Not So Human

Chapter 28

Set in a little glen of sorts in the middle of an overall treeless field, they'd been battling long enough to break a sweat. He was glistening. She felt drenched.

It was obvious who had the upper hand.

Despite the fresh air around her, Sabrina could barely breathe with his scent assaulting her. Her cheek was pressed painfully into a broken stone wall, her legs were locked in place by his legs, and he had rendered her hands useless by twisting them behind her back. Even her wings were smashed between their two bodies.

He was fighting hard to keep her in place, his breath harsh in her ears from the struggle. But the bottom line was that he was still winning.

Sabrina slumped against the hard barrier as much as his proximity would let her slump, praying that he bought the act. She knew it was her only chance to break free when she was growing more exhausted with every second from her fruitless exertions.

"That's a good girl," Mr. Smiley told her, easing back just a little. He let go of one of her wrists, his hand brushing against her wings on the way to his side.

It was to grab handcuffs. Sabrina didn't know how she knew that, but she recognized it all the same.

She took the opening, small though it was, and butted the back of her head into his. It hurt her, but his yowl of surprise indicated that it hurt him worse.

Yet there was no time to wince, much less celebrate. She brought her right heel up to scrape it from his knee down to his foot, which she stomped on as hard as she could.

It didn't feel nearly hard enough, like one of those nightmares where she couldn't move properly. So it was almost surprising when he yelped at the contact, then yelled again when she brought her elbow into the side of his face.

Sabrina desperately looked around the sunken area for the knife she remembered losing earlier in the fight, and saw its glittering handle only a few yards away. It was a distance she could cover if she didn't waste another second.

Sprinting forward, she dropped into a crouch to grab for the hilt. Behind her, Mr. Smiley had recovered and was moving forward at an alarming pace. But she stood back up in time to whip the blade at his throat.

The metal pressing against his skin stopped him short, though she could see his thoughts written all over his tense frame.

Playing a dangerous second ahead of him, she pushed the steel into his neck hard enough for a small line of blood to appear. "Don't even think about it."

A familiar, murderous rage washed over her nervous system. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to kill him so badly. It would be so easy – so worthwhile – to flick her wrist and slash him open to drain away his worthless existence.

Sabrina knew he'd never change. Ever. That certainty overrode any merciful tendencies she might otherwise have had, pushing far past the horror she still felt from snapping Martin's arm. She didn't feel any hesitation at the thought of inflicting that kind of damage again. Whatever the consequences, they couldn't be worse than the intense paranoia she would have to live with if he didn't die.

Still panting for breath, Sabrina let her rage fill her. Considering everything he'd put her through, it wasn't difficult to give in. And she'd very nearly talked herself into a killing decision when she heard someone call out behind her.

"Faerie!"

She hesitated. Turning around meant she would have to drop her guard with Mr. Smiley, which she wasn't prepared to do unless he was good and dead. Not only would it be over-the-top dangerous, but she might end up losing her nerve and let him live.