Girl Meets Evil

Chapter Twenty Six

I held the whimper of pain in out of sheer determination as the light broke into bright sunbursts all around and my vision slowly came back. My temple throbbed as a new trail of blood flowed freely down my cheek over the caked dirt and blood that coated me like a second skin. I smiled at him because no matter what he said, no matter what he did, I would never break. He would have to kill me first and it seemed that he was finally understanding. 

I don't know how long we've been playing this game, the warehouse was boarded up on all sides, even the maw like entrance was covered all of the time so I had no way of telling how many days passed. Only the ragged, deranged way he approached me let me know that his control would shatter before mine. I wouldn't last forever, I knew, but I would last long enough to piss him off enough that he killed me. 

He brought his arm back and struck against my side, knocking the wind from my lungs and pushing the chair back several feet. 

My head snapped back with the force of it and it took much longer than normal to make the muscles respond and lift my head back up. I was close now, closer than I had been that first night he attacked me. I'd lost so much blood, despite his clumsy attempts to heal me so we could continue this game. 

I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since I left and I knew my body was growing weak and would soon give up. It was almost poetic and beautiful if I allowed myself to think too long about it. His temper would deprive him not only of the victory he sought over my family but also of the opportunity to own or use me as he wished. 

My ears were still ringing with the sound of rushing liquid and every inch of my skin pulsed as even the feeling of the air was too painful. His feet carried him close, the stark white of his dress shirt was stained with splatters of my blood and his knuckles were bruised as he clenched his fists in anger. 

He looked immaculate, blood stains notwithstanding, his long legs encased in tailored dress pants while the power of his shoulders stretched the material of his shirt. The sleeves were rolled up carefully so the cuffs sat just under his elbow, showing the corded muscle of his forearms. His hair was styled and pushed away from his pretty face.

His glowing eyes found my gaze and simmered with a sinister heat that, despite my efforts to quench it, sent shivers of fear up my spine.

"I know what you are doing, Yoojin." He hissed, bringing his face close to mine as his nose touched my cheek. "I can smell death on you." He licked the now slowly leaking blood from my cheek and I saw a ripple of something pass through his eyes before he closed them and hummed in contentment. "Do you think beating you is the only form of punishment I am capable of?" He demanded, his voice raspy and low as he moved a little, crushing his lips against mine as he kissed me bitterly. 

"She is here." This call, the only other sound in the room aside from the wolf's heavy breathing and my panicked heart thumping loudly enough to drown out all sound, whispered in fear across the space. I didn't look to see who the speaker was, I didn't want even a moment of hope to flit across my heart that this hybrid might stand up against the wolf. I knew from the last several days that none of them dared even look in his eyes, because I'd seen him rip the throat out of the one who did. 

The wolf pulled away from me, the darkness of his gaze unmistakable as he watched me spit at him, trying to rid my mouth of the taste. "Send her to me." He demanded, carefully wiping the blood on his knuckles away with a kerchief he pulled from his pocket. 

He didn't look at the hybrid who spoke, his eyes remained on my body. His gaze was different than before, as if he was truly seeing me as a woman for the first time. It left a bitter, disgusting taste in my mouth and a fear I was unable to push away settled into the pit of my stomach.