Page 46 of Anathema Codex

Her argument is disappointingly pathetic. I've never cared about fair fights. That's for sports and other shit like that. Killing people isn't a team sport, even if they like to treat it like one, and there's no referee going to call foul just because I finally put Willa in her place. The only thing holding me back is that we're still on the highway, and a bloody, dead body in the passenger seat might attract some attention.

That, and I'm still not sure how Aftyn will react when I slice Willa open.

It's better to be out of the car for this, and I have to admit I'm a little curious about whether or not she's got the kind of skills to take me out. Lifting the knife away, I let go of her hair and pat her on the head. "I honestly don't give a fuck if you die fairly. Death is death either way, but you know what? I think I would like to see what you're made of... to find out what you're like when you drop the mask."

Willa twists around in the seat, rage burning in her pretty blue eyes. "Oh, I'll show you what I'm made of just before I gut you, you stupid fucking bitch."

Lifting the knife up, I tilt it back and forth. "Name-calling really doesn't bother me either, but if you keep giving me more reasons to kill you, eventually I'm just going to decide that shutting you up is more entertaining than seeing just how interesting you might be before you die."

"Yeah, we'll see who's standing when all is said and done," she grumbles over her shoulder as she drops back into her seat, and I let her have the last word. I'm not playing the same game she and Aftyn are playing. I don't care whether they like me or not, and I definitely don't want to be the alpha of whatever little pack they've formed.

Still, I'm not an idiot. I keep the knife in my hand, resting on my thigh, just in case Willa or Aftyn decide to playmygame a little early.

Otherwise, I guess we'll just resolve this after Aftyn meets his dad.

TWENTY-NINE

The Devil in the Flesh

AFTYN

The street is quiet when I finally turn onto it.

My hands are shaking, and I can’t tell if it’s because of these bitches going at each other or if it’s because I’m nervous. The latter would be a foreign emotion to me and that’s what’s fucking with me right now.

Nerves are for the weak and I’mnotweak.

I grit my teeth as Daphne giggles and Willa turns to glare at her again, but I keep my eyes on the numbers of the houses as they begin to go up. I lower the radio so I can see better and glance at the navigation system.

Five hundred feet on the left.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I ease off the gas because if I drive past the house, I don’t know if I’ll turn around and go back.

But when the electronic voice tells me that I’ve arrived at my destination, I pull into the first empty spot directly across the street.

Raking a hand back through my hair, I glance at Wills for some emotional support. The kind that tells me that even though she wants to kill me for what I’ve done, that she’s still here for me.

It’s not there, though, and I don’t think I’ll ever see it again.

“Well?” she barks at me. “Are we going or are you just going to piss your pants right here?”

My eyes narrow dangerously at her.

I understand her hate right now but she knows what a big deal this is to me. I would have hoped that she would have given me some leeway.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Daphne pipes up from the back seat. “I wanna meet your dad!”

With the shake of my head, I push open the door of Willa’s SUV.

I’m tired of their bickering, their constant war of wills—the need to prove that one is better or deadlier than the other.

Granted, the fact that Daphne pulled a knife on her would have normally turned me on, but trying to drive while listening to them swing their dicks at each other became boring faster than it was interesting.

That’s not why I started out on this trip.

Even though Daphne was a tight little perk that I basically found on the side of the road, the more I’ve gotten to know her, the less about her I like, but we’re finally here.

I just can’t take the fucking arguing anymore, especially since it’s turned into barbs at me, so instead of waiting for them to get out of the vehicle, I decide to make my own way toward the front door of Lakyn Meyer’s home by myself.

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