Page 27 of Prince of Tides
“Nice mark,” I chided, touching my cheek at the same spot on his where a welt from Laurie’s punch was forming.
Eric reached behind his back. I braced to use some of my powers to ensure he couldn’t fire a round, but his hand returned with a knife.
“Piss off,” he spat. “I’ve had enough of you. Get out of my way, and I won’t hurt you.”
I crossed my arms, deliberately rendering myself helpless for a long second if he came at me. “Now, after all our interactions, just what makes you think you can hurt me? Seriously.”
Eric waved the knife intimidatingly. He wasn’t backing down, and I couldn’t blame him. He was tall and fit. Sure, I was bigger and fitter, but without the knowledge that I was a dragon, the knife would definitely seem to more than even the fight up.
“Not going to work on me, bucko,” I drawled. “Got anything bigger hiding in that gigantic asshole of yours? Oh, wait, that’s just your personality.”
Laurie snickered behind me.
“Fuck you,” Eric spat at her.
My arms uncoiled, and I was on him in an instant. My fingers closed around the knife-holding wrist, and I held it immovable while my other hand slapped his face back and forth twice.
“How did you find me?” I snarled. “Tell me! How did you find me?! Did you follow me?”
Eric was still struggling to free his hands.
“No,” I mused, mostly talking to myself. “You didn’t. You were gone before us, and I’d have noticed if you were tailing us. So, how the hell did you find me …”
The answer sank in. He hadn’t known me until a few hours ago. There was no time for him to do anything regarding me. Which meant that if he hadn’t followed us from the house, he had a way to track us. Except the only one he could track …
“You’re tracking her phone, aren’t you?” I hissed. “Aren’t you?”
There was a very brief moment of hesitation before Eric shook his head.
“Liar!” I roared, while behind me, Laurie freaked out as she realized that it was likely no recent occurrence.
Suddenly beyond furious, I tossed Eric back toward the car. He hit the concrete hard enough that the knife flew from his hands and skittered away under a nearby vehicle. Panicked, he scrambled after it, but I stopped him with a boot to his back, flattening him to the floor.
“Tell her how to get rid of it!” I said, switching my boot to a knee and pulling back on his head until his neck was dangerously stretched. “Now.”
“Fuck yo—urk!”
I rotated his head a little, and Eric fell silent, likely realizing how close he was to serious damage. Reluctantly, he told her what app he’d installed to track her, and she quickly deleted it.
“I can’t believe you,” she said, obviously shaken. “When did I ever give you a need to feel like you had to track me?”
Eric remained sullen and quiet. I leaned down to speak into his ear.
“Do you realize how close you are to being paralyzed for life?” I threatened, wrenching his neck around just ahairmore.
The answering whimper was all the confirmation I needed that he knew.
“Good. Now, get out of here. I don’t ever want to see you around again,” I growled. “If I so much assmellyou, you’ll be begging me to finish you off after I’m done. But you don’t deserve a quick death. Pricks you like, they deserve to suffer. The choice is yours. Now, get the fuck out of my sight.”
Eric stood up, backing away as he dusted himself off. “You’ll regret that,” he threatened. “Both of you.”
I advanced on him with a step, my growl filling the parking lot.
Eric yelped and took off up the exit ramp toward the surface. I watched him go until he had rounded the bend to the upper floor of the parking garage, and then I turned to Laurie.
“Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?” I asked, looking her over.
She shook her head, looking out through the windshield at nothing in particular. “I feel so violated,” she whispered. “He was tracking me? Watching every place I went to? For how long? Why?”
