Page 39 of Above All Else
Carter
“You messed up and exposed your hand.”
“Is that right?” Paul raised a brow. “And how’s that?”
“You mentioned my sister.”
“Did I?”
I dug my finger into his chest. “I never told you about my sister. How? You don’t even know my last name.”
He scoffed, a lopsided smirk eating away at his face. “I know everything about you, Dr. Carter Morgan. Did you think I wouldn’t know who I brought into the society?”He held his hands out, palms up. “ Don’t be so naive.”
I dropped my hands, my jaw clenched. “What was all of this for?”
He laughed as he glanced through the open window of the running car. “Isn’t it obvious? Look around you.”
A crowd gathered around, their masks concealing their facial expressions.
“Entertainment?”
“Exactly. What better way to watch you come apart than to see you kill the girl you’d been pining over for years?” He laughed as he glanced around, the crowd mimicking him. “Only for you to learn she wasn’t the one who killed your sister, after all?” A grin formed on his face, showcasing his pearly white teeth. “Perfection.”
A gasp sounded behind me. “I thought you were his friend?”
June stood outside of the car between the open door and peered over the roof.
“Get back in the car, June.”
Paul laughed. “No one is friends here, lovely.” He placed his hands on his hips and glanced around. “This place is to test limits and push boundaries. We want to see how far each other can go before breaking.”
“You’re sick.” She snarled, her upper lip curling.
He shrugged. “I want to be entertained. Don’t act like watching you or him falling apart at the seams wouldn’t be fascinating.”
I slammed my hands against the car roof, causing her tojump. “Get in the damn car, June.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, then sank below the roof line, the door closing behind her.
“I’m disappointed, Carter. Especially after all the work I’d put into those emails—the A.I. video alone took me six months.” He shrugged, his confession igniting a burning rage within. “But all you’ve done is toss her around a little, get your ass kicked, and fuck her.” He shook his head and chortled. “Technology these days.”
In one swift motion, I ripped his mask off his face and slammed my fist into his nose. Bone crunched beneath bone, and blood spurted off to the sides in small droplets. Pulling back, I struck again, landing another blow to his broken nose.
Paul reeled back and bent over, his hands clutching his face. “You broke my nose.”
“It’s not so much fun when you’re on the receiving end, is it?” I kicked my leg upward with all of my might, ramming the tip of my steel-toed boot into his belly, sending him careening to the ground.
The crowd around us cheered me on as I stood over our Elder and stomped his solar plexus. His ribs cracked under the strain.
Paul groaned, his legs shaking as he held the damage.
My stomach tightened, and I dropped down onto him, his rib clicking as I settled my weight on his chest. I reached behind me, fingers closing around the cold steel of the knife used to kill Amber, and pressed it against his throat. “You made a mistake messing with me.”
He chuckled. “This is the best show I’ve had all night.”
I pressed the blade hard as the wet rattling in his chest sent red bubbles to his lips. “Your lung’s punctured. If you don’t get to a hospital soon, you’ll drown in your own blood.”
His grin widened, blood staining his teeth. “Still worth it.”