Eden backed away, gripping the vase with one hand but unsure she could risk getting close enough to use it. “Why are you doing this?”
Jolie smiled. “You’re bleeding.” Her tone sounded as if she’d just complimented Eden on what she was wearing.
Eden glanced to her shoulder. Yep, she was bleeding. Hand-to-hand combat with only one untrained hand. We’re off to a great start.
“Hyde likes blood, don’t you, hon? It excites him. Makes him even meaner.” She took slow steps, swinging her hips as she approached Eden. Like a stroll through the freaking park.
Eden stepped backwards, keeping space between them, wondering how long she’d have until she hit the wall. “What is wrong with you?”
Jolie flinched, confused, and stopped. “There’s nothing wrong with me. You two? Yeah, there’s all sorts of wrong with you two.”
“With me?” She shook her head. “No, I wasn’t the one who hurt Carter, was I? Or the others?”
“Nope. To each. But I’m not a murderer. Self-defense isn’t murder.” She looked peaceful—hypocrisy and self-righteousness leaving no lines on her face.
“Self-defense? This is self-defense?” Adrenaline, fear and anger filled her veins, pumped by a heart that felt as if it was about to combust.
Hyde shook the bars of the cage. “Let me out, bitch!”
Oh my God, I’m going to die. I’m going to die now. Eden couldn’t focus. Couldn’t think of a way out of this. Couldn’t slow her breath. Her pounding heart. Sweat making her grip on the vase slip.
“Why are you self-defencing people to death, Jolie?”
She blinked. “For him. I’m doing this for him. So Mitchell doesn’t go to jail. Shelly was an accident, Eden, it really was. She was my friend.” Her eyes pleaded for understanding. “I didn’t mean to. She would have told him what I was doing while he was Hyde, and he would have been so mad at me. So mad at me.”
“What were you doing, Jolie?”
“He liked it. I made him feel good. Nobody else could make him feel good.” Her crazy was spilling out all over the place. “But, when Mitchell saw her body, he felt so guilty that he called the police. So I had to give him an alibi. And then, I had to give him another. Because The Clinic wasn’t doing anything to help.” She switched direction and walked over to the cage, teasing the beast inside, but not getting too close. “I’m sorry about Carter though, Eden. I’m really sorry about that. He was a good guy.”
Is. He is a good guy. No, that’s not quite right. “How long has he been drugging me, Jolie?”
She jerked her head to the side. “How did you know that? Did he tell you? Did he wake up?”
Eden just stared at her. “Why did he do it?”
“Are you sad, Eden?” she mocked. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I had to coerce him into it? That I had to force him?” She smiled. “Bummer. It’s too bad I’m not going to tell you.”
Eden decided then and there that it didn’t matter whether she lived through this or not. She was taking Jolie out with her.
“So what’s the plan, Jolie? The same thing you did with Shelly—kill me and make Mitch think he did it?”
“No. He and I need closure. I thought it would be more poetic if he actually did the dirty work this time. And I really hate lying to him, you know.” She leaned the cane against the side of the cage and fished the key out of her pocket. “You want to hurt her, don’t you, big boy?” she said to Hyde. His huge hands gripped the bars. She petted his finger, keeping her body out of reach. “But not me. Nope, you and I understand each other.” She was more delusional than Eden imagined if she thought the look on Hyde’s face was that of understanding. He was studying Jolie, biding his time, waiting until she unlocked the cage. If he’d had a tail, it would have been twitching.
Eden inched toward the woman, terrified that meant nearing Hyde and getting farther away from the door as well. Jolie glanced back. And Eden froze in place. No need to feign terror, it had etched itself across her face all by itself.
Steady, Eden. You can do this. No, you have to do this.
Her expression seemed to bring pleasure to Jolie. She smiled and put the key in the lock. Eden was out of time. She ran at Jolie, the vase raised above her head, her shoulder screaming at her to stop.
Jolie’s eyes widened. She stepped back from the bars, just as Hyde’s hand swiped at her throat.
Jolie’s heels skidded across the floor, fleeing Eden’s pursuit. She tripped and fell, sprawling out on the floor. Eden lifted the vase even higher and slammed it down, aiming for Jolie’s head. Jolie flipped over onto her back, the glass shattering next to her ear. She covered her face from the shards and kicked at Eden’s feet.
Eden’s weight came out from under her. She hit the floor, pieces of glass piercing her legs and back. She refused to stop now. Jolie tried to scramble away. Eden grabbed her leg and pulled.
Jolie twisted around, the syringe in her fingers. Eden let go and scooted backwards, sliding through the glass, feeling it puncture her palms.
“I spoke to your boss, Jolie. He called.”
She stopped crawling. “You what?”
“He thought I was you.”
Jolie shook her head. “That’s impossible. He doesn’t call. He never calls.”
The look on Jolie’s face gave Eden confidence. “Well, he did. He seemed pretty pissed that you hadn’t emailed him about my ‘handler’ being out of commission.”
