“You don’t have to do this,” I begged. “Please.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said, and his hand started tightening.
“After!” I said, but I didn’t even know what that meant. I just knew that prolonging being fileted was probably a good idea. “But Clark, listen, if you do anything stupid, Boden and Daniels will come after you.”
I would come after him, too, but I felt like me personally threatening him wouldn’t work as well as threatening him with Boden and Daniels. Clark already thought he could overpower me and take what he wanted, so nothing I said would sound like a threat, anyway.
“No, you listen to me, bitch,” Clark growled. His face was right above mine, and spittle landed on my face when he spoke. “If you don’t do exactly what I say, when I say, I will kill those two fucking brats the second I’m done with you. Do you understand me?”
I closed my eyes. “Yes. I understand.”
I didn’t think he would be able to hurt Max and Stella, not with Boden, Daniels, and Serg around. But then again, I never would’ve thought he’d be able to get me like this either. I’d once again underestimated man’s capacity for evil.
“Good.” He smiled wider.
Roughly, he flipped me around, slamming my face against the counter. Then he grabbed my ponytail and yanked my head back. As soon as he had my head up, the knife was pressed against my throat, the blade nearly piercing my skin.
“One wrong move, and I’ll slit your throat,” he whispered into my ear, his words soft and warm like we were lovers.
I could see him in the mirror, the look of sick satisfaction he had on his face. He let go of my pony tail so he could use that hand to pull down my pants and underwear. He jerked me back every time he tugged on my jeans, digging the blade deeper into my neck.
When he finally got my pants down, he licked his lips. I closed my eyes then, squeezing them shut, and I felt his hand roughly grabbing my bare skin.
“Remy?” Daniels called from the main room.
My eyes shot open, and I saw Clark frozen in the mirror. I didn’t say anything, and neither did Clark. I didn’t want Daniels to be dragged into this mess, but at the same time, I also really didn’t want to be raped.
“Remy?” Daniels repeated. “Are you okay?” He knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you in there?”
“Yeah,” I said, and Clark pinched my ass in punishment. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Are you okay?” Daniels asked. “Is everything okay with your incision?”
And then, since he’d seen me naked before and was afraid I wouldn’t tell him if something was wrong, he opened the door.
Clark jerked back, sliding the knife across my throat. It was enough to break the skin, but not enough to puncture my jugular or windpipe. So it hurt, but I’d live.
“What the fuck?” Daniels yelled, immediately appraising the situation.
He rushed at Clark, slamming him into the wall. I yanked up my pants in time to see Daniels get in one good punch, hitting Clark in the face. But that was all he got before Clark stabbed him in the stomach.
“Not so fucking tough now, are you?” Clark asked as he twisted the knife inside him.
“No!” I shouted.
He pulled the knife out of Daniels, who fell back on the floor, holding his stomach. I wanted to kill Clark and rip his head off, but I couldn’t just rush at him while he had a knife, not unless I wanted to end up like Daniels.
By then, Boden had come into my room, responding to the commotion.
“Clark has a knife, and he stabbed Daniels!” I yelled at him.
“You stupid bitch.” Clark shook his head, and then he turned and ran out of the bathroom. He thrust the knife at Boden, attempting to cut him, but he only succeeded in knocking Boden down. Afraid of a man to man fight, Clark raced out of the room, but Boden got up and chased after him.
“Daniels!” I fell to my knees next to him, and I put my hands over his stomach, trying to keep the blood in, but it pumped hot and fast through my fingers. “Oh my god, Daniels, what should I do?”
“You’re doing it,” he said, his voice tight “Just put pressure on it, and stay with me.”
“But how do I fix this?” I asked. “How do I stop this?”
“You don’t.” He winced, then he put his hand over mine, holding it. “Listen, Remy, I’m sorry about what I did to you and what happened to your brother.”
“You don’t need to be sorry.” I shook my head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I understand why you did it. You did the best you could.”
“I didn’t,” he insisted. “I shouldn’t have let them cut you up like that. You’re a person, a strong, brave person, and they had no right to treat you like that.”
“It doesn’t matter, Daniels. It’s over, and I’m okay. I just need to know what to do to take care of you.”
“You can’t.” He had tears in his eyes, and he smiled. “I’m losing so much blood. But it’s okay.”
“How is this okay?” I asked.