Page 48 of Obliterated
“You’re such an idiot,” he mutters under his breath before disposing of the glass once he’s sure I keep holding on to the napkin.
“I’m going to kill him,” I grit through my teeth.
“No, you’re not.” Tass butts in with that maddeningly steady voice of reason. “There are other ways to deal with trash without turning this place into a massacre.”
“But bloodshed is so much more fun,” I mutter when that brute stands up.
Goatee actually has the fucking guts to come this way. Doesn’t realize he’s walking straight into his own death sentence.
His buddies and him push through the crowd, fucking grins on their ugly faces, boots pounding like a war drum. The air changes with them. Conversations falter, laughter snaps off, the whole bar sinking into a hush, waiting for the show they know is about to start.
They stop right next to us and his eyes land on Kieran. That smirk spreads, rotten yellow teeth on show. “So you’ll bend only for him, huh? The champion? I hope he didn’t break you in too much. I like my holes tight.”
My entire fucking body tenses.
Tass’s fingers clamp down on my forearm, hard enough to bruise, and my gaze snaps to her. “He’s goading you,” she hisses, voice only for me. “I think that’s the point. Push you into snapping. Put you back in the Pit. That’s what he wants. What Joyeus and Noura want.”
My jaw grinds. The muscle in my neck twitches. The itch under my skinclaws, hungry, begging me to end him right here. But I listen to her. I hold. For now.
My stare goes back to him. Cold, merciless, promising.
“Get our colleagues,” I mutter to her. “Let’s deal with this trash your way.” It’s my way of telling her I won’t snap, that I’ll keep my cool.
Her eyes widen before she lets me go and scurries off fast, slipping through the crowd.
Goatee smirks wider at our little exchange. “What? No snarky comeback? No bite tonight, Max? Thought you were the Pit’s monster. Guess your pretty boy got you tamed.” He leans in, voice dropping filthier. “Bet that ass is the only thing keeping your teeth in check.”
Yeah. No.
I rise. The last scraps of noise in the bar dying instantly, leaving a heavy silence. All eyes on us. He doesn’t cower though. If anything, he comes closer.
Tass was right. This is their plan. Goading me so I get sent back into the Pit.
He leans in, breath sour. “You think you’re something ’cause you’re Immune? Us Touched, we’re stronger than you, Max. If it’ll come to it, I’ll put you down myself. No ring, no rules. Just you and me.”
The cackle that comes out of my mouth is maniacal. “You might have the heightened strength, the heightened senses,” I say, leaning forward until my mouth is an inch from his ear. “But why do you think you fucking infectees can’t beat me? Because you have no fucking control, you rotten, half-feral mutt. You have nothing to fight for. No future. You’re already dead.”
That does it. He shoves me and I stagger one deliberate step, then grin up at him, slow and lethal.
“Fuck you, Max. I could wipe the floor with you and you know it. Immune or not, you’re still flesh and blood. You’re not immune to blades or bullets. Neither is that little boy of yours when I get my hands on him.”
“Fuckingdareme,” I whisper, low so only he hears, the corner of my mouth kicking up into a smirk. “Darethreaten him again.Daretouch what’s mine.Daretry me, and find out exactly what happens when you push me.”
He bares his teeth. “Fuck you. I’ll rip your throat out, leave you bleeding where you stand… and I’ll make sure he watches every second. Fuck him on your rotting corpse.”
His words might as well have been music.
I straighten, pull myself back into the room, and raise my voice because I have to play my cards right. “Did you just threaten me? Pity, I never caught your name. I’d have to care as much as you clearly do about me to bother learning it.”
The whole bar hears it, exactly like I planned.
“Of course I fucking threatened you,” he hisses, claws of rage under his words. “You want me fucking quiet? Try me and I’ll make you wish you’d never opened your mouth.”
“Did you hear that?” I call to Tass as she returns, flanked by a half-dozen Watchers on the clock.
“Sure did, Sergeant,” one of them says smoothly, eyes glinting.
“Good.” I nod once, never breaking eye contact with the seething fucking bastard. “Take him in for threatening a Watcher and making public threats. The rest of the group, too. I don’t like their faces.”
