Rage of Vendetta (The Vendetta Series #2)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My knuckles connects with Lee's face, clipping enough of the edge of his jaw to send him spinning. I grab ahold of his collar to keep him from running. My fist throbs momentarily like I hit a brick wall, yet his skin hardly bruises. Of course not.

"Alright," I hiss. "I want to know where you heard that and how you heard it."

Innocently, he blinks, batting his eyelashes. "I thought I told you my mother told me."

Lee pulls away from my grip so easily it only takes a single tug from his part.

Air hisses out my nose and mouth so viciously they make an audible sound.

I breathe through my clenched teeth, resisting the urge to lunge forward and close my fingers around his neck. My legs tremble as I take a step back, averting my glance elsewhere. There is an elderly couple staring at us, concerned. I am shaking in effort to remain where I am.

There's fear lurking somewhere under my anger, and I try hard to shove that down. It makes no sense for him to know of something Ruby said back in the cafeteria at Vendetta House. In fact, it's utterly impossible.

"How did you know those words?" I seethe, letting him into the edge of my vision.

"I can't give away all my secrets," Lee says. He has the nerve to lean back and examine his nails.

"We're not giving you an option," Jesse warns, voice low. "You're surrounded. Talk."

"Surrounded?" Lee laughs. "By you two?"

"You-"

"Is there a problem here, kids?" a voice interrupts me from behind.

I inhale deeply through my nose, and turn slowly. The security guard approaching us has his puffy lips thinned, deep frown lines etched into his face. The beer-belly protruding around his pudgy middle tells me he couldn't catch us if we made a run for it, but the last thing I want is to draw attention.

"No problem," I answer, unconvincing even to my own ears.

The guard folds his arms over his yellow reflective vest, and his finger twitching over a knob on his walkie-talkie, perhaps preparing to call for back-up. In the split second of panic, I'm thinking of complex plans to distract his attention and run--stupid ideas like a sudden influx of mosquitos attacking him, when all Jesse has to do is say, "There's nothing here to worry about."

He laces along a bit of telepathy, influencing the man to simply pivot on his heel and walk away. I wait for him to disappear around the corner completely, just in case he looks back, before I breathe again and redirect my attention onto Lee. I blink. He's gone.

"What?" I screech.

"Where'd he go?" Jesse exclaims.

I scan the crowds carefully, looking for graceful movements and exceptional height. He should stick out like a sore thumb in this crowd of mediocrity, but I don't catch even single glimpse of him. The group of friends he was traveling with are no longer there too. It's like he's dissipated into thin air.

"That son of a--" I break off into a guttural noise. How did he manage to leave without even a single sound? I know Nephilum are sneaky, but come on! He was less than a few feet away from me.

"Forget it!" I huff. "Let's move."

I march as fast as I can without breaking into a full run, jostling my way through loud families and whining children. Jesse is out of breath behind me, slowly every few seconds for a breather. I have to keep a hold on his shirt to drag him along as I insist on moving.