Page 52 of Havoc

“What’re you doing in my home?”

“I’m here to kill you, Ted.” The Beast was waking up. My surprise was wearing off, being replaced by my hunger for vengeance. His face turned red as his anger deepened. “You murdered my family, so I’m going to gut you and leave you here to rot.”

“Havoc.”

I gave Nico a look that was equal parts irritated and belligerent. If the guy wasn’t going to help he needed to stop distracting me.

He held out a knife and I felt a pinch of guilt, since I was just reaming him out in my head for getting in my way. I grabbed the knife he’d taken from my bag and focused on my victim again. Nico was really throwing me off my game, but there wouldn’t be any do-overs with this so I needed to concentrate.

As soon as he saw the knife, Ted bellowed like an angry bull and charged at me. I waited, timing it until he was close enough that he wouldn’t be able to change direction before I jumped to the side. I followed behind him and stuck my knife deep in his back, aiming for the kidney.

The knife made a sucking sound as I yanked it out and ducked underneath Ted’s wild swing. I’d drawn first blood and pain had made him crazed. I back pedaled, just barely avoiding his fists as he stormed after me. He was huge, but not as fast as I was. I’d have to use my speed to my advantage.

I was pissed that Nico was just standing there, not doing a damn thing to help as I fought this asshole. Normally, I would have done reconnaissance on my victim, made a plan, rehearsed. I thought Nico was going to be helpful, so I hadn’t worried about it. I didn't know what he was playing at here, but I was unprepared. Only the Beast was ready. It was time to stop thinking and analyzing, time to act.

Ted’s eyes narrowed, and I guess he decided he’d had enough fucking around because he barreled toward me. He hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt his arms wrap around me, locking me into place. I jammed my knife into his side and satisfaction filled me when he grunted in pain. We were still moving though, my legs dangling uselessly.

I only had a brief moment to wonder what he was doing before stars exploded in front of my eyes. He’d slammed us both into the wall so hard I thought he was going to break through it like the Kool-Aid man. Now I was the one who was hurt. Being sandwiched between him and the wall had been a brutal hit.

Ted stepped back and jerked me forward by the sweatshirt as he pulled his fist back. I was standing, and he was holding most of me up. Bouncing quickly to my tip toes, I put all my weight into the downward motion. It jerked his hand hard enough that his fist sailed harmlessly over my head and plowed into the drywall. I couldn’t determine if his howl was of pain or anger, but I wasn’t waiting to find out. He’d released his grip on my sweatshirt and I was on my knees in front of him.

It wasn’t the best position to be in. I scrambled to my feet and punched him as hard as I could in the gut. It was like hitting concrete. Ted gave a grunt and reached for me. I scooted out of the way of his hands and saw a flash of metal. My knife was still stuck in him. Gripping it, I jerked it out of his side. It took my attention off his hands for too long, though and he grabbed me by my braid. Ted jerked my head back painfully and this time I knew I wasn’t going to be able to avoid his fist.

Suddenly, Nico was there, stepping in. He slammed his fist into Ted’s face and I watched his nose turn into a fountain of blood. The grip on my hair was gone and I moved out of the way as Nico started circling Ted. It’d turned into a brawl and the men were exchanging brutal hits that were accompanied by awful crunching sounds more often than not.

Ted was howling in pain, so I guess it was safe to say Nico was winning the fight. Frantically, I searched the floor for my knife. Where the fuck was it?

I finally caught sight of it and had just picked it up when a crashing sound had my head snapping up. Ted had tried the Kool-Aid Man move on Nico. He really needed a different strategy.

That poor drywall was going to have more than a few dents and dings.

I’d stopped to watch the action, and while Nico was in his element and was landing devastating blows to Ted, I knew how tiring it was to fight for as long as we had been.

As soon as I stepped toward them, Nico looked Ted dead in the eyes. “Lights out, fucker.” He pounded his fist into Ted’s face so hard the man’s head snapped back.

My eyes widened as Ted’s eyes rolled and his body fell backward like a redwood being cut down in a forest. I side stepped and felt the rush of air as Ted crashed to the floor next to me.

Shooting Nico an irritated look, I knelt down next to the guy who was going to be my next victim. “You couldn’t have done that earlier?”

Nico’s brows shot up. It made me feel slightly better that he was breathing hard and was likely going to have a shiner from where Ted had landed a lucky blow. I watched as a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. “Toss me my bag.”

He walked over and did as I asked. Then he went back to leaning on the wall, watching as I trussed Ted up tighter than a Thanksgiving turkey. I didn’t want to go round two with him, so I made sure the tape would hold him.

I sat down on the floor next to Ted and waited for him to regain consciousness. Nico and I didn’t speak, each of us lost in our own thoughts about what was happening.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long. Ted moaned and his head lolled back and forth on the carpet. I tapped his cheek with the knife and his eyes burst open. His arms flexed as he tried to break his restraints, but they held. Ted’s eyes snapped back to me and I gave him a toothy, condescending grin.

“I’ll rip your heart out, Bitch,” he snarled at me.

“Oh,” I pouted at him. “That wasn’t very nice, Ted.” I dragged the point of my knife over the skin of his chest. We all watched as blood welled up along the shallow cut. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be making threats.”

Realization crept over his face. “What do you want from me?” Desperation was creeping into his eyes as he stared at me.

I cocked my head as though I was thinking it through. “I liked your suggestion.” His brows drew together in confusion. “Of ripping my heart out,” I explained. I got up onto my knees and put the point of the knife directly over his heart.

Ted’s eyes bulged out of his head and he started begging. I didn’t bother to listen. I simply leaned forward quickly and shoved all of my weight onto the hilt of the knife, forcing the blade through his chest and into his heart. My face was close to his as he died.

There was no life left in his eyes. His face was frozen in a look of horror, a silent scream. I considered taking the time to carve him up and remove the organ I’d pierced, but this was enough.

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