Page 54 of Shattered Rhythm

“She’s out cold,” River whispers, smiling.

“Goodnight, Riv,” I say, closing my eyes and inhaling the scent of vanilla.

“Night, Ry,” he replies.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

Olivia

“There you are,” Liam says.

I scream with all my might as he forcefully drags us out of Theodor’s closet. Liam’s face is twisted with anger, and there is blood splattered across his face and his clothes. He’s standing there with a large hunting knife that’s still bloody, and my stomach turns at the sight of it. Both my father and Liam’s have the same knife for their hunting trips. Liam was always jealous and wanted to have one just like them, but he wasn’t a hunter.Is that his father’s knife, or did he get his own?

He tells Theodore to go up to my room, but Theodore just stands there, frozen in shock.

“Theo, please go,” I say, pleading with him to do as he’s told. Finally, he moves.

Liam pulls me up the stairs by my hair and throws me onto the floor of my room. My phone sits on the nightstand, just out of reach. I tell myself that I have to wait for the right moment to try and grab it, but Liam manhandles me to the other side of the room, pushing me down to sit under the window. My entire body trembles as my hope evaporates, while my little brother is frozen in shock, but I can’t blame him. Maybe it’s better that way. Liam might not hurt him if he stays still.

“What do you want, Liam? Why don’t you just take what you want from me and let him go?” I plead with him.

“Oh, now you want to do what I want? Is it because I have this now?” Liam sneers at me, brandishing the knife in the air, and I flinch. “We don’t have such a big mouth anymore, do we, angel? You see, you’re nothing without me, and you’re lucky that I love you, angel. We’re soulmates, teammates. You said it yourself so many times, and now you want us to break up because of one little mistake I made?”

His eyes are wide as he starts pacing, gesturing wildly with his hands, and I can’t take my eyes off the knife he’s swinging around.

“You know I didn’t mean to hurt him!” he yells. “He just can’t keep his nose out of our business, and he has to learn that!”

Theodore doesn’t even blink, and I’m filled with more panic, if that’s possible.

“One mistake? Liam, you just killed my parents!” I scream at him and burst into tears.

* * *

Liv

I sit up in bed, my body shaking with sweat and fear. I feel a hand grip my upper arm, and I scream.

“Fuck, Liv, it’s me, River,” he says, his voice calming.

I hear footsteps before Ryder turns on the lights. River hovers by my side, his hands just shy of touching me, until I break out in tears, and he pulls me into an embrace.

“Shh, it was just a dream. You’re safe,” he whispers, stroking my hair, when a knock at the door startles us all.

“It’s four am, who the fuck knocks on your door at this time?” Ryder asks, walking to the door.

No, please not now.

“Ryder, I…” I start, trying to get to him, but fall out of bed in the process. He opens the door to find Gunner standing there, looking disheveled. He frowns at Ryder and then looks over his shoulder to me. I’m on my knees, in just my panties and the crop top I wore last night. My makeup must be all over my face by now, and my hair is wild. I see rage fill Gunner’s eyes before he pins Ryder to the wall next to the door with his forearm on his throat. Ryder is big, but Gunner is a brick wall.

“What did you do?” he snarls.

River jumps up from the bed, but I’m quicker, rushing to Gunner and putting a hand on his bicep. He looks at my hand and then into my eyes.

“They didn’t do anything, Gunner, I swear. It was a nightmare again. You know I get them. Please let him go.”

Reluctantly, he lets go of Ryder and steps back, composing himself. He looks down at my naked legs and then quickly back into my eyes again.

“They spent the night?” he asks me flatly, and I get a weird feeling.

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