As nice as it was to see Little Fifteen acting so supportive of her sister—especially when I knew how strained their relationship could be at times—she wasn’t my concern. Perry was watching everyone, her eyes darting between the three of us until they rolled back in her head and it slumped into the pillow. She started to twitch. Oh Jesus.
I took a few steps closer, wanting to touch her, to hold her. This couldn’t be possession. This had to be something else. “What’s wrong with her?” I asked.
“I’d stay away if I were you, son,” Maximus said, putting his arm out to stop me.
Son? I bit down on my lip to keep from saying something I really wanted to say and threw his arm off of me. I went over to her and crouched down so that I was at her level. Her head rolled back and forth, as if she was arguing with herself inside.
“She’s not well,” I said stupidly. Did she even really know I was here?
“No shit, Sherlock,” said Maximus.
Her eyes opened for a second, looking at me blankly. Just as I thought, they weren’t hers. They were brown. “Did you notice her eyes are a different color?” I asked Maximus, practically seething at his ignorance.
He snorted. “What are you talking about? No they aren’t, they’re just dilated.”
I shook my head, fighting my anger. “Dilated but the color around them is brown now. Perry’s eyes have always been blue. Like the ocean on an overcast day.”
Ada gasped. “Dex is right.”
Of course I was fucking right. And I wasn’t about to stand here and take this. I reached for the ropes, starting to untie them, wincing at how raw her delicate skin was. I swallowed hard, trying to keep focused and calm, to hold my emotions at bay. I had to get through this, for both of us.
“Dex, don’t do that,” Maximus warned. “She’s tied up for a reason, not for sport.”
“She’s not a fucking animal,” I grunted, ignoring him.
Suddenly, Perry raised her head. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said in a quiet voice.
I looked at her just as the last knot came undone and our eyes met. I looked deep into her strange new soul. She had to know I was here to help her, not to harm her. I was trying to save her. “It’s me, Perry. It’s Dex.”
She smiled at me. It was chilling.
“Precisely.” A depraved, gravelly voice came out from her raised lips. Not her voice. Not even a human one.
Before I could even process what was happening, she lunged forward out of the ropes and grabbed me by my shirt. Her hands almost burned into me and the smell of sulfur momentarily filled my nose before she flung me across the room. One minute I was at the bed, the next I was thrown, landing on the ground, pain shooting up from my shoulder.
Ada was at my side but it didn’t matter because Perry, that thing that was inside her, broke free out of the rest of the ropes like Bruce Banner on crystal meth. She leaped, fucking leaped, in the air and tackled me back to the ground. I saw nails coming after my eyes and shut them hard before she could get at them. She scratched at them anyway, the skin growing wet with my blood, before she went after my throat, wrapping her burning fingers around it.
I couldn’t breathe. Whoever this was, she was a hell of a lot stronger than me. Devastatingly stronger than me. My heart beat hard as I struggled for breath, my limbs feeling numb as her grip somehow tightened. Her beautiful and deadly face was growing dim as my eyes couldn’t stay open.
But this couldn’t be it. She had to know, even if she hated me so much, she had to know it was me. That I meant something to her at some point. That she meant everything to me.
I managed to open them again, trying to focus on her, trying to get her to see me.
I don’t know if it worked or not, but I swear I saw a flash of her somewhere in those dark caverns. She hesitated for a second, her grip loosening, and in that second she was grabbed by Maximus and ripped off of me.
She cried out, an ungodly noise, as her legs flailed above the ground, trying to fight him. Okay, despite all the crazy ass shit that was suddenly going on, I felt a tiny bit emasculated by the fact that he had no problem containing her super-villain strength.
“Ada, the rope,” he commanded.
Ada was leaning over me, trying to see if I was alive. That was nice of her.
“Leave him. Get the rope,” he boomed. “Get it now!”
Ada jumped up and snatched the ropes off the bed.
And just like that, Perry suddenly fell limp in his arms and Ada hesitantly started winding the rope around her.
“No, onto the bed,” he said to her. They brought Perry to the bed and started tying her up. Despite what happened, I still couldn’t believe it.
I got unsteadily to my feet, feeling around my throat. It hurt to touch, as did each breath I took. How could she have done that to me? I expected a slap, like the one everyone else had given me. Maybe even a kick in the balls. But this…what was I saying about being over my head and head over heels? She meant business and I had no fucking clue what I was going to do. How the hell was I going to get her to Lapwai to get a god damn exorcism when she seemed to have this new desire to kill me?
Ada came to my side. “Do you want some ice?” she asked gently.
I shook my head, unable to look away from Perry’s tired expression, afraid that if I did so, I’d never see the real her again. I didn’t even know who I was looking at.
Maximus folded his arms like he was cock of the fucking walk and strolled into my vision. “I told you so. You’re going to have a heck of a mark on your face there.”
I eyed him suspiciously. It just sunk in that he had a similar looking scratch on his face, as if Perry had clawed him too.
I coughed, trying to clear my lungs. “That how you got yours?”
“She’s feisty.”
I didn’t like his tone. My eyes narrowed some more. “I guess we’ll match then.”
Maximus chuckled to himself. I knew exactly what that laugh meant. It was the condescending, oh Dex, you don’t get it, do you laugh.
“Not quite,” he said and winked at me.
Okay, I definitely didn’t get it now, and what was more troubling was that he wanted me to get it. And as stupid as I was, I decided to barrel on in.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked carefully.
Maximus shrugged and ran his hand through his carrot top. “Oh, nothing,” he teased.
He moseyed to the end of the bed and leaned against the bed post across from me, copying my stance. He smiled, slowly, and way too fucking surely. “I just had no idea she was such a wildcat in the sack.”
What?
“Oh, it wasn’t like that with you?” he asked innocently.
