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I approached the leader of the Copperheads in a quick walk, hesitating just enough to dart away if he came up shooting. Sid pushed the bike off himself and staggered to his feet. The left side of his face was scraped bloody with gravel, and he was cradling his left arm against his body. But he had no weapon except the crowbar strapped to his back, which he grabbed and pointed at me.
I’ve waited a long time for this,I thought.
“Stay back, Jayce,” Sid said with the same cocky smile he usually wore. Like he had the advantage right now. “I’ll break your fucking skull.”
“You can try,” I growled as I approached. Sid continued backing up, moving toward the gate at the edge of the stone wall.
The gate to the rear entrance of the Eastland cemetery.
“How’s about we make a deal?” Sid said. “You walk away, and I won’t kill your girlfriend over there.”
Blood covered his teeth, turning his sneer into a gruesome sight. But there was an edge to his voice I’d never heard. He was afraid.
Good, I thought.
I backed him into the cemetery, still keeping my distance. “You’re not in a position to kill anyone.”
He glanced behind him as he walked, occasionally swinging the crowbar through the air to make sure I wouldn’t get closer. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ve got lots of friends who owe me favors. I’m sure one of them wouldn’t mind bashing that pretty little thing’s skull in. Hell, I bet I can find someone who’d enjoy it.”
He was trying to goad me into making a mistake. Based on the rage that filled my chest, it was working. Now that we were here, now that I had the opportunity to do what I had been fantasizing about for so long, it was difficult not to sprint straight at Sid. I was dizzy from the loss of blood and twitchy from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
We moved deeper into the cemetery.
“Give up, Sid,” I said. “Toss down the crowbar and I’ll make your death quick.”
“Got a buddy from California named Ume,” Sid said wistfully. “Japanese guy. Real sicko when it comes to killing people. Especially women.”
“Shut up,” I growled as we moved between the gravestones.
Sid smirked. “He’d probably bash her skull in, then fuck the hole.”
I was like a bull enraged by a matador; I couldn’t stop myself from charging forward. I knew it was what he wanted, but my love for Charlotte and the fundamental desire to protect her forced me to attack. I lowered my head to tackle him, but he twisted and swung the crowbar into my injured shoulder. I fell to the ground with a cry, fire spreading up my arm and then instantly going numb. I threw myself sideways into a roll instinctively, and felt the rush of wind as the crowbar hissed through the air where my head had just been, thudding into the cemetery soil.
“You hit like a little boy,” I said as I regained my feet a short distance away. I circled Sid again, waiting for my chance. “Hit like a little boy, talk like a little boy,thinklike a little boy. It’s no wonder your shitty fucking gang got busted.”
“A gang you were part of!” he shot back.
“Leaving was the best decision I ever made.”
Sid’s laugh was high-pitched and giddy. “I’ll bet it was. I’m sure Theresa would say the—”
I faked a charge again, and he was ready for it with another swing of the crowbar. This time it was a glancing blow against my shoulder while I twisted away, which still stung like fucking hell.
“Thatwasher name, right?” Sid said. “It’s tough to keep track of all the annoying cunts I’ve killed.”
I darted in and out again, taking another soft blow against the hip. Then a second strike against the side of my shin, sending white hot pain from my toes to my knee. I stumbled but kept the pressure on. Getting hit like this was worth it to figure out Sid’s timing. He was on the defensive, and predictable.
I pulled back my fist as if to dart in and swing, but instead I threw myself down and into a roll. The crowbar swung through open air and I punched the side of Sid’s knee. He buckled, and I grabbed the wrist holding the crowbar and twisted until I heard somethingcrunch.
Sid cried out, and the crowbar thudded to the ground.
As I tried to move into my next attack, Sid smashed his knee up into my jaw. My teeth clicked together so hard that I would’ve bit my tongue off if it had been in the wrong place. For a moment my vision spun, and Sid tackled me like a two-hundred-pound sack of grain swinging from a rope. I fumbled with my one good arm, while he did the same with his, as we rolled across the cemetery trying to get the advantage over the other.
Somehow I ended up on my belly with Sid on my back, digging his knee into the back of my neck. He grabbed a handful of my hair and shoved my face into the dirt.
“Time to die, Jayce,” Sid said through gritted teeth. “Time. To. Die.”
The soft ground gave way for my face, molding to it and filling my mouth and nose. I tasted earth as I struggled and bucked to get him off of me, but it was tough with only one good arm. Loose dirt filled my lungs with each gasping breath, slowly suffocating me.