Her eyes were wild, scared. “What did you tell him?”
Think, Eden. Think. “He said something about ‘playtime’ being over. You should run for it, Jolie. Right now. He knows about Carter, and he’s going to come for you. Run. Go into hiding.”
Jolie started forward again, slower this time as if her fear and her stubbornness were fighting each other with each movement. “I can’t leave. They’ll find me. I know they will.” Jolie held the syringe out, grimacing from pain and fear. “No, I can explain it to them. It was all your fault. You killed Carter. And Hyde killed you.”
Eden shook her head. “They’ll figure it out.” She ignored the pain in her hands and slid further away.
Jolie’s eyes darted up above Eden. Her face turned into a mask of horror as if seeing the approach of her own demise.
Eden heard a growl from behind her. He was there. She felt it. Hyde was out of his cage and standing right behind her.
CHAPTER XLV
Hyde. Eden felt him, looming somewhere right behind her. No one moved. Eden didn’t turn, didn’t flee. She knew enough about wild animals to know running just encouraged them. If she dared move, she would have strangled Jolie. The woman in front of Eden, the one with a full view of the beast, was terrified—blinking like crazy, mouth an inch open. A few minutes ago, she’d been so sure he would never hurt her because they ‘understood each other’.
A strange thought passed quickly through Eden’s mind: He’d better not just kill me. He’d better kill her, too.
He hissed. No words. Just a hiss.
Eden saw Jolie’s plan a second before she bolted. “Don’t move,” she mouthed to Jolie. Her warning came too late.
Jolie scrambled to her feet and ran for the door, heels slipping on the glass.
Hyde pounced.
“No!” Eden screamed.
He flew right over her and tackled Jolie just as she turned to look, her face seemingly visualizing the death that was coming at her. He hit her hard, crushing her under his bulk. Jolie’s scream was cut off by her grunt as their bodies smacked onto the floor.
Eden didn’t want to see. She turned her head from Jolie’s cries and saw, a few feet away, the syringe that Jolie had dropped. She jumped up and grabbed it, her feet slipping on the glass and her own blood. She saw the cage, knew she’d be safe inside of it. She could wait it out until Hyde was gone and Mitch came back. And Jolie was dead. Oh God, what was she thinking of doing?
She held her hand steady, placing her thumb on the plunger. Ignoring Hyde’s guttural laught
er and Jolie’s horrible begging, Eden sunk to her knees. She had one shot. One chance to puncture his skin and push the drug into his body. No drug would be fast enough. She might very well die before it took effect. If it was enough. Big frigging ‘if’, Eden. What the hell was she thinking? She called out to Chastity for strength, some sort of last ditch plea for help from a side of her she didn’t know, but someone she trusted had the strength to do what needed to be done.
Jolie was crying, covering her face with one hand and beating Hyde with the other. Her strikes had no effect on him. He looked like a cat playing with a bug, tossing her back and forth with easy slaps—nothing to him, but everything to his victim.
Eden crept closer on her knees, keeping her movements as small as possible. As if the smaller they were, the less likely he’d be to notice her. As if Jolie’s pleas would fill his ears and her fear would keep him satisfied until Eden could get close enough. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and lunged forward toward his leg. As soon as she felt the needle enter flesh, she pushed down on the plunger and scrambled backwards.
Waiting for the arm that would strike her and throw her across the room. The one that would end all of this, at least for her. She couldn’t look.
“What’d you do that for?” Hyde’s gruff bass sounded muted, not angry, just confused. “I wasn’t done.”
Eden peered through one eye, not wanting to see her end coming.
Hyde was still sitting on top of Jolie. He batted her face as if trying to wake her up instead of kill her. But it didn’t matter—Jolie was limp, lifeless. The syringe stuck out of Jolie’s thigh, dangling to the side, bouncing slightly each time Hyde jostled the body beneath him.
“Oh, God,” Eden moaned.
Cursing herself for making a sound, calling Hyde’s attention to her, she ran the only direction she could—toward the cage. He was on her before she got through the door, nails clawing down her back, spinning her underneath him.
“Please, stop!”
His laugh was guttural, base. “Why should I?”
“Because . . . of Mitch. Mitch wouldn’t want me hurt.”
“Why should I give a fuck about what Mitch wants?” He toyed with her hair, wrapping it around his finger and tugging until she cried out. “Huh?”
She was panting, unable to get a deep-enough breath with his weight pressing down on her chest.
“He puts you in the cage, doesn’t he? I could speak to him, ask him not to tie you down.”
Hyde cocked his head to the side in a very Mitch-sort-of way. It was the first similarity Eden had ever noticed between them. “He’s smarter than that. He knows what I can do.” He grinded his hips into hers, rubbing himself against her pelvis. “Do you know what I can do?”
She wanted to press her body through the hardwood floor under her to get away. “I’d rather not. Thanks, though.”