Ada cried out. “What? Maximus!” But I barely heard her. All I heard was my blood pressure whooshing through my body, building into my fists.
I raised my brow, almost unable to comprehend it. “Excuse me?”
Maximus’ smile grew wider. He looked like a fucking redneck Archie Andrews.
“You heard me,” he said delicately, his eyes blazing into mine like he owned the world. “She’s a freaky little one. Good thing I kind of like it rough.”
Wildcat in the sack. He liked it rough.
Perry had scratched him during sex.
Perry had slept with Maximus.
He stuck his dick in her.
I was going to be sick.
I was going to cry.
Oh, wait. No, I was going to BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF HIM!
I didn’t even need to fully wind up, I just exploded, my fist making contact with his jaw. My knuckles exploded in pain but fuck it hurt so good. It even sounded good, that crack of bone, the wet sound of lips and gums being smashed together. He went stumbling backward from my fist, falling onto Perry’s desk, bringing it all down underneath him.
Perry and Ada were yelling. Frankly, my dears, I didn’t give a shit. I was going to destroy this motherfucker if it was the last thing I did. I would beat the mental image of them together out of his head.
Before the rat bastard could get back up, I jumped on him. I clocked him in the cheekbone then went for the other side of his jaw, landing a sharp uppercut. I tried to get him in the nose, something I so desperately wanted to break, but the fury that was rolling out of me was almost blinding. I was rage incarnate and I delivered punch after punch after punch.
More cries filled the room, and I knew the jig was up. I felt arms grab me roughly from behind and haul me off of Maximus, who was rolling on the floor, grabbing his face.
Suddenly Ada was in front of me, her hands on my chest, pushing me further back into whom I could only assume was Perry’s father.
“Enough!” she cried out. “This isn’t helping Perry! That’s not why you’re here. Remember.”
She put her face right up to mine, forcing me to meet her eyes. She was pleading, desperately, trying to remind me why I was there. I did remember. I had to save Perry. I couldn’t screw it up now, no matter how badly I wanted to kill Maximus. Not just for screwing her, but for allowing all of this to happen. He should have been on her side.
I bit my lip and nodded that I understood, then I closed my eyes to the scene just as Perry’s father dug his hands into my arm and pulled me across the room. Oh boy, I was in deep shit now with Mr. Mafia.
“What on earth is going on?” her father yelled, his eyes boring into Perry and Ada’s. He gave me a disgusted look and a dismissive push that I was jonesing to retaliate. “Why is he here?”
“Dad!” Perry yelled at him, seemingly normal again. Or maybe this was all a trick.
“I called him,” Ada quickly explained and walked over to me. I hoped this was a sign of solidarity because I didn’t have a very fair fight against Tony Soprano, Ginger Elvis, and the Ice Queen. “I thought he could help.”
“You called him of all people?” Her dad jabbed his thumb in my direction. I held back my shoulders, hoping my new body was at least slightly intimidating. Didn’t he see what I did to Maximus’ face?
He glared, not relenting in the slightest. “After what you did to my daughter, you should be glad I’m merely going to kick you out of my house.”
Huh. How interesting. “How about what you did? Your little daughter there is tied to her own bed. She’s sick and getting sicker by the minute.”
“She’s going to the hospital first thing in the morning.” I was surprised he didn’t roll his eyes.
I took a step toward him. He didn’t get it at all. He needed to get it.
“If you take her there,” I said, all steel and sharp edges, “you will kill her. You have no idea what you are dealing with here.”
My father didn’t move. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a plan.”
I looked at everyone. “I do have a plan.”
“Well it’s too bad you can’t stay to tell us about it,” he said snidely. He put his hands on my shoulders and began pushing me toward the door.
Like I was going to go that easily.
I stopped suddenly and looked over at Maximus who was rubbing his jaw, looking all butthurt. Aw, poor baby.
I turned to face her dad, his round face under round glasses, eyes that were burning with anger. It’s touching that he wanted to protect his daughter so badly, but he was going about this the completely wrong way.
“It’s funny that you both don’t remember me,” I said.
Her dad shot her mother a confused look. Not that Perry’s mom ever looked anything but confused.
“We’ve met before,” I went on with a smile. “Back in New York. I was just a young fuck at the time. I had a deadbeat, alcoholic crazy bitch of a mother and a wonderful nanny. She was a bit loopy too...”
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. I think I believed him. But her mother. No, no, she got it. She understood. She knew exactly who I was. And who Pippa was.
I took a step toward the blonde pillar and grinned wickedly. It was wrong of me to be relishing this, but I was.
“When I turned eighteen, I changed my last name to my mother’s name. To honor her death. Guess I was sentimental back then. Before that, my name was Declan O’Shea.”
Her dad’s eyes widened. Oh, now he knew. He gave me another push by way of response. “You need to get out of here. Now.”
“Such a rush?” I asked, slowly letting him take me out the door.
“I have no problem calling the cops on you,” he responded. I knew he would, too. I didn’t want to push it that far, but it was fun seeing how upset they were. I really got to them. For once, I sort of had the upper hand.
“No really,” I said, as we went down the stairs with Maximus and Queen Bitch trailing behind. “I’m surprised Perry doesn’t talk more about her grandmother. She does know about her, doesn’t she? Her…condition?”
“Out!” her father yelled again, pointing at the front door. Maximus stood beside him for backup, but even though his face was battered from my fists, he looked doubtful. Wary even, of the people he was standing with. And Perry’s mother? Well I could see she was just crumbling from the fear. I didn’t even really know what I knew, but I knew I had struck a chord with her, right where it hurt.
I paused by the door and raised my hands in the air. “Hey, I came here to make amends and to try and help your daughter. If you all can’t see that, then you’ll end up suffering for the consequences.”
Then I turned around and ran out into the night.