They said they would be close.
“Archer!” I scream, not knowing what else to do.
The door bursts open, and Finn storms in, looking like an avenging angel and taking in the scene before him quickly and accurately. His gaze flicks from the cut on my forehead to Trish lying unconscious or, worse, bleeding out all over the tiled floor. The knife is lying next to her limp hand.
“Help her!” I urge him, my feet still frozen to the spot.
He doesn’t answer. He just crouches down next to her and feels for a pulse. Then he places his hand over her face, squeezing her nose and covering her mouth with his palm.
“Finn!”
“No one makes you bleed except me,” he says so calmly, I think he has completelynotregistered the situation at all.
“Finn,” I gasp desperately as he increases the pressure of his hand over her face.
“No one makes you bleed except me, Alice.”
