Page 47 of Spitfire

Get out of here, sweet darling. It's no longer safe. Go, now!

I'm so startled by the voice in my head that I almost fall, and a wave of dizziness assails me. It's as if my body is being controlled by an outside force. I watch myself hugging the bathroom walls, trying to make it to the exit, before I catch myself and stop my momentum. "NO, I WON'T LEAVE THEM!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Scarlett! You're bleeding!" Jasper darts toward me, his features filled with terror, and his skin as white as snow. He reaches for me, his eyes locked on my side, and at first it's on the tip of my tongue to tell him the blood is not mine, but suddenly a sharp pain has me staring downward, and that's when I see the large glass shard sticking out of my skin. My head spins as my fingers go to yank on it, but Jasper reaches me first, stilling my hand. "Don't! We don't know how deep it's embedded."

The world around me begins to buzz as my head spins once more, a furious rage soaring up inside of me, and I know with certainty it's her. Ashmaker. She's ready to wage war on both of them because we're hurt. I stumble forward, Jasper's hands grabbing my arms and steadying me. "Scarlett! Scarlett, look at me!" He commands, but it sounds like it's coming down a long tunnel. My panicked gaze moves over his shoulder to meet Xavier's, his blue-gray eyes wide with fright.

"Spitfire, don't move!" The buzzing gets louder and louder in my head, and before I know what I'm doing, I reach out and grasp a long shard that's still semi-attached to the broken door frame. The piece slides through my fingers, cutting through my flesh, but it's as if I'm completely numb and can't feel anything. My hand strikes out in the direction of Jasper's neck but Xavier shoves hard into him, pushing him out of the way, and I miss by mere centimeters.

"Scarlett, what the fuck!" I hear Jasper's loud baritone voice, but I can't seem to get control of myself. I strike out once again, this time aiming for Xavier.

"Fuck! She's lost control. Help me get that away from her, cunt, before she does something she can't live with," Xavier growls, as he slides across the glass-littered floor, and tries to evade my next thrust.

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" My voice echoes across the room, but it's not me controlling it. It's not my words leaving my mouth. It's her.

"What the fuck is happening here?! What is happening to her?!" Jasper shouts as he manages to get behind me, and attempts to grab the glass from my bleeding fingers. I'm watching all of it as if I'm not inside of my body, but observing through a sheer curtain, the image a little muted, and I realize she's pushed through, in perceived danger. She's trying to protect me from them.

"We need to make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Xavier dives for my knees, at the same time Jasper manages to wrestle my arm behind me, his punishing grip on my wrist threatening to shatter it, if I don't release my hold on the glass. I feel the searing sting in my fingers from the shard cutting through my tissue, and the deep bite of the piece lodged in my side, as I crash down and Xavier uses his body to cushion my fall, while Jasper uses his other hand to cradle the back of my head. Still, I refuse to loosen my hold on my only means of protection, my heart thundering in my chest, and my blood rushing loudly in my ears.

Can't let them hurt us. Won't let them hurt us. Kill them both.

"I've got you, Spitfire. No one is going to hurt you, I promise!" His frantic voice finally unlocks something inside of my anguished mental state, and I relinquish my hold on the glass, as my breath wheezes out of me.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL JUST HAPPENED!" Jasper demands as he throws the glass across the room, his face leaning towards me, his midnight blue eyes wild.

THIRTY-SIX

SCARLETT

"We have to call a goddamn ambulance!" Jasper's voice penetrates through the pain and darkness trying to swamp me. Xavier lifts me off the floor, cradling me like a small child in his arms, as I whimper in pain. "Fuck this shit, I'm calling them!" Jasper roars, and I feel him step away and search for something on the floor.

"Please... no,” I gasp as Xavier takes me out of the wrecked bathroom, and lies me down on his bed, pain shooting up the side of my abdomen, as well as my feet and fingers. Xavier's wet, bloody, naked body leans over me, concern written across his features. His blue-gray eyes are so dark and stormy that I worry about how he's managing to contain the rage I can see brewing just under the surface.

"Let me see how bad it is, Spitfire," he begs, his voice filled with emotion, as he turns me so that he can get a better look at the large shard of glass embedded in my skin.

"STOP FUCKING CALLING HER THAT!" Jasper shoves him away from me, and it instantly sets Xavier off again, and the two of them begin pushing each other like bullies in a schoolyard. This can't be fucking happening right now.

You should have let me kill them both, sweet darling. Neither of them is worthy of us. Pathetic. Her voice rings through my head, making me grit my teeth, as I try to fight a wave of panic that she'll go after them again.

"ENOUGH!" I shout, with my last remaining bout of energy, as I try to rise from the bed, only to be instantly restrained by both of them, even though they growl at each other like two feral animals ready to rip each other's throats out.

"Jesus fuck, that's embedded deep. Who knows if that hit an organ, and the shard is the only thing keeping her from bleeding to death," Jasper groans as his gaze focuses on my wound. God, he's so dramatic. I sincerely doubt it's that bad. I gulp and look down at my bleeding side, the bed already soaked beneath me. Okay, maybe it isn't great.

I reach my fingers towards the piece of glass, ready to remove it, when they both strike out and stop my hand, one grabbing my wrist, the other my fingers. I almost want to grin and make a joke about their teamwork, but I doubt they would appreciate it right now. A hiss pries itself from my lips when I accidentally rub the sole of one foot on the top of the mattress. "Shit, look at her feet! God, little vixen, you really did a number on yourself!"

"Naw, fucker! If I'm not allowed to call her Spitfire, you sure aren't calling her that, or I'll rearrange those horse teeth for you."

They break into another stare-down with each other, both of them with their nostrils flaring and jaws clenched, and I'm just over it. Masculine toxicity at its finest, while I literally lie here and bleed. "Fuck," I hiss again as I try to dislodge their grips.

"That's it, hospital it is, Scarlett, and before you open that pretty mouth to argue, just fucking don't, and I may not kill this asshole tonight for touching you." Jasper stares around at the disheveled bed with repulsion. "Where are your clothes?"

"Oh, you mean the ones I ripped off her earlier before eating her pretty pussy, yeah, don't think she can wear those now." The crack is loud in the air as Jasper's fist connects with Xavier's jaw. Xavier looks like he doesn't even feel it. He holds Jasper's stare, a promise of death in his glare, challenging him to do it again. I need to de-escalate this shit right now, and I hate that the only card I have to play will be a weak, girlie one.

"Ow, fuck, it hurts so bad." I force a tear down the side of my face, trying to look as pitiful as possible, and the change over both of them is instant. They quickly turn their attention all on me, and it's a bit unnerving to say the least, but at least they've stopped fighting for now.

"Shit, get her something to put on right now. We're not that far from the hospital, so it's probably faster to drive her than to get an ambulance to come here," Jasper demands, and they both scramble around like chickens with their heads cut off, and I watch with amusement as Xavier throws clothes at Jasper, before darting back for some for himself from his closet.

Jasper kneels at the side of the bed, a pair of Xavier's sweats clenched in his hands, as he grimaces at having to dress me in his clothes. I can almost see the thoughts flying through that egotistical male head. He doesn't want to see me dressed in Xavier's clothing instead of his. God, men are really such simple creatures. Most of them have never grown completely out of their caveman ancestry.