Page 76 of Exile
I knew this motherfucker was up to no good. Pivoting closer to Avery, I step in front of her, painfully aware of the building flames behind us. I'm going to kill this asshole because judging by his stance and seemingly different persona, he's not a patient escaping—he's down here willingly to confront us.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Avery asks, moving closer to me to get a better look at him. "Get the fuck out of here, Rian."
He smiles knowingly at her. "I plan on doing so, but you won't be leaving. Though, I was hoping to just find you, Avery. But two for the price of one? I'm not complaining."
"You won't touch a single hair on her head," I warn. "You've made a grave mistake following us."
Thatcher laughs. "Did you even realize I was following until now? You've lost your touch. I was warned all about thegreat Theobut to be honest, you've been quite the letdown. Did you think I didn't notice you following me the other night?"
Avery glances over at me with confusion. "What is he talking about?"
"Never mind," I tell her. "He's just a dead man walking."
"Cute," Thatcher replies. "But the only one who will be laid to rest is you pair. After all, that's what I've been paid to do."
I fucking knew it.
We suspected he wasn't an actual patient and this confirms it. Avery tenses next to me, angrily blurting out, "Alexander."
"Smart girl," he replies. "I was just meant to keep a close watch on you all, but then you had to go and get married. Well, now that the Will is sorted, there's nothing stopping me from executing our plan."
"How the hell do you know about that?" Avery snaps. "Who are you?"
"That's not important," he replies coolly. "All you need to know is that Alexander sends his condolences and goodbyes. Don't worry. I won't rip your head off like I did with the other one. I hope you enjoyed the little gift I left you."
"You did that to Teddy?" Avery gasps. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Thatcher shrugs. "She knew too much. Started putting her nose where it didn't belong. Just like you."
I'm rather aware of the heat creeping up behind us, sweat starting to form on my skin. Grabbing Avery's arm, I pull her closer to me as I step away from the flames behind us, noticing that the sprinklers haven't turned on yet. "I hope your affairs are in order because I'm about to send you to meet the Devil," I shoot back, charging toward him.
Thatcher whips out a knife from his pocket, but it doesn't deter me. I continue at him, kicking him square in the gut. He stumbles backwards, expression turning angry before he lunges at me, swinging aggressively.
I can hear Avery shouting behind me as the two of us start grappling, my fingers wrapped painfully around his wrist as I try to get him to drop the knife. Finally, it clatters to the floor as he releases it, his other fist connecting with my jaw.
I have to hand it to him, he's much stronger than I gave him credit for. But I still manage to throw him into the wall. He's back on me a second later, hurling blows into my ribcage while I pull him into a chokehold.
"Theo!" Avery calls out, and I gaze at her out of the corner of my eye. She's looking at the flames with wide eyes, the heat and smoke getting closer and starting to pool along the ceiling.
We have to get out of here—now.
Ignoring the blows to my side, I lock hands, strangling the other man. He hits harder in an attempt to free himself, but a second later, he lets out a pained cry, arms dropping to clutch his side. Avery is suddenly in my line of vision, holding up a bloodied knife as she surveys Thatcher's side.
Shoving him into the wall, I follow her direction, spotting blood oozing out of his side as he clutches it and stumbles.
"Aves, let'sgo," I growl, reaching for her.
"Not yet," she says back, stunning me as irritation builds. I need to get her the fuck out of here.
But the irritation quickly vanishes, replaced with surprise as she picks up the discarded chemical bottle, spraying Thatcher with it.
He splutters and coughs. "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Sending my own condolences," Avery replies without hesitation, suddenly kicking him in the upper thigh just below the hole in his side.
Thatcher lets out a pained yell, hitting the ground with a thud. My eyebrows shoot up as I realize what's about to happen, hastily gripping Avery's arm and pulling her toward the exit. She stops again, and as I'm about to snap at her, I watch as she grabs an armful of files from the desk, just as Thatcher's screams start filling the room.
Avery and I pause as the fire engulfed man runs violently into walls as he tries to put it out to no avail. When he starts staggering in our direction, I grab her forearm and pull hertoward the door, water hitting our heads as the sprinklers finally trigger.
