Page 130 of Merciless Intents

“And you think he wouldn’t do something awful to her to keep me in line? And what the fuck is this, Asher? Huh? Why are yousohell bent on me admittingany-damn-thing whenyoufeel the same way? Why are you pushing me toward this, knowing you want her? Isn’t that counterproductive for you? I’m your fucking competition. Trust me. You don’t want me loving her. You want me to stay away.”

His eyes widened. “Love? I never said anything about love. I said you need to admit having feelings for her. Are you… inlovewith her?”

Without warning, without even knowing I’d do it, I swung on Asher. My fist connected hard with his face, sending him back a couple of feet since he didn’t see it coming. Shock was all over his face, but it quickly turned to anger as he rushed forward to tackle me. Within seconds, he and I were on the floor, throwing punches and wrestling to pin the other.

“Fuck you, Damian!” Asher said as he punched me across the face.

My lip split open, and I immediately tasted blood. Kneeing him in the stomach, I managed to throw him off before straddling him and punching him in the ribs. He coughed hard before crossing his arms over his face to protect him from my next swing.

“I don’t have fucking feelings for her!” I yelled before leaning back and punching him in the stomach to get him to drop his arms. When he did, I grabbed him by the throat with both hands. “You don’t fucking know what you’re talking about. If I cared about herat all, I’d have to get rid of her. I’d have to treat her even worse than I already have.”

“Why?” he asked.

He’d stopped fighting beneath me and clung to my wrists. There was already a purple bruise forming around his left eye from my first punch.

“Because Ican’tlet anyone hurt Temperance. Ican’tlet anything happen to her.” My head sagged in defeat as I panted and my heart raced. I let go of his throat and leaned over on my hands before collapsing on the floor next to him. “I don’t know what the fuck to do. This started off as one thing, and it quickly turned into something else. I don’t understand.”

Asher huffed. “When Harper first came to you at the party, I told you she was pretty incredible.”

I nodded. That he did. I’d just thought she was a pretty face with little substance. I figured with her goth look that she was interesting. Maybe crazy—which meant she’d probably be crazy in bed. But that wasn’t how things turned out at all. Well, minus the crazy in bed part.Fuck.

She was different than anyone I’d ever met.

“Yes, you did. And I wish I’d listened.”

Standing, I walked over to the tequila and poured another double and drained it before heading toward my bathroom.

“I’m getting in the shower. Be gone by time I get back.”

I didn’t need to wait around for an answer. He knew me well enough to know I was serious. I just hoped he knew me well enough never to bring up that topic ever again because it wouldn’t end well. It hadn’t ended well this time, either.

Unfortunately, as fun as the weekend was, it had all been a mistake. I’d let Temperance get too close, and now I had to fix that.

Fortunately, spending that time with her allowed her to get comfortable, which meant her guard would be down. All I needed to do now was figure out what to do next that would hit below the belt. Something truly horrible that would send her away for good. I needed her the fuck out of my hair and the fuck away from Crestview.

It was time I quit playing around and do the job Harper commissioned me to do. It was time to win a bet and get Temperance out of Crestview, out of California, and away the fuck from me.

Permanently.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

TEMPERANCE

Waking up today felt different than last week. I still had my usual nightmares, but somehow, I could control it. I wasn’t just a bystander, forced to watch while the Sandman peeled my eyelids back to make sure I saw every dreadful moment. This time, I could close my eyes. I was aware.

I looked around long enough to see there was nothing new. There were literal holes—blurry or black spots—in the dream where my memory hadn’t filled it in. It was something I’d never noticed before, and it was strange. It took a minute to figure out why they existed, but upon waking, I realized I didn’t remember seeing anything in those areas of the church. Then it made sense.

It both annoyed me and brought me hope. It confirmed the dreams weren’tjustdreams. My subconscious was obsessively replaying the memory on a loop while I slept, trying to piece things together. Honestly, it was probably a good thing, since my waking brain was too busy obsessing over something else entirely.

Like making it through the day with a target on my back at Crestview.

Anxiety welled in me as I got ready for class, and during my first two periods and even through lunch, I was distracted by it. It was like there was a dull hum in my belly as well as my brain. I thought about taking half of a Xanax, but I worried it might make me too tired. I’d only had to take a few since therapy started, and I hoped to keep it that way.

“You okay?” Justin asked at lunch.

I nodded. “Yeah. It was a crazy weekend, and I think it’s fucking with me.”

“Youhad a crazy weekend?” Luna asked. She leaned forward. “What happened? Did something happen with Damian or Asher?”

---