Page 46 of Be My Sinner

“FUCKING CUNT!” He growls near my ear as he tries to grapple with me and confine my body below his. I shift my position and arch my back, getting one of my knees underneath me and headbutting him hard. A gasp of pain is my reward, and I use it to my advantage, using my strength to take him off balance, while I grab the blade strapped to my thigh. I clutch it in my hand and strike outwards, catching his forearm and slicing him open.

He momentarily loses his hold on me, but tries to get his knees into my lower back and his other forearm into the back of my neck. A harsh breath mixed with a chuckle leaves my lips. I’m smaller and quicker than he is. I thrust the blade out again and catch the side of his arm before sliding out from underneath him. He grabs onto my ankle and yanks me back down like a damn savage, trying desperately to get his arm around my neck in a chokehold.

All he manages to do is grab onto my hair and pull hard, until I feel strands ripping from my scalp as I once again try to get to my feet. The pain is ecstasy to someone like me, and he doesn’t even realize it. He slams his fist down on the back of my head and then on my hand, which is still holding the blade. The blade falls from my grasp and slides away on the forest floor.

For a brief moment, darkness fills my vision before I shake it off and continue to fight him. I’m trying to reach any of my guns so I can put a hole in this fool. His arm strains around, and his thick, heavy fingers manage to wrap around my neck, tightening immediately.

My breath hitches in my chest, but I refuse to stop fighting him. I get my fingers around the gun and yank it from its holster as he simultaneously manages to grab one of the knives from my arm sheath, and presses it against the side of my eye. “Stop fucking fighting, Atasi, or I will stab out your pretty eye.”

My body goes still, my grip tight on the gun. I cock the safety and twist my arm, driving the muzzle into the side of his chest. “Go ahead, fucker, I’ll blow your heart out while you do it.” My voice sounds harsh to my ears, filled with unrestrained anger and a hint of insanity.

He stills completely at the feeling of the gun pressing against his chest. His weight is heavy on top of me, and my head is still buzzing from the punch he gave me. His tantalizing male scent is entering my nostrils, trying to confuse my senses. It makes my body heat up like an inferno from within and crave not only his destruction, but the pain that he could give me while he fucked the very life out of me.

To prove my point that he doesn’t have the upper hand, and I am not scared of his tactics, I press the gun harder into his chest at the same time as I press my face into the sharp knife, immediately feeling my skin open up under its metallic surface. I suppress the moan that wants to leave my lips at the acute pain. If there was ever a doubt that I’m truly and completely unhinged, that right there just proved conclusively that I am.

“WHAT THE FUCK, ATASI! Are you fucking insane?” He pulls the blade away from my face and raises his body a bit off of mine, until I can take a deep breath without him pressing me into the hard ground. I can feel blood welling and sliding down my face from the wound. He releases a harsh breath and removes all of his weight from my body, and I scramble forward on my knees, holding the gun in my grip and pointing it at his head.

My hand trembles as I stare at him, never releasing my grip on the weapon. His golden eyes are large on his handsome face. Blood and dirt are smeared everywhere. His chest is heaving with ragged breaths as he watches me from the short distance, the small blade still in his hand.

His face is filled with bewilderment. He doesn’t understand what he is seeing before him; the woman I am now versus the girl he remembers. I must be quite a sight to him. Blood trickling in rivulets down my face, and my long raven hair a tangled mess from his merciless grip. My chest heaving with strangled breaths, and my body vibrating with energy. Not to mention, all my tattoos are clearly on display through the arsenal I still have attached to me.

“What the fuck happened to you, Dinah? Who fucking hurt you to make you like this?” He tries to move a step towards me, but I hold my ground, unwavering. Refusing to bow or cower to this man of the Brotherhood. This man who has hurt me and my family and countless others.

“Your family did. Your Brotherhood did. This whole fucking world did. You did by being complicit in its actions. You abandoned me,” I answer, my voice sounding strong and fearless, even though nothing could be further from the truth.

Chapter 22

The Liar

Abe

“Yourfamilydid.YourBrotherhood did. This whole fucking world did. You did by being complicit in its actions. You abandoned me,” she answers me, with no fear evident as she holds me at gunpoint. My Atasi, her beautiful stormy blue eyes shining brightly with the conviction of her words.

No, she’s no longer my Atasi; she has become some other creature—one who lives without fear, and revels in the acts of war.

I let my gaze travel from the top of her dark head, along her supple tattooed body, and down to her feet, cataloging all the weapons she has attached to her like some badass vigilante from some of the movies long before our time. Long before the world decided women like her couldn’t exist.

The pain in my shoulder from where the arrow landed, and I had to pull it out, throbs along with the various cuts and bruises I now have. My arm drips with blood down to my hand, making my hold on her sharp blade precarious.

Fuck, she is stunning. Dangerous, but stunning.

I stare up at the cut on her face that is trickling blood. The psycho pushed her own face into the blade, not knowing if I would back down. A shiver of unease races down my spine at the knowledge that this woman before me is a warrior, unafraid to die. Refusing to cower or give even an inch. She says our world has turned her into what I see before me.

Strength. Bravery. Insanity.

When Ezekiel was adamant it was her that took him down, that she was, in fact, the killer, I had my doubts. I thought for sure the knock to his head made him delirious and imagining things. How could my Atasi be the killer?The Holy fucking Ghost?

Even on our journey here, thoughts and doubts plagued me. She was so gentle before, a ray of sweet sunshine that would brighten my day. My little blue spring flower, always sweet-smelling and delicate. Always begging to play games or sing songs. How did she change from my precious Atasi to what I see before me now?

“Atasi, please put down the fucking gun before you shoot someone.”

Her dark shapely eyebrows rise, and her beautiful blue-gray eyes glint as she points the gun at my feet and pulls the fucking trigger. The shot fires mere inches from my foot as I jump backward. My heart races in my chest, and utter disbelief must be evident on my face as my jaw drops.

“You mean like that?” She questions with an unhinged grin across her bleeding face.

Holy fuck, she’s completely nuts.She’s going to fucking shoot me. I’m going to kill Zeke when I get my hands on him, for talking me into coming here to save this psychopath. She doesn’t need saving from the Brotherhood; she needs saving from herself.

Zeke. Fuck. If she’s here with me, holding me at gunpoint, does that mean her guard is hunting Zeke down? Zeke, who has a concussion and not enough weapons to fight these two assholes off?

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