Knights Who Stole My Heart : Knights Series Book 2

by Sonya Jesus

  But Haley wasn’t here. Whose barcode did she take?

  The eerily silent hall is obviously different than the others, with soft cream walls instead of stark white ones, crown molding around the edges and the ceiling resembles an abstract painting. The doors are crafted from expensive wood, thick and knot free, most likely to help keep the sound out. This hall was fashioned to resemble a posh hotel, with hidden cameras to monitor movement.

  I unlatch the door slowly and push it open, just enough to peek through.

  The light is on, bed sheets crumpled, the IV bag on the bed, but no Amelia. Mumbling from my right catches my attention. I shut the door softly and walk along the wall of the room. Before I even get close, I spot Connor gripping at his bloody leg. “You’re going to kill her!” His voice is harsh, tense and full of pain.

  Amelia. My heart beats ferociously, pumping adrenaline through my system and enticing my killer instinct.

  “Fuck, she’s bleeding everywhere!”

  But she’s alive. I don’t dare look inside the bathroom. Instead, I move through the room silently, pocketing some gloves, plastic tubes and alcohol pads. As I search for cameras in the room, I tune into Connors unsuccessful dissuading of Haley. Useless piece of shit.

  “It’s okay, Lia.” Connor softens his voice as if he’s trying to calm her down. I dial 911, wait a good thirty seconds before hanging up and do it again.

  Positioning myself behind the door, I can see Haley through the crack in the slightly open door. She’s right behind it. Her head tilted to the left, with a twisted smile on her face. Her hand twitches. Something metal brushes up against neon green before sliding up and down her upper thigh. I couldn’t see Amelia from this angle, just blood on the metal in Haley’s hands, clothes, and on the floor around her. I glance back at Connor, noting the injuries. Pulling the gloves out, I slide them on and grab hold of the bathroom knob with no specific plan in my mind but to save Amelia.

  “You know I love you, right?” Connor’s defeated voice invades my head. He couldn’t even save her. I give into the rage I’ve been holding at bay since the moment I stepped in here. I let it mix with the panic and refusal to nearly lose my Queen twice in one day. I lock on my target. The next moments go by in slow motion.

  I move to the side, making myself visible to Connor.

  “I meant…“ Connor flicks his eyes towards me.

  I pull all my weight and muscle into slamming the door into the body behind it. Haley flies back, sliding on her ass along the tiles until she hits the wall. The back of her head crashes into the ceramic, cracking it and depositing pieces into her skull, but not enough to kill her. I watch as her eyes close in response to the trauma. I’m proud of the welt on her head where the brunt of the door hit her.

  I grunt at the thought of joining forces with my opponent, but he’d attest to my noble actions. He’d tell Amelia I saved both of them. I smile softly. The hero always gets the girl.

  Focusing on Amelia, my heart sinks into my stomach. Wound assessment is impossible because she’s drenched in blood and vomit. Connor has crawled over to her, tears running down his face as he leans down to make sure she’s breathing.

  “Connor?” Amelia’s bleating voice snaps my attention to her again. She’s fading. My Queen is dying— and she calls for him? The crying fucker who couldn’t save her?

  My heart beats faster, quickening my thoughts, my speed, and my perception of time. A cloud of rage invades my mind, turning all the cautious reactions into hazy, misconstrued plans. The only goal in my mind, the only thing I would not fail at, is saving Amelia’s life. The other two are inconsequential.

  I shake my head and wriggle my shoulders. I had a mission, and that mission required less thinking and more talking. I let Connor tend to Amelia. He fills me in as he weeps like a fragile woman. “She’s breathing, but she was already on the floor when I got here. Haley must have drugged her or done something to weaken her.”

  I nod, knowing these would be important details for the police. Squatting down beside Amelia, I grip the bloodier wrist in my gloved hands and check her pulse. “Her pulse is weak. We need to get a doctor in here. Obviously, this place is soundproof or this wouldn’t have happened. Can you make it across the room, and click on the emergency help button? Then get into the hallway and find someone? I’ll stay here in case Haley wakes up. We can’t move Amelia without knowing the extent of her injuries.”

  Connor’s face blanches as he begins to stammer a string of words. “She... Haley … the scissor…”

  Great. Now he’s a blubbering imbecile. “Now is not the time to panic, Connor! I need you to go over there and pull the emergency cord. You think you can do that?”

  Haley stirs.

  “Go!” My order is succinct, clear and empowering. Connor staggers to his feet, barely able to stand upright. There’s a moment of hesitation where he ponders leaving Amelia in my hands, and it quakes my bones with rage.

  Hmph. She’s the safest with me. “Quick Connor!” I shout louder. “Go! Activate the emergency call to get the nurses to come. Haley’s coming to.”

