Page 116 of A Thousand Cuts

“Fix,” Liam whimpered, eyes terrified and sparkling with tears.

“STOP SAYING HIS NAME!”

Liam flinched away from the shout in his ear, cringing as his neck pressed into the knife’s edge, raising a bead of red on his porcelain skin.

Fix had never wished death upon another person before, but his thoughts were consumed with it. His hands curled into fists, but he breathed through the cloud of misty red as he concentrated on Liam.

“It’s okay, honey. It’s going to be okay,” Fix said, trying to exude calm so Liam could soak it in.

“You’re not taking him from me! He’s mine! He was mine first before you laid your disgusting hands on him,” the man ranted.

“You don’t want to hurt him,” Fix said.

“Then step back.”

“I’m not going to do that.”

The stalker’s eyes glinted, as sharp as the knife that moved toward Liam’s neck. “Then this is your fault.”

Fix’s heart leaped in fear, and he lunged forward just as King came springing out of nowhere, his huge jaws clamping down on the stalker’s arm. He cried out, the knife clattering to the floor,and Liam fell to the ground, gasping for air as he was abruptly let go.

Fix used his momentum, aiming for Liam as the stalker contended with getting King off him. He was bleeding, blood dripping onto the floor as King refused to unlock his jaw. He raised a booted foot to King’s chest and kicked, making King yelp and fall aside.

Incensed, the stalker kicked him again, venting his anger.

“KING!” Liam cried out in such utter heartbreak that Fix changed his path and slammed straight into the stalker instead.

They hit the glass side of the walkway, the force of the collision causing a sharp crack and making the metal hinges scream in exertion.

The stalker punched him in the jaw, desperation making his reflexes quicker to recover. Fix took the hit and laid his own into the guy’s stomach, using every ounce of strength he had in him and propelling it with the weight of every single one of Liam’s miseries.

They exchanged blows, Fix tasting blood in his mouth and seeing it spread across the stalker’s face, now unmasked for all to see.

Voices were getting ever closer, but it was a background hum as Fix finally let vengeance rain down.

The stalker realized he was in a losing game; he was surrounded with no leverage. Fix saw his eyes darting around, looking for an exit. In a desperate bid to escape, he managed to reverse their positions, shoving Fix back into the cracked glass again and making it splinter further.

Only this time it didn’t stop, spiderwebbing outward unnaturally.

A curse.

Fix only had a split second to react as the wall disappeared behind him, shattering into nothing.

He grasped the stalker’s collar and dragged him with him in a shower of glass.

“FIX!” Liam screamed, right before they hit the murky water of the fountain under them, the water absorbing the impact of Fix hitting the floor and swallowing him up.

It rushed around him, a typhoon of pressure and sound. He was completely winded, the breath knocked from his lungs entirely, water entering his nose and ears, pain radiating from his shoulders.

Like a minnow, the guy tried to slip out of his grip in the water, but like a shark, Fix chased him down.

They broke the surface still tangled together and gasping for breath. Fix took him back under as they struggled for control. The stalker punched and hit, but Fix was a predator that had sensed blood in the water, blooming bright. Injuries were ignored as he finally got a hold on his prey and held him under the water as he rose back up to his knees, torrents falling from him, blinding him and running from his open mouth.

He squeezed so hard he felt like his muscles would rupture. Hands scratched at his skin, water kicking up as feet flailed for purchase.

Distantly, someone was calling his name.

“FIX!” Cyrus yelled. “You don’t wanna do this!”