Hunting Human - Amanda E. Alvarez [80]
He peeled his fingers from her mouth. Beth considered shouting a warning, telling Lucy to run.
I can’t risk it.
She didn’t know Lucy well enough to predict her actions, but she knew without question Markko would kill her.
Keep his focus here.
“Good.” He kept his voice low and pulled his forearm across her collarbone.
“Hey Beth, I’m done, you ready?” Beth heard Lucy step into the hall. The only thing that separated her from death was a thin curtain and Beth’s ability to keep a cool head.
“I’m trying to make a decision. I’ll be out in a minute.” Beth swallowed around the fear that tried to choke her. “I’ll meet you up front, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll meet you by the register.”
When she was certain Lucy had left, Beth glared at Markko’s reflection. “What do you want?”
“To finish what we started.” He pulled the knife up to the soft flesh below her ear, laying the blade across her neck.
“It was finished when I walked out of that forest.” Beth flinched under his wandering hand. Idle fingers slipped beneath her shirt and across her skin.
“It would have been.” His eyes flashed. “But you beat my brother’s head in with a rock. Left him to die.”
“He murdered my sister.” Beth flinched when his fingers slid over a nipple and twisted.
“And because of you my brother’s dead. He lived through that night, through the damage you inflicted.” His pressed the knife viciously against her throat, widening the cut. “But his mind never recovered. He was little more than a whimpering beast.”
His hand slid to the top of her jeans, fingers toying with the waistband. When they dipped beneath it, Beth jerked away. “I snapped his neck and swore the last thing you would see before you died was my face.
“It took a long time to find you.” His smile twisted and his eyes flashed with the fury of hell. “But I can be patient when the reward is so great. You’ll come to see that, won’t you, Lizzy?” His palm went flat against her stomach and he shoved his searching fingers down the front of her jeans.
Beth yanked at the arm holding the knife at her throat and tried to shimmy away from him. He pulled his hand up and pinched the flesh at her hip.
“Perhaps I’ll bring your little friend, too.”
Anger flared through her. She tightened her jaw and tried again to pull away from him.
“Still protective, I see. Good.” He pulled the knife away from her throat, retracted the blade and shoved it into his back pocket. “I’ve waited so long to find you, Lizzy. It nearly drove me mad. To find you with the Edwards clan…I can’t tell you how it disappointed me.”
His hand fisted in the back of her hair, yanking her chin up. “It won’t matter. They can’t protect you. Not from me.” He wrapped his other hand around her arm hard enough to bruise. “Now I see it for the opportunity it is. You’ll live. For now. And every morning you’ll wonder if this will be the day I strike. The day I snatch their female. Her screams will ring in your ears as you die. You’ll beg for her death. Then you’ll beg for your own.”
He drove her forehead against the mirror; the glass and her skin splintering with the force of the blow. He released her and disappeared through the curtain before she’d slid to the ground.
Beth didn’t give herself a chance to breathe. She pushed herself to her feet, braced a trembling hand on the wall and lunged for the front of the store. She plowed into solid muscle. Hands grabbed her, keeping her on her feet.
“Easy.”
Relief flooded her.
Chase. Thank God.
“Lucy? Where’s Lucy?”
“I’m right here.” Lucy stepped out from behind Chase’s solid form. “I called for Chase. You didn’t sound right.”
“Who was it?” Chase gentled his grip on her arms, but his voice held a dangerous edge to it.
“Markko.” Her stomach turned as panic caught up with her. “He said he’d hurt Lucy.”
“We’re leaving. Now,” Chase ordered, pulling them toward the front of the store.
Beth tried to wipe at the blood on her face and will her trembling to stop. Gentle fingers tugged her