  He shuffles out of the room as I contemplate kicking the scissors out of the way, but I don’t. I can’t risk exposure, so Haley needs to attack me, in order for it to be legitimate self-defense. Connor and Amelia, they’ll back me up, and I will be the hero who saves Amelia and her weak boy-toy from her deranged suitemate.

  I bend down, plant a kiss on Amelia’s clammy cheek and unbind her hands while whispering softly, “I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”

  I hold the plastic cord Haley utilized to bind Amelia, staring at it until I connect where it originated from. Clever of her. There was no emergency switch to activate because she used the cord to bind up Amelia.

  Connor comes back to the room, a solemn look on his face. “Why didn’t you go get help?” I furrow my eyebrows at him. Stupid child.

  “I can’t get far with my leg like this.” There’s a gash on his upper thigh; his jeans cut open at the spot. It’s a deep wound, probably pierced the muscle, but why was he holding on to his lower leg earlier? She must have got him twice.

  Crazy giggles fill the room. Connor and I turn towards Haley. The giggles turn to cackles as she presses her fingertips into the open gash on her head. “You hit me,” she croaks as she glares at her fingertips. She rubs them together, smearing the blood then focuses on Connor. “You’re here to save me?”

  I roll my eyes. Maybe I hit her head too hard?

  Connor scowls, looking to me for advice, thinking the same thing.

  “Haley!” I shout, calling her attention towards me.

  She winces at the timber in my voice, squealing, “Shut up!” Despite the fact no one speaks, she repeats the phrase in various octaves until she focuses on my face. “You? What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to make sure Amelia is safe.”

  She glances towards Amelia, smashing her lips together in an ugly manner. Then addresses Connor. “She didn’t want you and me to be together. I told her all about our anniversary. How you sang to me. How you loved me!”

  “You’re fucking crazy, Haley,” Connor carelessly goads, undoubtedly more confident since I am here.

  Haley gives him a sideways glance, her head tilting to the side. “Why would you say that to me? I’m not crazy. I’m in love with you and what did you do? You slept with Jaime and cast me aside like a day old sandwich after you said you loved me.”

  “I never said I loved you, Haley,” he spitefully spits out.

  “Connor—” I caution his provocation while redirecting attention to me.

  Haley cracks her neck, rubbing the back of her head as if remembering the last few minutes. She staggers up and points to Amelia. “She hates me. My suitemates all hate me because of her. Now, you hate me because of her?” She’s at the breaking point, I can sense it in the air. “What if she didn’t exist anymore? Would things be different?”

  “No,” Connor answers truthfully. “We
’ve talked about this before. I love Amelia. I’m just waiting for her to realize she loves me back.”

  There it is. The resolve in Haley’s eyes. She dives forward, toward Amelia, with the scissors in her hand.

  I intercept her attack. She bumps into me, staggers back a few inches, and then redirects all her anger on the person standing in her way. She lunges toward me, ramming her head into my stomach.

  I let her take me down easily, away from Amelia. Laying on my back, Haley straddles me, one bent knee on each side.

  “Haley put the scissors down!” Connor barks, distracting me from my assailant.

  She screeches in frustration, aiming for my lower abdomen. I hold her wrists up, lightly blocking her and using the commotion to redirect her aim to a non-vital spot. Loosening my grip, I ready myself for the violent impact. “The police are coming!” I rush her. “You and Connor will never be together.”

  She brings the other hand up, using it to add power and thrusts the closed scissors into my abdomen. I barely feel it, but I only let her go a couple centimeters deep before overpowering her.

  I’m on top of her, pinning her to the tile.

  She squirms under me, screaming to let her go, begging for Connor to save her. She howls and screams, and Connor comes towards us, squatting beside her.

  “I love you. I love you, Connor! Get him off of me. Please!” She sounds like a dying child. “I promise I won’t hurt anyone. I swear!”

  Connor’s face softens, remorse filling his features. “Get off her,” he orders. “I’ll watch her! Go get help.”

  He has got to be kidding me.

  “She won’t hurt me.”

  “It isn’t you I am worried about,” I mumble softly, probably the only thing I haven’t annunciated clearly. Connor isn’t even listening; he’s trying to calm Haley down. “Are you sure about this?” I ask, annunciating again.

  “No,” the word escapes his lips. Not so confident now. I get up, allowing him to take my position. “Go! Take Amelia. I’ll hold Haley off.” I bend down and scoop Amelia into my arms. Her body presses against the scissors still sticking out from my abdomen and I groan as it delves deeper. She moans in pain as I touch her deep wound. She’s slippery. I almost let her fall as I tread carefully through the bathroom and out towards her room.

  “Amelia?” I needed her to know it was me, but I didn’t dare. Instead, I whisper into her ear, “I love you.”

  “Connor?” My body tenses.

  No! Not. Fucking. Connor.

  She calls for him, again and again, making my heart ache to tell her I couldn’t live without her. She’s my life, and I had to save her from anything and everything. I gently place her on the bed and roll it to the door and out into the hallway. Then I go back in for Connor.

