Brothers 3

Chapter 20

James's fingers and toes where tingling while his undead heart hammered like a drum. His vision was tinged red and he rose to his feet fast enough to startle Ella. She shuffled back in her seat and covered her eyes with her hand.

"What did you do?" James asked again through clenched teeth. She better not have messed this whole thing up. He didn't know what he would do if she had. He had worked so hard.

"I told her the truth." She was crying past her words now and James hated her for it. What did she have to cry about? He was doing all the work to fix what her father had done to them and she didn't have to lift a finger. His shoulders hiked up next to his ears and he took a step closer to her.

"What did you tell her, exactly?"

"I told her I am your girlfriend and that you are lying to her."

James mashed his teeth hard enough that he heard the grinding of them. "You idiot."

She dropped her hand and glared at him. "I was tired of you playing the perfect boyfriend to her while ignoring me! I am sick of having to do something wild to get your attention or pretend I am okay so you can stand to be around me."

"So, you nuked the whole operation? That makes sense. Because as we get tired of one another what else is there to do but damn us to being linked together for our entire lives!" James was shaking with rage. He knew that if it had been Eddie who had done something like this then they would have come to blows by now. He wished it had been Eddie so he would have something to take his rage out on. As it was he felt like anger was pushing at the edges of his skin, trying to break out. He clenched his fists and soon felt the warmth of blood on his palms.

"I had to do something. We can ask her for help now, honestly. I couldn't risk her finding out on her own and hating us. She is our only hope. I can't stay here long enough to find another witch." She shoved her face into the chair and large sobs shook through her. She sniffled loudly and the sound grated on James like nails on a chalk board.

"Give me my phone so I can do damage control," James said, extending his hand.

She didn't lift her head as she shook it no.

James growled and did his best to keep his tone level. "Give me the phone." There was a little more aggression than he had intended in his voice. He was struggling to prevent himself from shouting at her.

Slowly, she raised her head and met his eyes. His phone was resting in her left palm and she lifted it. Without breaking eye contact with him she raised it above her head and threw it across the room where it hit the ornate fireplace and emitted a loud crack. James jogged to where it had landed to find that the screen wouldn't turn on and there was a large break running the length of the glass. Just perfect.

He tossed the phone across the room where it thudded against the wall and whirled on Ella.

"What did you do that for?"

She stared back at him with lines of tears running down her face. "Though I doubt it, you might find it harder to lie to her face."

James was about ready to explode. He needed to get out of here before he said something cruel. He stormed past her but only got a few paces away when she yelled.

"Going to kill something! Just like your father would!"

James knew she knew nothing about his father, so she was saying it just to hurt him, to get a rise out of him. Still the mention of his father made him bristle and his lungs feel smaller than they were. Her heartbeat was deafening, and James had to work hard to stop imagining what her blood would taste like.