Page 19

I took a deep breath and swung, hitting the windshield. The dull thump echoed in the garage and vibrations traveled up my hands. I’d only chipped the surface.

“A little more oomph, Pet.” I didn’t bother glaring at Asher, but his tone, that condescending tone! All of them had this tendency to talk down to me. I could acknowledge they knew more than me, that they were overall advanced. How could they not? They’d lived decades—no, centuries. But right now, it did nothing more than flame my frustration.

I gritted my teeth and, clenching my abdomen, I swung with every bit of festering anger. The thud was accompanied by a crunch, little flakes of glass hit the floor, too small for me to see.

For all that, there was only a slight shattering of the windshield. The blunt force seemed to have only scratched it up.

“One sec,” Asher called and appeared feet away, popping a car open. The third along the first line of cars, a sleek foreign car, and riffled through. He appeared in front of me and slipped glasses onto my eyes. The brightly lit garage became dim. “I can heal you, but I don’t want those pretty browns injured.”

“Uh, thanks.” He stepped away, clearing the view to the car. I lifted the bat, and this time, I swung at the side mirror. Glass shattered and fell on the cement like raindrops. The hollow thump wrenched through my wrists.

But that kind of did feel good.

“Stiffen your grip,” Asher called. “And pull the bat all the way back until it’s over your shoulder.”

I did what he recommended and swung again. This time, it hurt less. A thud accompanied each of my hits. I wasn’t a violent person—more of a runner than a fighter, but as I drew back to hitthe side window, some of that frustrating tension clinging to my shoulders melted away.

But with every hit that shifted the bunched nerves at my neck, it loosened the ball in my throat. Bastien was the Pale One. The glass webbed. Bastien did things—no, he raped me. I had to face it head on. My next swing spread the cracks in the glass. Gritting my teeth, I continued pounding into the car. A wave of tears spilled free. He’d sodomized me. He’d been thisthing. Unrecognizable to the protective Bastien I knew, but did that exonerate him? The glass ruptured in a loud crash, yet I didn’t stop hitting.

Jax was another topic entirely. My heart hurt, and more embarrassingly? My pride. He’d chosen another woman. But none of those negative feelings had anything close to the utter devastation at the fact that I’d lost him.

My fingers were beginning to numb, but that didn’t stop me either. So much fucked. Up. Shit. Happened. With each word, I slammed metal against metal.

I thought the Pale One had been after me, but if they’d had Bastien locked up, then someone else was trying to kill me. I blinked to get rid of the tears blinding me. Crying had likely already ruined my mascara.

“Catalina, stop,” Asher’s voice finally ripped through the tornado of emotions battling inside me.

What? I staggered back, panting. The tip of the bat thumped on the cement. A dull throb radiated down the column of my neck and into my shoulders. My breaths puffed out and sweat beaded at my temples. I yanked the glasses off my face.

Shattered windows, the side mirror hung on by a wire, deep dents littered the surface—I’d done a number on the vehicle.

The suffocating pressure in my chest had abated. I exhaled slowly, swiping the back of my hand against my damp cheek. Tears continued to trickle free.

“Cat,” Asher said gently and lifted my hand, his tongue laved across the bleeding nicks scattered across my arm, collecting the blood. Ren strolled around the car and met my eyes, nodding like a proud father. Asher hummed, bringing my attention back to him. “Good as new.”

“What have I stumbled upon?” The English accent held a stiffness, no, a chastising edge. I whirled to find Tobias behind me. I craned my neck to look up at him.

“Love, you have the look of a racoon.”

Tobias lifted the bottom of his sweater, giving me a peek of his hard abdomen.

“That has to be expensive,” I sniffled, moving away from him. He caught the back of my neck to hold me in place and he swiped the sweater across my face until the tears were gone. By the fifth swipe of his sweater, I tried to pull away.

“Stop struggling, I have erased most of that charcoal.”

A snort escaped. Erased.

“How tender,” Imogen’s obnoxious voice invaded my ears. My smile evaporated while Tobias watched me. He frowned. I sheepishly turned away. Considering she was his sister and all that jazz, he didn’t need my utter hatred for her blasted at him.

Jax stood slightly behind her, his arms crossed over his chest. Fury flickered over his features for a split second. Then he wrenched his eyes away from the car.

My cheeks heated under his glare. What?! No, he didn’t deserve my attention. So what if I destroyed the very nice vehicle he’d gotten me? I sighed. I really shouldn’t have done it. Damn my soft heart.

Imogen hooked her arm around Jax’s as they strolled closer.

“I’m thirsty,” I mumbled, and I shoved past Jax, making sure I smacked into his side. Agony jostled my bones, but I bit my tongue hard to keep my cry in. No one stopped me. It madesense, they wouldn’t get close to me while she was around. But I felt all their eyes on me as I left.

I waited until I was through the door to rub my shoulder. I bit back my whimper and squeezed my sore arm. It felt like I’d run into a concrete wall. Hurrying back through the long, bland hallways, I arrived at the kitchen. I shut the door behind me and beelined to the glasses in the pantry. Then headed directly to the water dispensary on the fridge door. The glass filled up quickly. I chugged down the water as Maddy rounded the corner with a box in hand.