“Where did that come from?” Murphy said, still in the process of tying his smoking jacket.
Fate was suddenly deadly still as he stared through the back doors onto the beach. “He’s out there. No one leave this house. No matter what.” Fate caught Knox’s attention and received a nod in return.
Now they were best buddies? I didn’t understand the sudden cohesion between them but it didn’t matter; I wasn’t staying behind and I had a strong feeling that Fate’s order was meant specifically for me.
Fate made for the door, me glued to his side every step of the way.
He stopped, hand on the knob. “Stay here.”
“Why? This has more to do with me than you. Maybe you should stay in here?”
His eyes shifted behind us before he said softly, “You know why.”
And then there was that vision of me, throat slit, which was always there between the two of us. “The only difference between us is we don’t know what happens to you. Don’t be so sure you aren’t sharing the same end.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Unless you can say, with one hundred percent certainty that you’re going to live, which I know you can’t, I’m going out there.” My eyes shifted to Malokin, where he stood on the beach waiting.
“You are so—”
“Right?” I asked, my hands coming to my hips.
“Not the word I was planning on using,” he said, sounding more frustrated than anything.
“But still the correct choice.”
He hesitated a few seconds while assessing me, surveyed Malokin on the beach, and finally capitulated, pushing the door open but not without a last order. “Stay within twenty feet of the house. It’s protected.”
I followed him out onto the deck.
“Got it.” I hesitated for a split second. “Math wasn’t my strong point. Where would you say twenty feet ends about?”
He looked over at me as if he were debating dragging me back into the house.
“Everyone has a weak point. It’s not like we’re going to be doing geometry in the sand for a math off.”
“You are not making me feel better about this.”
I looked out onto the beach, where Malokin was lethally quiet and staring at us like he wanted to rip us limb from limb. “I didn’t know there was a way to feel better about the homicidal maniac on the beach but if you’ve got some secret info, please share.”
Fate looked at Malokin, then the door back to the house.
“Not. A. Chance,” I said, putting every ounce of steel I was feeling into those three words, making it clear this was a line he shouldn’t cross. He was overbearing and bossy in a lot of his ways, and I let him get away with more than any other person I’d ever known and I didn’t even know why. I still wasn’t sure if it was because I had this incredible attraction to him or if he’d been the one person, since I’d started this new life, who had stuck by me over and over again when it mattered, with no regard for the risk to himself.
“Fate, I’m not the type to sit back and wait. Don’t ask me to be something I can’t.” I didn’t tell him that if he did decide to try and drag me back in the house, I’d be furious but I’d forgive him. I wasn’t sure there was anything I wouldn’t forgive him at that point.
But he didn’t need to know that because I’d have a fight on my hands.
“Don’t go farther than me.”
“That I can agree to.”
Once I started walking, and my eyes met Malokin’s, any fear I was harboring disappeared.
Malokin stood at the edge of the ocean, the pants of his fine suit and shoes getting drenched every time the waves rolled in but he didn’t seem to care. He reached out his arms and bellowed a scream that pierced the air and sent a group of thugs further down the beach scurrying in the opposite direction.
All I wanted was to get closer. The anger was boiling in me and the more I looked at him, the more the memories filled me. I hadn’t realized I was capable of hate of this magnitude until now.
It might have been what Malokin desired. He fed on hate. Even now, I could see him take a deep breath, as if I was feeding his very being. I didn’t care. I had plenty to fuel us both. It was thick, ran deep, and was so consuming it was shutting down every other emotion that existed.
The angrier I got, the calmer Malokin seemed to become and I knew I was the reason. I couldn’t make it stop, or maybe I didn’t want to.
Malokin took a step forward, looking only at me and disregarding Fate. “I knew you had this within you. If you come with me, I’ll leave here; I’ll leave them alone.”
“I’m going to rip you apart, maul you until you don’t resemble—”
“Karma, get inside,” Fate barked out from beside me.
Fate sounded…weird. I vaguely registered that he’d switched gears somehow. His voice was almost brutal in its intensity. I didn’t care. Something within me had clicked and I wasn’t leaving this beach until Malokin was in pieces at my feet.
“Karma.” Fate again. My name from his lips was a final warning but I didn’t understand his problem, nor did I care. I just wanted him to shut up and stay out of my way.
I took a few more steps, not caring whether I was past the twenty feet from the house or not, my hatred still building steadily. I felt the light touch my eyes and I did nothing to hold it back. I could feel the Universe’s energy bubbling around me, as chaotic as I felt and yet I did nothing to tamp it down. I fed it.
Malokin was smiling and I was about to destroy him. My fists clenched in anticipation of ripping his flesh from his bones with my bare hands.
And then Fate was in front of me, blocking my path, and I struggled to get around him. He carried me back to the house as Malokin’s laughter rang in the air, taunting me, and I wanted to rip Fate apart for dragging me away from him.
He carried me through the house, past everyone as they stepped out of our way. Through the blur of rage I thought they looked shocked but it was hard to think past the emotions boiling within me. We were in the garage before he released me.
The minute he set me on my feet I turned on him. “Why did you do that? I could have had him, right then and there. All this would’ve been over but you stopped me,” I screamed, my hands still in fists and looking to connect with his face.
He grabbed my wrists, forcing them to my sides.
“Look at me,” he said.
Anger boiled within me for no reason now as I met his stare.
“Think, Karma.” He shook me. “You weren’t breaking him; he was breaking you.”
His hands pulled me into his embrace when I would’ve pulled away. One hand rubbing down my back, and with each stroke, a tiny bit of rational thinking eased back into my mind.
I started shaking as I realized how badly I’d just lost myself. I was on the beach one second and then I’d barely known where I was. I’d seen nothing but red.
“How did that happen?” I ran both hands through my hair and then left them there, cupping my head, as I tried to figure out what I’d just done.
“I don’t know but it can’t happen again. He feeds off of you. When he does that he’s stronger than me, and I’m not sure you understand the implications of that, but it’s bad.”
Riotous amounts of knocking sounded from the closed garage door. I met his eyes and nodded, letting him know I was normal again before I took a step back.
“Come in,” Fate said.
The Jinxes were tripping over themselves as they pushed through the door. We both looked at them, knowing they were here to tell us Malokin’s status and we didn’t have to wait long.
“That fucked up dude tried to follow you both into the house but got stuck and started spasming every time he tried to take another step,” Billy said.
“We know we aren’t allowed to shoot his ass,” Bobby added, “but we nailed him from the deck real good with some ketchup bombs we had saved up.”
“Should’ve seen those balloons hit! Red shit all over his fancy suit,” Buddy kicked in.
“Is he still out there?” I asked, now fearful of seeing him again.
“Nah, dude’s gone. Took off after the spasms and the bombs,” Bobby said. “So now what?”
The three of them looked at Fate and I like we had the answers. We said nothing.
Chapter Fifteen