Page 52 of Seeded By Two

It was a declaration, not a threat.

His grip tightened further around my throat and I heard something creaking, cracking, beneath his hold.

I shook my head, my vision already turning black.

And yet, I did not attack him, did not attempt to stop him from squeezing the life from me, even if, to my mind, I was innocent of the charge he aimed at me.

All these years, he had been my first line of defense, my Decoy, keeping all threats at a safe distance by attracting them to himself in my place.

Now, he would be the one to take it.

It was poetic justice.

He had saved my life countless times and if anyone deserved to take it, it was him.

A tiny voice spoke:

“Stop it. Stop it!”

The hatred on Feon’s face flickered as his eyes blinked.

Although his disgust remained clear, as did his unflinching grip around my throat, his ears flickered as he turned his head slightly to see Beth.

She must have slipped her négligée back on over her head.

Tears danced in her eyes, threatening to spill down the well-worn tracks already carved down her cheeks.

“Stop it!” she cried. “You’re hurting him! Stop it!”

Feon blinked as if coming awake and, a moment later — and not a moment too soon — his grip loosened and he released me.

I fell to the mattress and tumbled to the floor.

I clutched my throat and gasped for air.

A few more seconds and he would have claimed my life.

And I would have deserved it.

I knew that.

“Beth…” Feon said, drifting towards her.

Despite his slow, careful movement, she flinched back from him.

With his muscles and veins bulging, he was still a terrifying sight.

“I don’t know what’s going on!” Beth screamed. “I don’t know how there are two of you! I don’t know which one of you is the real you. But I don’t know… I don’t know anything!”

She peered between him and I, a lost and broken expression on her face.

“Beth… It’s me…” Feon said, but before he could get another word out, she had turned and run toward the door, throwing it open so hard it bounced off the wall and slammed shut behind herself.

The silence that encroached afterwards was deafening.

Feon hung his head, shoulders slumped, and his muscles, previously pumped with blood, relaxed, but he was still big enough to permanently silence me.

I needed to tell him the truth, about what had truly happened — the same way he had earlier — but ultimately, it would be up to him as to how he would deal with me.

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