A Game of Cat and Mouse

T H I R T Y N I N E

TW: Violence.

A hurricane. An earthquake. An eruption. An apocalypse.

All of those things were better than seeing Annie with a knife to her neck. Because at least there, he could perish with her. He could hold her tightly as the world caved in and the fires raged. But now, he was helpless to do anything but watch as she trembled with the silver blade pressed against her pristine skin.

He should have known. Merlin, he should have known. An officiant who happened to be walking in the exact meadow Elio visited and planned to marry her in? Why couldn't he see it before? Why was his mind blank to the possibility of the rebel targeting him to get to her?

Because you were so happy to get her back that you were blinded to the danger, a voice in his head responded. Now, her life is at risk because of your carelessness.

Elio felt his wand in his pocket but he was careful not to reveal himself. Expelliarmus would do him no good right now and any spell he cast risked Locke moving even an inch and killing Annie. He was stuck and the man knew it, sneering at the four helpless people who all desperately wanted to save her.

"Let's all remain calm, shall we?" Locke said as his grip tightened around Annie's neck. She whimpered but didn't move. The man's stringy hair was matted to his head as if it took all of his energy to hold up the girl under the weight of Tom Riddle's vicious glare. "Wouldn't want to lose our heads."

"Let my daughter go," Tom growled with a deadly voice. His fingers twitched as if he were trying to summon his wand back to his hand. But the wand remained tucked in Locke's pocket. "Perhaps I'll grant you a quick death if she is unharmed."

"A quick death?" Locke laughed loudly as if that were the funniest joke he ever heard. "Like you granted my father?" Tom's face fell. "That's right. I know who you are and I reckon you know who I am. She certainly does."

Locke nodded over to Evelyn, who let out a silent sob as James wrapped his arms around her. "Annie," she whimpered.

"That's right," Locke hissed. "Maybe your precious babygirl and I can recreate some of you and my dad's old memories. She's certainly pretty enough for it."

Tom's eyes darkened while Evelyn fell to her knees. "No!" She wailed. "Not Annie. Not my Annie."

Locke's face moved to Annie's neck where he placed a long, taunting kiss on it. Elio could feel his blood boil at the sight of it. Someone else's lips on his fiancee's skin.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" he roared, grabbing his wand and running toward the two of them. I'll save you, topolina. I'll fucking save you.

But as soon as he took a step, Elio was rebounded with a curse. His wand went flying toward Locke. "Tsk, tsk, little boy. I thought you were smarter than that."

And then he saw it. The thin line of blood on Annie's neck from where Locke's blade must have dug in a little deeper. Elio felt his heart drop at the sight of the crimson color staining her pretty skin, running down as if it were nothing more than a waterfall.

Locke grinned. "That's right. Unless you want to see more of that little sight, you'll stay right there."

"You bastard," James growled. "Taking your frustrations out on an innocent girl."

"Ah, but that's what makes it so wonderful, isn't it? He kills my father when I was just an innocent boy, so I kill his little daughter."

"Annie is worth a million of your bastard father and more," Tom sneered. "The math doesn't add up."