Page 31

“I have blood on my hands,” I gasp. Jed’s penis is bleeding. He frantically wipes at it.
Finn laughs all over again. “Go clean your hands.”
I don’t waste another second to leave the room. I shut the bathroom door behind me and let out a deep breath. I was almost assaulted. Well, technically I was.
And Finn didn’t even do anything about it. Not that I should have expected him to. He’s not a good man. I know this. So why did I think he’d stop Jed himself?
I guess he knew I would stop Jed myself but I could have used the help.
I’m scrubbing my hands clean when the bathroom door opens.
It’s Zach.
Slowly, I turn the tap off. “What are you doing in here? Leave me alone.”
“I’m sure you thought it was funny to hurt Jed’s penis like that. All you girls get off on that shit.”
I stare Zach down. “I’m not going to be afraid of some overweight incel who thinks he’s better than me. Go home and cry to your mommy that I insulted you. I don’t give a damn. But you are not going to shame me into defending myself against a fucking rapist.”
The pure anger on Zach’s face is intimidating, I’ll admit. “Who do you think you are getting off on talking to me like this? You’re just a pathetic female.”
“Female what?”
“What?”
“Female what? Female dog? Female chicken? Female human? If you’re going to insult me, at least use proper grammar, you idiot.”
“You bitch.” He shoves me back into the small bathroom and wraps his hands around my throat before I even have time to defend myself. I rake my hands down his face but still, Zach does not let go. My hands flail around and hit the sink. I just need something to help me. Anything. I can’t die by the hands of some pathetic incel.
The door is wrenched open and Finn is there. I’m expecting him to laugh at what Zach is doing to me. Tell me I deserve this.
But instead, Finn grabs Zach and drags him away from me. The moment Zach’s hands leave my throat, I can breathe again. I hear a thud and a scream from the other room. I quickly run outof the bathroom to see that Finn has Zach on the ground and he’s punching him over and over and over again.
The other men watch in fear. No one does anything to help save Zach.
“You.” Punch. “Will.” Punch. “Not.” Punch. “Touch her!”
The pure anger and possessiveness in Finn’s voice draws me up short. Finn said I wasn’t his but this proves he thinks otherwise. I am his prisoner, that is true but Finn is attacking Zach like he’s defending his lover, which I am definitely not.
“You said she wasn’t yours!” Silas cries out. “Stop this, Finn. You’ll kill him.”
Finn stops hitting Zach. The sudden silence is eerie. “I will kill all of you if you don’t all leave right this moment.”
No one moves.
“Leave!” Finn shouts. “And never come back here. Or I will kill every last one of you.”
The men quickly scramble out of the house, except for Zach, who remains on the floor, groaning and sputtering up blood.
Finn kicks Zach in the side. “I never said you could put your hands on her. Now leave. Leave before I fucking kill you.”
Zach forces himself onto his knees and he crawls from the house. Good riddance. Now maybe those men will know what real fear is like.
Finn has his back to me so I don’t know what his expression is but I’m a little afraid to find out. He almost killed Zach.
For me?
Slowly, Finn turns to face me, breathing heavy, with a look of pure disgust on his face. When his eyes meet mine, they shift into something else. Something… softer.