Page 44 of Loved to Death

“What makes you think you can stop me?” Thomas took a step toward her with his fists clenched.

“YouknowI can.” She took a matching step toward him.

Thomas shook his head. “I don’t think you can. Now that I feed every day, I’m just as strong as you, and you know it. That’s why you’ve been running from me.”

“Stupid boy.” Polly rushed toward him and punched Thomas in the stomach.

Thomas doubled over and fell to the floor as the shock wave from the blow rippled through his torso. All of the nightmarish visions he’d had suddenly came to fruition as he fully remembered how painful an encounter with Polly could be. Before he’d recovered from the first punch, her hands were on him, rolling him onto his back. He tried to roll away, but she held him in place and sat on his stomach. He tried pushing her off, but she grasped his right wrist in both hands and squeezed until the bones snapped.

Thomas screamed while trying to pull his arm away.

“I made you. You’ll never be stronger than me.” Polly let go of his arm and punched his chest, cracking a rib and making him scream again. “You’remine, and Zhang is mine, too.”

Polly raised her fist to punch him again while Thomas tried pushing her off, but before Polly could land the punch, Shen grabbed her wrist.

Both Polly and Thomas turned to stare at Shen.

“I am not property to be bartered,” Shen said firmly. Looking into Polly’s eyes he added, “And I’m not your slave.”

“I’ve never treated you like a slave,” she protested, trying to pull her wrist away without success.

“Yes you do,Miss Polly.” He pulled her up off Thomas by the wrist until she was standing beside him. “But no more.”

She tried yanking her arm away more forcefully, but Shen held tight.

“Let me go,” she demanded before punching Shen in the stomach.

Shen grunted in pain, but he didn’t double over or fall to the floor, and he didn’t let go of Polly’s wrist. Instead, he grabbed her other wrist in his free hand and held tight. “No.”

Polly screamed in anger and tried kicking Shen’s leg. He sidestepped the kick, turned her around so that her back was to him, and pulled her against his torso before wrapping his arms around her to hold her still.

Shocked by what he was seeing, Thomas slowly got to his feet, grimacing in pain as the broken rib protested his movement. “She can’t hurt you?” Thomas asked, too shocked to believe what he was seeing.

“Getting punched hurt a little, but it didn’t do the kind of damage it did to you,” Shen answered, still holding Polly. “It felt the same as getting punched by someone back when I was human.”

“Let me go!” Polly demanded.

“Not unless you promise to stop hurting Thomas,” Shen replied.

Ignoring Polly, Thomas said, “But then why? Why have you stayed with her?”

“Where else was I supposed to go?” Shen asked. “I can’t go home to my family. I can’t stay in one place if I need to kill to survive. And I don’t want to be alone.”

“If I’d known…” Thomas shook his head. “I never should have left you that night.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Shen agreed. “But now I understand why you did.” He nodded toward the broken wrist that Thomas was cradling against his chest.

Thomas glared at Polly and said to Shen, “Hold her still.” He awkwardly used his left hand to pick up the rifle that Shen had put on the floor, and aimed it at Polly’s forehead by balancing the barrel on his right elbow. “Let’s see if a bullet to the brain will incapacitate her long enough to set the shack on fire. Maybe she’ll recover long enough to feel being burned alive.”

Polly’s struggles ceased and her eyes opened wide.

Thomas smirked, finally understanding why she’d been afraid of a confrontation with him. She’d known for a long time that she couldn’t hurt Shen, and he was going to make her pay for everything she’d done.

Shen quickly turned his back on Thomas, shielding Polly with his body. “No,” Shen said firmly. “I will not help you murder her.”

Thomas stilled at the wordmurder. All the times he’d imagined a confrontation between the three of them, he’d never envisioned himself killing Polly. It was simply his gut reaction to realizing she was held captive. He never wanted to add another number to his tally of victims. Not even her. But killing in self-defense wasn’t the same as cold-blooded murder, and he knew Polly would continue her attack if given the chance. He stepped back but kept the rifle aimed at her. “You’re right. Let her go.”

“I’m not your slave, either, Thomas,” Shen answered, turning his head to look back while still shielding Polly with his body. “You can’t order me around.”

---