Part 29 (1/2)

”Who's going to sleep in my bed?” I leaned in close and whispered into her ear, as I allowed my hand to rest on top of her thigh. ”Who am I going to f.u.c.k every night?”

She looked at me and shook her head. ”You...you hurt me.”

”Punish me then,” I replied as I allowed my breath to graze across her neck. ”I'll let my wh.o.r.e conquer the king whenever she chooses to.”

”Shadow...” she breathed as I allowed my hands to slip under her skirt.

I closed my eyes and thought of Aria and I imagined it was her skin that I was touching.

”But first, I need to protect us from my sister. Tell me how I can find her,” I said, opening my eyes again.

”Calisto's ” but before she could finish her sentence, there was the single sound of a suppressed gun shot.

Before I could piece together what had happened, Elena fell to the ground in a heap, a single bullet hole marking the center of her forehead.

I looked up and saw the man from the convenience store-the same one with the thick gla.s.ses and greasy matted hair-standing there, a gun in his hand.

Standing next to him was the little girl, her eyes covered by a blindfold. She was clinging onto his leg.

The man smiled at me, his teeth stained yellow and jagged, as if he had been chewing on limestone. The gun was still in his hand.

Where did he come from and why the h.e.l.l did he just kill Elena?

The kitchen was the only other entranceway into this private room, but Tsung and his men were supposedly guarding it. Perhaps Nathan had decided to betray us both, hiring this odd f.u.c.k to take us both out-two birds with one psychopath.

”You piece of s.h.i.+t,” I seethed.

A few seconds more and Elena would have sang for me.

The man, still grinning, slowly lowered the gun in his right hand and began to turn around, nudging for the little girl to do the same.

What the f.u.c.k was going on? Was Elena the only target?

Four-Eyes began to walk away from the scene, but I'd be d.a.m.ned if I was just going to sit idly by. I needed answers, and chances were this twisted f.u.c.k had some.

I charged at him.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Shadow Four-Eye's speed reminded me of the White Crow. Before I could connect my fist with his face, I found myself lying flat on my back, winded. He had caught my arm and kicked my legs out from under me.

I took note that he dropped his gun next to Elena's body, the silencer still attached to it.

As I struggled to my feet, Four-Eyes started clubbing me with his grisly fists. If I didn't know better, I swore I was being pummeled by a stack of bricks wrapped underneath a layer of human skin. I felt every single blow.

Was I fighting a man or a shaved grizzly bear?

He continued to beat me with his heavy fists, swinging his arms like he was striking nails with hammers, smas.h.i.+ng me in the fleshy part between my neck and shoulders.

Pain shot through my neck and into jaw, cascading all the way down to my lower back. I clenched my teeth as I tried to block the blows with my forearms, but they were coming down fast and heavy.

Four-Eyes continued grinning like an imbecile while maintaining his onslaught to my body. After what seemed like two-solid minutes of the relentless a.s.sault, he let up for a split second. He was getting tired.

Now was the time to counter attack.

I drove my right fist hard into his gut. It felt like I was. .h.i.tting a hard sack of flour.

Four-eyes frowned, and then smashed me in the right side of my face, knocking me flat on my back once more.

My head was throbbing. I didn't think I could get back up.

Half-dazed and lying on the ground, I turned my head towards the blindfolded little girl. She began singing the cheerful tune of London Bridge, oblivious to the fact that the two men in the room with her were in a one-sided fist fight.

It was bizarre.

I heard heavy footsteps against the hardwood floor and I looked up to see Four-Eyes standing over me. He was gripping a silver fork.

I struggled to rise to my feet, but before I could, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d stabbed me in the shoulder with the eating utensil, burying the piece of silverware in my body.

”f.u.c.ker,” I hissed as I rolled away from him and struggled back to my feet. I grabbed the hilt of the fork, still protruding from my shoulder, and unleashed a growl as I pulled it out.

Four-eyes continued smiling as he picked up another fork from the dinner table.

He lunged at me like a cobra, but I was quick enough to dodge the attack this time. I made a dash for the gun on the ground, which the idiot had forgotten about.

Time to end this.

I grabbed the gun and directed it at the f.u.c.ker's head. I pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

I pulled again and again but each time, all I heard were empty clicks.

He had loaded the gun with only one bullet. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d must have been confident that he could finish the job with a single shot.

Four-Eyes lunged at me again, and this time, he made contact. He had attempted to stab me in the throat with the fork, but luckily I managed to s.h.i.+eld myself with my arms just in time, protecting my neck from the attack. My right forearm, however, now had a dinner fork sticking out of it.

”f.u.c.king h.e.l.l,” I cried as I stared at the second piece of silverware protruding from my body tonight. It hurt like h.e.l.l.