When Stars Collide (Light in the Dark #2) - Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,70
the face.
I stare, frozen in horror.
But not Thea.
“No!” she screams and darts in-between the two, colliding with her father’s fist. Blood spurts onto the floor, Thea’s blood, and I see red.
My feet unfreeze and I barrel forward into a crouched position and tackle Mr. Montgomery to the floor. He’s not expecting it and goes down easily, his head colliding with the floor. That’ll leave a nasty bump, but he fucking deserves it. He punched Thea, and he was going to punch Cade, and it was obvious it wasn’t the first time.
I quickly roll off of him and stumble over to Thea. Cade has his hands on her shoulders, helping her to sit up and she clutches her nose, blood gushing between her fingers. Tears fill her eyes when she looks at me.
I move her hands aside and assess the damage.
“It doesn’t look broken to me, but I’m not a doctor,” I say, smoothing her hair away from her forehead and trying to comfort her as much as possible. Unfortunately, I only manage to get blood in her hair. Great.
Mr. Montgomery starts to stand and I whip around, pointing a threatening finger at him. “If you ever come near either of them again …” I let my threat hang in the air. I don’t know what exactly I’d do, but it would be bad.
A squeak by the stairs has us all turning and I see a kid there, maybe ten years old, and I vaguely remember her being a cousin of theirs.
“Bella, sweetie, don’t tell your mom,” Mr. Montgomery says in a sickeningly sweet voice.
I growl and turn to the kid. “Don’t listen to him. Tell everyone what a monster he is. He’s a bad man.”
The kid nods, but I don’t know whether she’s nodding at me or him, and suddenly she turns tail and runs up the stairs like her ass is on fire and she can’t get away fast enough.
Almost immediately, we hear the girl yell, “Thea’s dad hit her and she’s bleeding!”
I start to help Thea up, but Mr. Montgomery spits, “You fucker, you’ve ruined everything!” Suddenly I’m the one being tackled and since I wasn’t expecting it, I go down easily.
Luckily, I’m a lot younger than him and in much better shape, so it doesn’t take me long to gain the upper hand. Not before he slams his fist into my cheek, though. Pain blossoms across my face, throbbing in time with my heartbeat, and I hear Thea cry out.
I flip to the side and end up on top. I grab his flailing arms and stop his fists from flying.
I give him a nasty smile. “I want nothing more than to punch you in your too-smug face, but that’s too good for you. Much worse is coming for you. I promise you that.” I shove his arms back and stand.
Cade has Thea up now, her arms wrapped limply around his torso. Blood is smeared on his shirt where she leans her head against him, but for the most part the bleeding has subsided.
“Come here.” I take her from him, lifting her into my arms. She wraps her arms around my neck and leans her head against my chest, letting out a contented sigh.
When we reach the top of the stairs, I stop, surprised to find half the people from the party standing there. They take one look at Thea and gasp in horror.
I find Thea’s mom in the crowd and anger surges inside me. “Did you know?” I spit at her. “Did you know what a monster you married? Someone that hurt your kids and continues to do so?”
Tears spring into her eyes and she turns away, grief overtaking her face.
“We’re leaving,” I say, like it isn’t obvious already. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“Cade?” Rae calls out, pushing her way through the people. She appears a moment later. “Are you okay?” Before he can respond, she gasps and slaps a hand to her mouth. “Thea? No.”
Cade grabs my shoulder and I look over at him. “Get to the hospital. We’ll be right behind you.”
I nod. “Whatever you do, don’t cover for that bastard. He deserves to pay for this.” I look down at Thea, and her eyes are closed, but I know she’s not asleep.
Sweet Thea. The girl that always goes out of her way to make someone’s day better and put a smile on their face. She doesn’t deserve this. No one does.