“You tried to strangle my…Holbrook, you tool!” I fired back.
Removing his hand from his neck, Ted curled it into a bloody fist and bared his teeth in a snarl as he took a step towards me. “You’re going to pay for that.”
Sensing that a serious ass whooping was heading my way I forced my body to relax, standing at the ready with my knees bent and shoulders loose. Beside me, Holbrook was leaning against the edge of the table fighting to draw breath, and I didn’t think that Ted would wait for him to recover before he took a swing at either of us. His eyes burned with righteous fury, his venomous hatred fueled by the belief that he was right, and God was on his side.
In my opinion, there is little in this world that is more dangerous and unpredictable than a religious zealot with a penchant for violence. A nuclear warhead ranks above people like Ted and Max, but just barely. Until the last few days, I’d never been face to face with such unbridled hatred. Even Samson, in all his psychosis fueled anger, hadn’t exuded the kind of raw rage that bubbled inside of Ted.
The wolf sensed the loathing radiating off him from where she hovered just beneath the surface, almost close enough to burst free. She knew exactly how dangerous he was, and she wasn’t prepared to let the close-minded bastard take us, or Holbrook, down.
Not yet, not yet, I chanted, trying to hold her back. I wasn’t sure if I could go fully wolf yet, the wolfsbane lingering in my body making the link between us too tenuous, but I wasn’t willing to risk my life on it. The last thing I needed was a silver bullet in the brainpan, and that would be precisely what I got if I lost control in a public place.
Seeing as I didn’t feel like adding possible death by firing squad to my plans for the day, I wrestled the wolf back under control and tried to put some distance between me and my new buddy. Thankfully, Holbrook had regained his balance by that point, and once again took up a position between me and Ted.
“Big mistake, asshole,” Holbrook growled, the fury in his voice catching me off guard.
Blood exploded from Ted’s nose in a scarlet spray, splattering the surrounding tables and carpet, before I even realized that Holbrook had lifted his hand to throw a punch. From the look of Ted’s wide eyes and the blood streaming over his mouth, he hadn’t seen the blow coming either. His moment of shock, however, was short-lived, and as Holbrook cocked his arm for another blow, Ted was on him, the two men tangled together in a blur of wildly punching fists and grunts.
Distracted by the sight of Holbrook and Ted throwing punches at each other, I didn’t see Max regain his feet, or the fist that swung at my ribs. Pain exploded in my chest, ripping the breath out of my lungs in a strangled shout. Dark motes danced on the edges of my vision as I drew in a ragged breath, my ribs screaming with the effort of breathing. Rounding on my attacker, I found him already driving another fist towards me, this one aimed at my face, and was too slow to react. Stars burst in my vision as he struck me on the chin, the force of the blow snapping my jaws shut, and I thanked god that I didn’t bite off half my tongue.
Blindly, I swung at him, and smiled viciously when I was rewarded with a pained grunt. Blinking away the dancing spots in my eyes, I side stepped my way towards the nearby service station, keeping my eyes locked on Max. Wiping blood from the fresh split in his lip, he tracked my movements without missing a beat, his bloody teeth bared in a soundless growl. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the situation was going to escalate quickly if I didn’t get things under control. I could only hope that Holbrook was faring better than I was.
Letting out a bellow of rage, Max came at me like an enraged bull who’d just gotten kicked in the balls. Ducking below his swinging meat hook of an arm, I snatched up the closest thing I could find, hefting a half empty coffee pot which I swung at his face. The coffee pot shattered upon impact, raining hot coffee and broken glass down around us. Max let out a roar of pain, falling to his knees as the coffee splashed across his face and shoulders.