Sound of Madness A Dark Royal Romance - Maria Luis Page 0,107
direction. It’s a test of self-restraint that I don’t do us both a favor by breaking his wrist and letting the knife clatter to the floor. Instead I raise my brows and deadpan, “Didn’t your mum ever teach you not to play with pointy objects as a lad?”
Hugh’s nostrils flare. “You’re our prisoner, Priest. You don’t get to just”—he slashes the knife in a wide arc—“leave whenever you want to. It’s not how this works.”
No, Hugh. It’s not how this works at all.
Moving swiftly, my right hand bumps the base of his wrist and he instinctively releases the knife. I catch the base as it sails upward into the air then sidestep his swinging fist by locking my forearm over his throat. I press my cheek to his, so that he’s forced to watch sunlight glint off the blade as I twirl it in front of his face. “Hugh,” I hum, my voice dark in his ear, “we’ve been here before, haven’t we, mate?”
He struggles in my arms. Brings his foot down on my mine.
The bastard never learns.
Thrusting my leg between his, I hook my left calf around his shin and send his body sprawling forward. So close to the blade, so close to being rendered permanently mute. Lucky for him, it’s my first day at turning over a new leaf. Not the villain, not the hero either. Just . . . Damien Godwin, for better or worse.
With my track record, I’m banking on the latter.
A memory of vivid violet warms my chest when I drawl, “See, Coney. I have a list of shit to get done today and getting rid of your dead body isn’t one of them. In other words, you’re wasting my time.”
His shoes squeal against the wood when he tries to claw out of my chokehold. “It’s wrong,” he snarls. “You coming here, thinking that you can do as you want. Rowan can say whatever she wants but the rest of us know better. We aren’t the ones fucking you all over this bloody house!”
The familiar bite of anger nips at my heels.
Find mercy, Godwin. Be merciful.
“Do you know what your problem is?” Even mercy has its limits, and I allow the knife to touch his throat in warning. “You’ve never had to live in a world that wants you dead. If you did then you’d understand that adjustment is how you survive.”
Tucking the blade against my forearm, I grab a fistful of his jumper and shove him away.
He stumbles forward, barely catching himself before going knees-down to the ground. When he turns on me, fury glitters in his dark eyes. “I’ve survived,” he snaps, jerking on his shirt. “I’ve adjusted.”
“Then don’t bite the hand that feeds you or you’ll be out on your ass.” Spinning the base of the knife on my finger, I let a wreath of sunlight dance over the tip. “Stay out of my way, Coney, and I’ll gladly stay out of yours.”
I’m almost to freedom when he shouts, “Don’t you think I know about the bounty on your head? I could ring it in, Priest. One conversation with the Met and you’d be behind bars within an hour. How smug do you think you’ll be when your knob isn’t being used for the next thirty years?”
The problem with people like Hugh Coney is that they push, and they push, and they push. And then, when they’re dangling in the air with their feet kicking helplessly, they wonder how in the world fate could be so cruel.
Tipping my head back, I close my eyes.
Let the duffel drop from my shoulder to the floor.
For worse it is then.
Hugh’s gaze is panicked when he’s shoved clear against the wall, my hand fisting the front of his jumper to hold him off the floor. His legs squirm and his arms push, and I thrust my face close to his when I growl, “Adjust or die. That’s your last warning.” Then I drill the knife into the wall a centimeter away from his right ear. Its steel base audibly vibrates upon impact.
Without waiting for a response, I turn on my heel and stride across the entrance hall, grabbing the duffel off the floor as I pass it. The fact that Coney was waiting for me is a problem for later today when I’m not short on time.
Only, when I step out into the sunshine and spot the woman leaning against the passenger side door of my car, I find myself faltering for an entirely different reason.