Page 59 of Dragon Strife
As much as I’ve thought it through and pulled some of the blame off my little sister, I’m still harboring a lot of hatred. It’s hard to look at her and not see the blood staining her hands. It’s equally hard not to blame her for me having to shoot her father in the head. It’s irrational, I’m aware.
The door slowly opens, then she kicks it open farther as I quickly close my eyes, expecting me to jump out and attack her, but that’s not how I operate. I love the spaces between conflict, those agonizing seconds as the seconds tick down, then the fast burn of detonation. I pride myself on not being predictable.
“Just couldn’t stay away, huh?” I hate how hoarse I sound, as if I was in agony down here. Not to mention the nasally whine in my tone from my broken nose.
“Did the naughty boy have time to think about his behavior? Is he ready to admit what he’s done?” Genni singsongs into the room, the sound bouncing off the walls.
“Did you wash the piss off you? I swear I can still smell it.” It almost feels like we’re kids again, when teasing her was one of my favorite things to do.
I finally open my eyes and let the light from the hallway sear into my retinas. It takes a while for them to adjust, but Genni’s form slowly comes into focus as she leans against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, one hand holding a bottle of water. My throat pulses at the sight, but I refuse to give in.
“Shouldn’t you close the door?” Itsk. “What if I run out of here?”
“You wouldn’t get far.” She snickers and tips her head to the side. “Sounds like your nose is broken real good. Scale between one and ten, how bad does it hurt?”
“Meh.” I shrug, the movement aching as my muscles protest. “I’ve had worse. Three.”
“I probably would’ve rated it an eleven seven months ago, but I would probably agree with you on three now. You know, after the torture I endured.” I can hear the violence in her tone begging to be unleashed. She wants a fight, a reason to justify injuring me or maybe even killing me.
“Not veryPresidentof you to get yourself kidnapped and raped. Sounds like I helped you out. You’d have only been a fucking failure.” That does it. She straightens off the wall as her arms fall back to her sides, the bottle falling to the ground and her hands slowly curling into fists.
“Are you asking to be killed?” she grounds out, the sound of her hatred soaking through my chest and wrapping itself around my heart. What’s one more person hating me? What’s losing the last vestiges of my family? It’s not like I truly had them to begin with.
“By you? C’mon,” I drawl. “You know it’s true. Would Quinton have gotten himself kidnapped and raped? What about your boy, Malik? Diego?”
“Quinton is upstairs, knocked out cold on the floor. You’re in here, trapped and suffering with a broken nose. I would say yes, any of you could be kidnapped and raped. You have an asshole to fuck and wrists to be tied. Don’t make me prove it to you.” Okay, that shouldn’t be hot and I definitely shouldn’t be envisioning her tying me up and — “I swear to god, Jaeger, you’re fucking evil. Did you always hate me?” She throws her hands up, clearly exasperated, and her face flushed with irritation.
“Pretty much.” I nod and am rewarded with a sudden head rush. I try not to wince and instead focus my eyes on hers. “You’re still a whiny little bitch.” I slowly push myself to stand, using the wall as leverage, and stare her down. “If getting kidnapped, thrown in a basement, and raped didn’t change that, I don’t see what will.” Then she’s running at me, her boots hitting the steel floor in thundering beats, the sounds matching my pounding heart. Her small fist swings backward and I tense, preparing for the impact. I don’t block it when it slams into my cheek and I take the pain that radiates throughout my skull. This is the most alive I’ve felt in a long-ass time. “Is that all you got, baby sister?” I taunt. “Didn’t feel like a President’s punch. Your dying daddy could do better than that.”
“Fuck you!” she screams, kicking me in the stomach. I bend forward and wrap my arms around the pain, only to be kneed in the forehead, making me hit the wall at my back. “He was your dad too, Jaeger!”
“Yeah,” I wheeze out. “He was, but he had no problem turning his back on everything he promised me.”
“Get over yourself!” She kicks out my right knee, making me fall to the floor. “You ruined everything because you couldn’t get your way.”
“He asked me to kill him, Genni,” I confess. “He told me if the time came when he needed to be put out of his misery, I was to shoot a bullet in his head. He made me Vice because he knew I loved him enough to do it.”
“No!” she yells. “I don’t believe you!” She continues to stand over me, her chest heaving with each angry breath she takes.
“The day he made me Vice, he told me it was because I was ruthless, and later when he told me about his illness, he said he found out that same day he gave me the fucking position.” Tears fall down her cheeks as her chest heaves, accentuating the leather cut draped over her shoulders. “It was a calculated move and one he knew I was salivating for. The fucker had everything planned, including dangling that President’s position in front of me, only to take it away. Of course, I was going to come up against my opponent with everything I had.”
Her fist strikes me in the mouth, making my tooth sink into the soft flesh of my bottom lip. Blood explodes on my tongue and I spit it to the floor as she screams, “I was your sister! You were supposed to take care of me!”
“I suppose you’re right,” I spit out each word, blood and saliva spraying outward. “I should’ve taken care of you, but you were never my sister.”
“How can you say that, Jaeger?” She shakes her head and grabs my hair in her fist, forcing my head back to look up at her. “You were someone I looked up to, someone I fucking thought would protect me from the monsters in my life. Instead, you became one.” She tightens her hold on the strands, pulling them painfully from my scalp.
“But look at you now, a full-blown Dragon Slayer. What do you need with big brothers who don’t give a shit about you?” The words have the intended effect as she hauls me up to standing, ripping some of the hair from my head in the process. I could fight her off but in a way, I’m enjoying her touch, even if it’s filled with hatred. Her hands land on my chest to shove me back against the wall, but I grab onto her wrists and drag her in close, taking in a deep breath infused with her scent and something a bit spicy. My feelings for Genni have always been confusing. She’s my baby sister, but she’s not really. She’s attractive but off-limits, and when she’s this close to me and I have nothing to lose, my mind shuts down and my body takes over. “Genni, I didn’t mean for those things to happen to you.” She’s panting, her chest heaving against mine, and her breath coating my face. “I didn’t think it all through because I’m an asshole and I wanted you to suffer.” She struggles in my grip, but my hold stays firm. “But if anyone was going to teach you a lesson, it should’ve been me.” I lean in and press my cheek to hers, loving how her body stiffens with my closeness. I know she feels everything I do. “Barrett took what should’ve been mine. Your father left you in my care, and I squandered what I should’ve kept.”
“Are you insane?” Her eyes widen as she pulls her head back to look at me. “Are you saying you should’ve been the one to rape me, Jaeger?”
“You and I both know it wouldn’t have been rape.” I snicker and lean in, bringing my mouth a fraction of an inch from hers. “When I had your legs wrapped around my waist that night, my hard cock pressing against your soaked pussy, you were all too willing.”
I release her with a shove, chuckling when she stumbles backward. “I… I–I was in s–shock that ni… night,” she stammers, her words rushed. “You’ve always been just my b–brother.”
My head pounds from her previous assault as I look at her through hooded eyelids, making sure to smile widely. “Prove it, Genni.”
“Your mother would be so disappointed in you right now!” she exclaims. Her body is so tense that I bet I could break her in half because of it. Those blue eyes of hers are wide with shock and her fists are clenched at her sides, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike me again.
