Broken Wings (SAMPLE)

Chapter Twenty

"YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A CHILD!" I yelled at the top of my voice, not able to contain my annoyance any longer. Shadow knew the score, he knew I had to meet Rose alone, no matter how much he despised the idea. Rose was my friend and I would be safe with her. So why he was acting like a petulant child, I wasn't sure but it was starting to grate on me, that was for sure. 

"I'm trying to keep you safe!" Shadow yelled, jaw clenched as he struggled to contain his anger.

I scoffed. "Funny that because if you'd just left me alone that night then none of this would be happening." 

"If I'd left you alone that night you would be dead." Shadow scowled. 

"Better dead than being stuck like this!" I snapped, shaking my head as I tried to calm down. Shadow just didn't understand, it was like he couldn't understand, that I had meet her alone. She had already seen him once, she was sure to recognise him again. She never forgot a face and especially a good looking one so that would cause the questions to start. Questions even he knew he couldn't afford to be asked. 

"You want to know why going out there unprotected would be suicide?" Shadow spoke, determination taking over him. He stalked towards me, hands clenched into fists by his side, his eyes never leaving my own. 

My breathing hitched when he stopped in front of me, inches away from my face. I knew he was trying to scare me and unfortunately for me, it was also working. 

"You want to know what Raven said so badly?" He asked again, his breath hitting my face. In any other circumstance, him being this close to me would cause an entirely different reaction. A more pleasant one. 

"What?" I asked, trying not to let him know just how scared I actually was. 

"She has friends, as hard as that is to believe. She has friends that wouldn't hesitate to kill every single one of us in this room if we killed her that day. Those very friends have very strict, very clear instructions on what to do should we ever kill her," He lowered his voice and for some reason, that only added to the tense atmosphere. "Those instructions are to hurt you in the worst way possible and let me tell you something, all those friends of hers are male and they just love a vulnerable, human girl who is utterly defenceless against them." 

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was trying to say and the fact he didn't even need to spell it out for me should have been the first sign. I shouldn't leave unprotected. I should stay with Shadow or at least let him come along. 

I didn't. 

"Shadow, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Alec's voice suddenly made me jump. 

"She wanted to know." He shrugged.

"Don't fucking lie," Alec spat. "You want her to be afraid, don't you? You want her to rely on you so you don't have to fucking worry every god damn second about where she is." 

"Of course I care!" Shadow turned to him. Leah, I noticed, jumped up from the sofa and placed herself in between the two guys though she said nothing. 

"So you terrify the poor girl even more?" Alec rolled his eyes.

"I am the only one that is doing anything lately. All you two do is laze around all day while I am the one trying to sort this whole shit out. So don't you dare lecture me or I swear, I will kill you." 

"Go on then, kill me," Alec said, stepping around Leah and getting in Alec's face. "But if you do, I can tell you one thing for sure. Leah would never forgive you. You say you're trying to sort everything out and maybe you are but I don't see Leah or myself trying to terrify Violet into doing what we say. She listens to us because we aren't terrifying her every second. Ever wondered why she runs from you all the time?" Alec had a point but he was wrong about one thing. I didn't just listen to him or Leah. I listened to Shadow too because I was afraid of him, I was aware of how much he wanted to kill me and I knew he wouldn't hesitate in doing so. The thing with Alec was that he seemed to realise when to draw the line and knew not to step over it. He knew the boundaries and respected them. He was a good person at heart but he didn't know me well enough if he thought I wouldn't run from him or Leah if I had enough reason to.