AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That was Seven’s doing. I—”
“I don’t care which of you it was, you all went along with it.”
“Evi—”
“Stop trying to make excuses for yourself,” she snaps. “You know I’m right. You know what you’ve done.”
I press my lips together as frustration and anger start to well up inside me.
“You don’t know the half of it,” I snarl, closing the distance between us as my vision starts to turn red. Grabbing her upper arm, I scowl down at her. “Now, are you going toletme help you, or am I going to have to force you to.”
Her eyes widen as she looks up at me, fear momentarily replacing her indignation as my fingers involuntarily start to tighten around her arm.
“You’re hurting me, Luci,” she whimpers, her voice cutting through the dark cloud forming in my mind. Slowly, the red drains from my vision. I release her arm and take a small step back, noticing the bruising of her skin where I’d grabbed her.
“I—” My voice falters before hardening again as I remember why I’m here. “If you’d just let me help you, then I wouldn’t have hurt you.”
Her brow furrows as she shakes her head at me.
“I don’t want the kind of help you’re offering.”
I glare down at her, the red bleeding into my vision once again as I reach for her. Only, this time my hand doesn’t meet her skin as I struggle against the urge to break her to my will.
“Damn it, Evi,” I say through gritted teeth, “just let me do my job.”
She glares right back, meeting my gaze with fiery defiance.
“No!”
“I should have known you wouldn’t make this easy for me,” I growl, raising my hand accusingly at her.
“Oh my God,” Evi gasps, her eyes widening at the sight of my hand as she takes an involuntary, almost worried, step toward me, and for a second, I swear I almost feel something other than numbness. “What happened to your hand?”
My eyes momentarily flicker to my hand at her mention of it, only now realizing what I’ve inadvertently done.
“Seven happened,” I answer, my voice taking on an edge as I jam my mutilated hand into the pocket of my pants.
“So, they really are alive then.” Part of me hates the way her face lights up at this, but I honestly can’t blame her for it. “That’s why you’re here! They wouldn’t let you stay, would they?”
My jaw hardens as I fight the growing urge to manhandle her. I don’t know what’s come over me. I shouldn’t be this hungry for violence. Not toward her.
“As I said,” I repeat for the final time, “I’m here tohelp.”
She lets out a squeak of pain as I once again grab her arm and drag her into the bathroom and around to the back where a stool and a set of sinks await. Tossing her roughly onto the stool, I step up to a counter and sort through several containers that have been set out.
“What are you going to do to me?”
I don’t answer as I set to work mixing the contents as I’d been instructed to do. Turning, I walk back over to Evi who’s eyeing me with trepidation.
“It’s hair dye,” I say, my voice deadpan as I move to start coloring her hair.
“Hey, I like the way my hair is,” Evi says, shifting out of my way.
“Well, Valentine doesn’t. Don’t move again.” Yet again, I feel a pang that should be all too impossible in my chest as Evi looks crestfallen but obeys.
I work in silence, painting over her blond locks as she stares unseeing ahead.
“Is everything about me wrong?”
