After plating up the bacon, Lochlan still hadn’t appeared. Unable to sit and wait for him, I decided to take the rubbish out to the bin.
Whistling the song from the radio, I hot-footed it over the path to the dustbin and offloaded the bin bag. There. Another job done.
I went to turn around, but a dagger appeared against my throat.
“Hello, Ash.”
Alarm zipped through me. My fangs extended, venom filling my mouth. “Let me go, Gareth.”
His hot breath filled my ear, making me cringe. “Nope. Don’t think I will. I’ve been waiting for you to step over the wards fordays now. You and I are going to take a little drive. It’s time we put this nonsense behind us once and for all.”
I went to shove the dagger away but stopped at Gareth’stskingnoise.
“Wouldn’t do that, now. Not with a cursed dagger.”
I froze. There wasn’t much that could kill me. There weren’t even that many cursed daggers that could.
That didn’t mean that none could. Did I want to roll the dice?
Nope. Not really.
“Now, let’s get going before yourboyfriendappears. Don’t worry, he’s probably going to be glad to get rid of you. I mean, really, pink hair? And what’s with the music you’re listening to? Honestly, I’m doing him a favour.”
He was dragging me backwards, away from the house and the safety of the wards. With the dagger against my throat, I was powerless to stop him. Fuck. I should’ve taken Lochlan’s suggestions more seriously.
Lochlan.
Tears filled my eyes as I stared at the house. Would he realise what had happened? Would he come after me?
Even if he didn’t, I wasn’t going down without a fight. Gareth would have to take the dagger away from my neck at some point.
That’s when I’d strike. This time there’d be no hiding my power or my strength.
I’d never hit my limit before. Never gone beyond the boundary where I’d lose control.
But Gareth had dragged me through it as he dragged me away from Lochlan.
“Here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to get in the car and-”
He broke off mid-sentence. The dagger at my throat suddenly clanged to the floor.
My head snapped up to see Lochlan striding from the house completely naked except a small towel tucked around his waist. Water dripped from him like he’d jumped from the shower and charged straight out here.
“Actually, we’ll be the ones telling you what’s going to happen next.” Lochlan reached us, fury clouding him like a storm. “You’re going to get in your car and leave. And if you ever come within a mile of Ash again, I’ll drain your blood without a second thought.”
With Lochlan at my side, I turned to face my ex. He was frozen in place, just like Lochlan had done with me that day in the kitchen. From the pain in his eyes, he was having a very different experience to the one I’d had.
Gareth obviously hadn’t been doing well since our break-up. His hair hung in greasy strands around his face. His clothes were dirty and torn, like he’d been sleeping in them for several days.
Strangely I felt almost sorry for him. Almost. I mean, he had just tried to kidnap me.
“You need to leave and stay away from me,” I said, holding his eyes and speaking firmer to him than I had ever dared to before. “I don’t want you, Gareth. Deep down, I don’t think you want me either.”
I nodded at Lochlan to release him, ready to have this over with. I wanted to go inside and snuggle up with Lochlan, far away from horrid exes and cursed daggers.
Gareth gave a shuddering gasp as Lochlan removed his hold. He fell forward, his hands catching on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
Giving him one final withering look, we turned our backs on him forever.