Page 94 of Heresy

It’s a weapon.

One I’ll eventually use to get out and away from these psychopaths.

Another few minutes pass before the three of them remember I’m sitting in the car. Luca and Ivy straighten their postures, paint on fake smiles and turn back to me.

“Sorry you had to hear all that,” Ivy apologizes. “It’s just stupid family stuff. The thing we need to worry about now is how we’re going to convince you to get out of the car and into the house. I’m sure you have a lot of questions and we’ll be happy to—”

In the background, I hear Shane’s voice. “You know what? Fuck this.”

Ivy briefly glances over at him before turning those aqua eyes back on me. “So this is what I’m suggesting—”

The car door opens behind me before she can finish the sentence, my body suddenly falling backwards. Caught by a pair of strong arms, I’m practically tossed up and spun around like a cheerleader, my stomach landing firmly over a large shoulder while my feet kick at the air.

Pounding on Shane’s back, I growl for him to put me down and let me go.

“Shane!” Luca yells, but he’s not hearing it.

Marching around the car and to the house, he holds me firmly in place.

“I tried the stupidwomen can clean up the messcrap, and it’s taking too long. So now we’re doing this themanway and simply putting Brinley where I want her.”

“Shane!”

I’m not sure which of them yelled at him that time, but it does nothing to deter him. I’m bounced in place as he ascends a set of large, half-circle steps leading to the front door, my attempt at fighting him pointless.

He’s too strong.

Kicking the door with his foot, he forces it open, his steps hard and heavy as he crosses through a foyer, up a set of stairs then down a long hall with both Ivy and Luca chasing behind us.

We enter another room where I’m dropped like a heavy sack of dirt onto a bed, and nope. Not fucking happening.

I shove up with my arms to jump from the bed, but I’m knocked back down by Shane’s arm.

Pinning me in place, his strength easily tops mine, but my father prepared me for this moment when I was young.

I have to calm down and think back on all the self-defense courses I was forced to take as a teen. There are ways to mitigate his strength by using the motion of my body to force him away.

The only problem is none of those lessons are coming back to me, so I fight like hell, using basic instinct to guide me.

While Shane struggles to pin my arms, I manage to break free, my fist colliding with his chin, knocking him back a step.

He rubs at his injured face, grins and then rushes the bed again. I pull my legs up to plant my feet against his chest just as he drops his weight down.

Thankfully, my legs are strong. I’m able to shove with both and knock him back again, this time far enough that I have room to push up on my knees.

Rubbing at his jaw again, he flashes me a feral smile like he’s enjoying this.

Psychopath.

I knew it.

His voice is a rough croon. “Should have known you’re not as helpless as you pretend to be.”

My eyes widen at that, but I don’t have time to respond when he rushes forward again, wraps his arms beneath mine, lifts my entire body up and then tackles me down onto the mattress, our chests colliding against each other’s, our breathing heavy as he pins me down.

From the doorway, a throat clears.

“Well, if this isn’t a blast from the past, I don’t know what is.”

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