in the air. I teetered for a second and tried to throw my weight forward, but crashed to the floor all the same. The back of my head hit stone. White stars exploded in my vision. I growled between my teeth as pain thrilled down my spine. My vision blurred, and I took deep breaths and blinked rapidly, fighting hard not to lose consciousness.
I focused on the exposed wooden beams in the high ceiling, then turned my head from side to side, taking deep breaths. I blinked at a thick marble column to my right, at the gray veins that spidered through its smooth surface.
Stay awake, Toni. Stay awake!
Stephen reached for the chair and pulled it back up. The whole temple seemed to spin for a moment but slowly came to a stop.
He squatted in front of me and caressed my chin, his anger gone and replaced by a sweet smile. “I know it won’t be that easy to convince you, Toni. You’re strong and stubborn, and I like that about you. But I also know that when you come around, you’ll be loyal to me—the way you are loyal to Jake.” His smile disappeared. “He doesn’t love you. He’s marrying someone else for power. That’s where he and I are different. You see,” he straightened and stretched his arms over his head, “I’m doing it all on my own. Building my own pack. I don’t need my father. I don’t need to marry someone to gain strength. I’m strong all on my own, and I’m choosing you, even though you have nothing to offer.”
Gee, thanks. He was a total charmer, knew just how to make a girl feel appreciated.
“Jake has no real ambition,” he went on, turning his back on me and pacing away. “He wants to work as a stupid private eye.” He laughed. “He might one day be a pack leader, but only because his dead father and his clever, manipulative grandfather have more ambition than he does.” He stopped, his eyes raised toward the stained-glass windows at the back of the altar.
I glanced sideways at the marble column. It was only a few feet away. I wrapped my hands around the curved arms of the chair. I had an idea, but I would only get one chance, so I had to make it count.
With a deep breath, as if to gather resolve out of the air, I rocked forward and onto my feet. Stephen whirled and stared at me with a frown. I must’ve looked ridiculous, hunched over and with the chair sticking to my backside like some albatross.
He cocked his head sideways.
Shit!
Not time to waste.
I ran sideways and smashed the chair against the column with all my might just as he rushed in my direction. There was a loud crack and the albatross at my back went wonky. I tried to get free, but it wasn’t enough. I took a step back and ran at the column again. I crashed into it a second time... another crack accompanied by a splintering sound.
Stephen reached me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and forced me down. The chair legs settled on the floor, and for a moment, I thought it hadn’t worked, but as my full weight rested on the chair, it fell to bits and I collapsed onto a pile of broken pieces.
Thrashing with my arms and legs, I came free of the bulk of the chair, though parts of it clung to me still attached by the ropes. Stephen came at me, trying to hold me down, but I kicked at him from my prone position, keeping him away as I struggled to undo the ropes.
“You don’t need to fight me,” he grunted as, once more, he tried to take hold of my legs and I kicked his hands away. “I’m asking you to be on my side.”
I freed one of my legs of its wooden appendage, then the other. Scrambling, I got to my feet. The arms of the chair still clung to me as I backed away from Stephen. I clumsily, desperately, worked at the ropes around my left wrist and got it loose. The armrest thunked to the floor. Getting the other one off was easier, and I decided to keep it as a weapon.
I pointed the splintered piece of wood at Stephen. “Stay away from me, you bastard or I swear I will kill you.”
I backed away toward the double doors ready to escape.
Chapter 29
Stephen smirked, peering at my makeshift weapon with