Page 23 of Reaper's Revenge
“What the hell?” My brother mutters, echoing my thoughts exactly as he turns in his seat. I’m already off my stool, darting for the door.
Chapter Seventeen
Athena
With a cry, I fling the driver’s side door open as soon as the truck comes to a screeching halt. For a moment there, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to stop the truck in time with how fast I was going. I thought I was going to be making my entrance to the clubhouse through the side of their wall and not the front door. Considering it looks like part of it is already under construction, I’m sure they’d be extremely pissed off if they had another project to add.
I’m shaking so badly when I attempt to jump out of the truck that I immediately stumble, arms flailing in the process. My knees kiss the pebbled ground, hard, and I wince on instinct. It doesn’t hurt, not like it would’ve in the past, but I’m not expecting it. It’s far too easy to revert to my normal self and not remember my body has been feeling stronger, faster, and less of a klutz overall, ever since I woke up and drank the blood.
Tears continue to stream down my face as my stomach churns. Anxiety encompasses my body so strongly that I feel the nauseating uncertainty bursting inside my chest, ready to wreak havoc. My body is jittery all over as I manage to get to my feet, and I can’t stop shaking, no matter how many times I chant to myself, I’ll get out of this predicament somehow.
Reaching inside the truck, I grab the knife and wooden paper towel holder with one hand from the seat, and then race around the open door. I glance up just in time to see Reaper’s imposing form filling the clubhouse’s doorway. Oh, thank heavens!
“Reaper!” I wail, sobs wracking me as emotions hit me from every direction, making me feel like I’m losing my mind. This entire event has been horrifically traumatic, and I don’t think I will ever be the same as I was before. I immediately run for him, weapons in one hand, as I keep glancing behind me.
He runs for me in return, the moment he realizes it’s me. “Athena? Thank the Gods! Are you okay? I’ve been so worried.”
“N-no-o,” I stammer, unable to smother the fear licking up my back. “S-she’s r-right b-behind me. We have to h-hurry.” Maybe we can get inside with the doors locked before she can cause too much damage. If she breaks a window, we can try stabbing her as she enters. I think it’s the only way to actually incapacitate her. These guys are going to think I’m nuts when I tell them the plan.
My cheeks burn from all the tears I’ve cried since yesterday. I was sobbing heavily on my way here, knowing Veronica was right behind me, practically nipping at my heels, while I’ve been scared for my life. Several of his club brothers pour out of the entrance, lining up in front of the building. She can’t see them; I can’t allow it. I have no doubt she’ll incapacitate and drain them just like she did to the couple at the farmhouse.
“H-hurry, we have to get inside, all of us! She’s crazy.” The last thing I want is for any of them to get hurt. Even with them being big and muscular, she’s wickedly strong and undeniably fast.
My fear’s momentarily broken up by the sound of Veronica’s car as it comes speeding into the parking lot. Her brakes lock up as she screeches to a halt. In the next beat, she practically leaps from the car as she throws her driver’s side door open wide.
Her crimson eyes immediately lock onto me, full of bone-chilling hatred that makes my blood turn to ice in an instant with dread. Her scarlet hair whips behind her as if she’s racing through a storm, even though there isn’t a cloud in sight in the Texas sky. The highlighted strands stand out under the fading light as the spotlights begin to automatically switch on around the parking lot, and I can’t help but wonder if it was always that way or if it changed when she became a vampire. Her lips curl into an evil, mocking smile, dried blood surrounding them, driving home a look that promises pure pain and torture once she gets her hands on me.
My spine tingles with each menacing step she takes toward us, my heart slamming against my ribs so hard I think it might break through. I’m stronger than I was yesterday, I can feel it in my bones, but is it enough to stay alive if she decides to try and rip me to pieces? She’d tossed me around yesterday, a mere rag doll in her clutches, kicking me to the point it hurt to breathe. Yet, here I am, standing on my own two feet, staring down the devil I’ve swiftly come to know in the short period of time since I was taken.
“Get behind me, my love,” Reaper murmurs.
A protective instinct like no other curls inside me at his endearment, driving me to stand taller. My lips firm, with my hands resting on my hips, as I silently promise Veronica won’t get through me as easily as she did yesterday. There’s no way I can sit by idly and watch Reaper get hurt by her. He’s the epitome of strength and resilience, but she’s avampire.
“I can’t let her get to you,” I whisper his way, not wanting her to hear me.
We’ve just found each other, but somehow, I know he’s meant to be mine. The sensation that vibrates between us is all-encompassing, a power and fierceness unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It all links me directly to Reaper, and the feeling in my heart tells me it’s forever.
I swipe at my tear-stained face, hating how she can easily see how upset I’ve been on the heart-racing drive over here. I was terrified I wasn’t going to make it out of the farmhouse alive, let alone into the truck, and then she allow me to make it this far. Now, however, it’s time to face my fears, no matter how badly I know it’ll hurt. She’ll tear my body to shreds just out of spite; I can feel it. However, I’m hoping I can wound her enough with the knife or the wooden towel holder to at least stop her from completely destroying Reaper and his club brothers.
The invisible tether linking him and me only grows stronger the moment he touches me, pulling me behind him. He and the other men attempt to form a wall of leather and muscle between us, but it’s no use. Veronica doesn’t skip a beat coming for me. There’s murder blazing in her stare. My knees nearly buckle as my world shifts beneath me.
Before I can scream any sort of warning for them to move, she’s darted to the left, moving so fast she’s nearly a blur of arms, hands, nails, and teeth. She grabs Midnight, the prospect I’d met one night when Reaper had given me a ride home, and tosses him to the side. She’s on him in an instant, going for his throat.
I can’t breathe, let alone think, with everything happening all at once. The metallic scent of fresh blood fills my nostrils, and I find myself inhaling deeply, my mouth watering at the unique scents pouring through the air. Now’s not the time to go all vampire-craving-blood, but it’s difficult to resist.
A moment later, Chaos is on her. He rips her off the young prospect, throwing her a good ten feet in front of us. She lands on all fours, sprawled, like a rabid animal. She quickly recovers, reminding me of a wild animal like a bear or something that doesn’t fall easily, and it’s terrifying.
In the next blink, Reaper moves, and so help me, but I swear he’s quicker than she is in the small space between them. His body is a powerhouse as he stands firm between Veronica and me, hands outstretched to his sides. He’s waiting for her to attack, and I can’t possibly bear the thought of her killing him.
He means too much.
Hell, he meanseverything.
I watch them circle each other, unspoken promises heavy in the air, and know nothing will ever be the same. I’m terrified, but I can’t look away from their bodies, wondering what will happen to me—to all of us—when the dust finally settles and we find out who has paid the ultimate price with their life. I sense her presence like ice water scratching down my spine as my heart slams against my ribs while I face down the very monster I’ve been trying to escape from.
I don’t have a choice, I know I have to do this.
Not giving Reaper time to protest, I jump in front of him the moment Veronica pounces. I blindly wave the knife and towel holder in front of me, praying that at least one of them hits her and not him. I catch something with the tip of the knife, maybe her stomach, as a new scent of blood fills the air. Her furious wail is all I need as I attempt to stab her again, and again.
