Page 31 of Anathema
I paused, my face going numb as I stared down at her in horror and disbelief.
How did she know my name and that I was here because of Adrian?
My lips parted. I was at a loss for words. She had caught me off-guard, and knowing that, she threw her body forward to grab my leg. I prematurely pulled the trigger in surprise, shooting her in the shoulder. Abby’s body collapsed back from the force of the bullet, and she resumed her fucked up laughing.
What the actual fuck was going on here?
When this was all said and done, Adrian owed me so many goddamn answers.
Who was this woman? How did she know I would be here? Was she related to Charlotte? How did she know Adrian? Did she work for Anathema as well? Did she know she was going to die tonight and by me?
Rage began fueling me at this point.
This was all a setup—for who? I didn’t give a fuck anymore, but I refused to be the one bleeding out, dead, on the floor of this manor.
I was so sick of everyone taking advantage and using me for their sick and fucked up games.
Shaking my head from its thought spiral, I aimed my gun at hers once more, and this time, without hesitation, I pulled the trigger and didn’t miss.
The bullet went straight through the front of her skull, and her body immediately sagged into the plush white and now red-stained carpet, the endless laughter silenced.
Fuck this shit.
Chapter 14
Alexis
Istaggeredtheentiredistance from the manor to my car; my body was beaten, bruised, and bleeding. I shrugged my jacket over my shoulders, the fabric pulling at the shards of glass embedded into my back and arms. I hissed through my teeth in pain as they tugged at my raw skin.
What an eventful night this turned out to be. Did I expect to leave in worse condition than I arrived? No, but I also didn’t expect to throw myself through a fucking window and play slash tag with an unhinged lady of the night or whoever the fuck she was.
Abigail Brit. The name was unfamiliar, and I had no idea how she knew mine. What was Charlotte’s last name?
“Tell Adrian I send my regards.”
Curiosity and confusion were pulling me down; they were heavy weights tied to my ankles as I fought to understand what exactly had happened in that manor but instead drowned in questions.Abby didn’t leave any room for talking, so I never got the reason for her being there in the first place, let alone why she murdered that man in cold blood.
Granted, he did try to drug her… or at least attempted? Did he drug her? Maybe I was mistaken as to what was dropped in the drink in the first place. But I could have sworn…
Abby never showed signs of the Rohypnol taking effect; she was more alert than ever when I broke through that window. Her fight was strong, not weak like I would have expected with someone high on a date rape drug.
On top of all that, she reminded me so much of Charlotte. The way she spoke and moved, it was as if she had some form of blood relation to her, whether it be sisters or cousins. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the possibility of a relative to Charlotte working for Adrian.
When I opened the driver’s side door, I threw my shredded jacket onto the passenger seat and fell into the car, breathing out a heavy sigh. I sat there for minutes, staring at the street light ahead of me, my mind wandering like a lost soul searching for its purpose.
At that moment, I was a zombie, numb to my surroundings.
My first priority in the morning was hunting down Adrian and getting the answers I deserved. I pulled my phone from the center console cup holder and shot off a strongly worded message to the number he provided me back in the tunnels, not wasting time waiting for him to come to me. The only downside was that this number never responded to messages; it only received them,making me wait until a new letter appeared in my apartment at his convenience.
If he needed me as much as he had claimed, he would stop this bullshit and be straight with me. Between the cryptic messages and now this? I was considering putting a bullet inhishead instead. Not like anyone would miss his smug and pompous ass.
I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth before starting the car and pulling out of the neighborhood I had parked in.
The aggravation I felt was unending, and my knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel hard.
I needed a shower; I needed sleep. But most of all, I needed something I wouldn’t allow myself to have—a certain dark-haired, pretty boy who could get me off without even trying.
Afterarrivingatmyapartment, I parked in the underground resident lot and climbed the stairs to the second floor. My back had been throbbing since I left the manor. The drive home took me around forty-five minutes, and I spent that entire drive in silence. No radio, no music, silence.