“I could fuck you until you bleed. Or I could fuck you and then make you bleed.”
If she could breathe, she would’ve gasped. But at least he was talking, not just tearing her apart. “Are those my only options?” she whispered.
He snagged her bottom lip in between his teeth and yanked so hard tears appeared in Eden’s eyes, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. But she didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. Yay! Give yourself a pat on the back, Eden. Quick, before he kills you.
“The fact that I’m giving you a choice at all is a big deal. I wouldn’t have given her one.” He flicked his head back to Jolie’s body.
“So I should thank you then.”
“Do or don’t. I don’t give a shit.” His enormous shoulders shrugged, lifting his hands and pressing more of his bulk into her ribcage. “He doesn’t either, you know, my little slut. He doesn’t give a shit about you either.” Hyde’s lips tightened.
A faint dimple appeared on his cheek, grabbing Eden’s focus. Her heart fluttered with the tiniest bit of hope.
“Say that again,” she said.
He shoved his hand under her and squeezed her ass, smiling when she yelped. “You talk a lot.”
“True.” She risked a nod. “Tell me he doesn’t give a shit about me. Come on, big boy, say it.” Why would he do what you want him to? “You know what? Don’t. It hurts too much.”
His lip lifted in a snarl first, and then turned into a wicked grin. “It hurts you that he hates you? Sorry, bitch, but he does.”
The dimple appeared again. Mitch’s tell. Hyde was lying.
She lifted her head toward him and peered into the monster’s eyes, looking for Mitch’s color or something to recognize him by. “You’re in there, aren’t you?” she said breathlessly.
Hyde growled and pushed her back with a rough palm against her forehead, slamming her head into the floor. “Quit your yakking, or I’ll kill you and then fuck you.”
“No, you won’t.” She blinked the stars out of her eyes, praying she didn’t lose consciousness.
He pushed himself off her, brows furrowed, eyes darting up and down her body, confused. “You think you know me, cunt?” He paced around her, the circles tight enough she had to curl her legs under her and sit up to avoid being stepped on.
“No.” She couldn’t try to escape—he’d just tackle her again. But she measured the distance to the cage anyway, trying to figure out how long she’d need to shut and lock the door. “You know me, though, don’t you?”
Same look of confusion, Mitch-like tilt of the head, the dimple. Eden hoped Mitch was just under the surface of this creature, pulling Hyde back from hurting her until he could come back into himself.
“Maybe you recognize what we have in common,” she said.
He let out a long sigh. “I’m bored of you. And he’s going to be back soon, so it’s now or never.”
“Could we go with never? Or maybe a next time?”
He grabbed her by her shirt and hauled her to her feet like a momma cat with her young, except much harder, meaner and with a growl instead of a purr. Her clothes were already torn in places. It took only a small yank from Hyde and they were ripped from her body, leaving her exposed, in just her underwear and bra. The bra was the next thing to be taken from her, with one quick tug from Hyde.
She wrapped her arms around herself until, with one look up into his eyes, she understood that her humiliation just excited him. She dropped her arms and stood before him as confidently as she could, forcing herself to take deeper breaths.
He backed her up until the cold metal of the bars pressed grooves into her back. His fingers dug into her waist as he lifted her, setting her against him, her legs dangling a foot off the ground.
She cringed from a pain at her hip, heard the rip of her underwear, and felt the only barrier between them fall away.
He held her with absolutely no effort at all, one-handed, while he adjusted himself to take her.
She turned her head and shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Tears she didn’t want him to see squeezed through her clenched eyelids.
“Yes, I know exactly who you are,” he said, his voice breaking slightly in anticipation.
“No, you don’t.” I don’t even know who I am, but I know who I want to be. Bolting out of her box of denial back into this moment, she pushed at him, refusing to continue being a victim. She kicked her legs out of his grip and squeezed her thighs together so he couldn’t get in.
Why had she given up? Made it easier for him? She knew who she wasn’t. She wasn’t a scared little girl anymore. No, she had to fight. “Mitch! Come back! Come back to me, Mitch, I need you!” she screamed, hammering her fists against Hyde’s chest.
He smiled at her childishness, pressed his body more firmly against hers, capturing her in between himself and the cage.
“Let me go! You have no idea what she’s capable of! What I’m capable of!”
He grabbed her jaw and smashed his lips against hers, grinding against her teeth painfully.
She spoke into his mouth, cursing him, threatening him, fighting him. Until she fe
lt his abs tighten severely. He released her jaw to grab onto the bars behind her and rocked against her. His groan was long and low, as if he’d had an orgasm.
Too scared to be disgusted, she pushed against his chest again. Less hair, smoother. Running her hands along his shoulders, she found their strength and size familiar, just like she remembered.
His mouth softened on hers, no longer pushing and greedy, just desperate and needing. He lowered her onto the ground, but held her lips. “Eden,” he whimpered between the brief parting of their lips.
Hyde, an Urban Fantasy Page 35