  “Is she okay? Are the police here?” Connor says when he senses me behind him.

  I move around to squat down next to him. I place a hand on his shoulder, looking down at Haley for a moment before focusing on him. “She was calling for you,” I say. “She’s outside. Why don’t you go and wait?”

  Haley screams and lunges towards Connor. I don’t even notice the vacant feeling in my abdomen until I see the flash of metal in her hand. He growls as she takes the open scissor and cuts him across his chest, using it as a knife. “I'll kill you too!” she screams, slashing him again, this time splicing his cheek open, catching some of his neck.

  “My neck!” He struggles to get the upper hand. He fumbles for the scissors, knocking it out of her hands by smashing her hand against the tile floor.

  I grab them.

  He wraps his hands around her neck. She drops the scissors on the floor. I move them away from her.

  She spurts out, “I hate her.”

  He squeezes harder.

  “You are never going to touch her again. I love her. I’m a screw-up, I’ve done so many things wrong, but I will never stop showing her that I love her.” Blood from his neck spills onto her clothes, the green neon swipe card almost tainted red. She gasps for breath as Connor crushes her throat, sealing off the airflow.

  Connor holds his hands in the air near Haley’s neck, sputtering off an undecipherable string of words while the realization of his first kill crashes down on him. Remorseful tears fill his eyes, but he can’t hide the relief in his body.

  The liberating cognizance that follows a murder of someone who threatens you is inevitable. Ending the tormentor’s life permits an escape from the hold they had. No matter how wrong it might be, it will always feel right to succumb to the virile borne protective instinct.

  I never thought the measly Freshman had it in him. Whether it was to save himself or to save Amelia, he killed Haley.

  I stand back, truly flabbergasted at the transformation. Just moments ago he was irritating me with his weakness. Now here he is, no longer some kid who fell for the older girl, but a man stepping up to the plate and willing to risk everything to save her. He was a hero.

  I’m not sure I like sharing that role with him. Though I almost respect him for this, I have underestimated him, once again, and it infuriates me. The urge to act on the anger prickles underneath my skin and I distract myself by playing my role. I bend down, putting my ear to Haley’s mouth for confirmation while Connor feels for her pulse.

  Taking advantage of his distraction, I inconspicuously slide my gloved hand over the tile towards the open scissors, slipping them into my weaker hand and angling them just right. When Connor looks back towards me, nodding his head in remorse, I jam the scissor into Connor’s neck, right through his larynx, nicking his carotid artery.

  I catch him as he falls back, looking up at me. His mouth moves, yet unable to speak. I hold him in place, enjoying the struggle. His body twitches and spazzes in my grasp. Gurgles of blood erupt from his lips, as he tries to mouth something that I read as, “Why?”

  That’s easy. “Because Amelia is mine,” I whisper as I drive the scissors a little deeper. His eyes splutter open, fighting to stay awake. “If it’s any condolence, you are perhaps the only worthy foe I’ll ever have.”

  I stay with him until he passes.

  I hear rustling and shouts from outside the door. I cradle him for show, digging deep inside and manifesting fake tears for the first responders.

  I cast one last smile, before they burst through the door.

  At least, that’s one Knight down.

  The end… for now.

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  Thank you.

  I love writing. It’s the dream I always wanted to see fulfilled. I feel so blessed to have the privilege of having fans. Whoa! Kind of awesome. Just like you! I would really appreciate if you can take a few seconds to share your thoughts and leave a review. I know you’re busy but it sure would mean a lot to hear from you!

  I can’t have a Thank You page without thanking my amazing team. Codi, you have been so supportive and encouraging. All those days where the words started to blurb into one, or I doubted something you were always there motivating me to continue. A special shout out to my Beta team. You are fantastic! I love that you enjoy it and get into the book as much as I do. Cam, Julia, Ana, Sarah, Marlene, betas, bloggers, PA’s and ARC recipients, thank you for all the help and for taking a chance on me. Have I mentioned how much you guys rock??? Well, I’m immortalizing it here. So, everyone who reads will know.

  My family— the people who listen to my crazy ideas and probably want to tell me to shut my mouth, but they don’t because they love me enough to listen and encourage me. You have no idea, how amazing I think you are. Without you there would be no me. You’ve shaped me, guided me, are loved me. You guys are the reason I try and the reason I fight. Oh, and I love you, lots!

  To my hubby… I freaking love you from the tips of my hair to the very tip of my toes. Your love courses through me and you know what? I am totally okay with tha
t. Actually, I kind of can’t live without it.

  Who knew those silly teenagers, who were nervous to initiate conversation, could learn to speak without words, stay together through oceans of distance and fight for everything life can offer? You always knew. I always hoped. Sounds like a pretty sweet combination to me. You are my everything— my real life book boyfriend. I love you to the moon and back.

  Sonya Jesus