Colby smirks back at them, spinning the bloodied knife between his fingers. “That bitch?” he says as a perfectly round drop of blood falls from the tip of his knife. “Oh, I’m already through with her. She was easy then, and easy now.”
Fuck no.
Red hot fury blasts through my veins like a fucking drug, and I let out an agonizing roar, sprinting full blast ahead at the fucker. Colby spins to face me, his lips pulling into a twisted smirk, especially as he sees Brielle cowering back, screaming in horror.
The fucker comes at me, but Jax is closer, launching himself at Colby’s back, locking his arm around Colby’s throat, dragging him down. I keep running, determined to end his miserable life, Brielle sprinting after me in fear.
Colby wrestles out of Jax’s grasp and my eyes widen in horror. In a flash of lightning, Colby plunges the tip of the knife deep into Jax’s stomach.
Jax roars in agony as a blood-curdling scream tears out of Arizona and both her and Logan run full force ahead, desperate to get to him.
The knife has bearly been ripped out of Jax’s stomach when I launch myself at Colby, taking the fucker to the ground with a heavy blow. His head slams against the hard ground and my fist comes down in a sickening blow before he even gets a chance to right himself.
Colby pushes back as Arizona’s raw screams tear through the night. Hudson takes off at a sprint, running to find Addie, Ilaria and Chanel racing after him as Brielle barrels into my back, knowing damn well that if I don’t stop, I’ll fucking kill him.
From the ground, Colby wields the knife in desperation, and there’s a vacant, manic look in his eyes as I pound into him. His blade rips into my arm, but I don’t feel the pain through the blind rage and adrenaline coursing through me. Riley barges into me, and Brielle tries to pull me back, but I’m out of control. I only see red, and Brielle’s screams seem so far away.
I shove Riley hard, forcing him back as I distantly notice Logan hovering over Jax, his bloodied hands pressing against Jax’s wound, begging him to stay awake while Arizona cradles his head in her lap, tears streaming down her face.
Images of Addie, naked on the floor, her bruises, blood and horror flash through my mind, and the fury only gets worse.
Fear cripples me, the thought of Addie being out there alone after this motherfucker hurt her again is all I can think of, and the image spurs every last one of my hits. His arms stop flailing around and the knife falls to the grass beside him, Colby’s body going limp, only I can’t fucking stop.
“Tanner,” Bri cries, trying to grip onto my arm, but I shove her off, not nearly finished with him. Nothing will ever make up for what he’s done, no number of punches will make this okay.
“Riley, please,” Bri sobs, looking up at my best friend, a last ditch effort to try and save me. “Don’t let Tanner kill him. He’ll never be the same.”
Riley stands, shaking his head beside me as he looks over at Bri sprawled out on the grass. “It’s already too late,” he says, his sad eyes moving to me, watching as I beat the shit out of a corpse. “Tanner, that’s enough. He’s gone. You need to stop.”
Clenching my jaw, I keep going, tears of anger welling in my eyes. “He fucking touched her again,” I spit, my fist cracking against his cheek, splitting the skin with ease.
Riley moves in closer, his hand coming down on my shoulder. “You’re done,” he tells me. “Addison is out there somewhere and she needs you. Go find her.”
“I …”
“Please,” Brielle cries, the sound of her sobs killing something inside of me. “Please stop. That’s enough.”
Riley gets a good grip on me and tears me back, throwing me down into the grass beside Bri, my body sprawled out as I stare back at Colby, waiting for him to breathe. Only it never comes.
I killed him.
I fucking killed him.
My eyes are wide and I stare up at Riley in horror. “What the fuck have I done?”
“TANNER,” Hudson’s panicked yelp tears through the night from the bottom of the hill.
I look back over my shoulder, seeing Addison cradled in his arms, her clothes torn and bloodied, her head lolling back as he desperately runs toward us. “Fuck,” I roar, flying to my feet, Colby’s lifeless body all but forgotten as I sprint past Logan and Arizona, watching in terror as Jax’s blood seeps through the gaps between Logan’s fingers. Jax is barely holding on.
Bri comes rushing after me, but I forge ahead, knowing she’ll catch up, getting only a few feet away from Addison when Bri’s pained gasps tear through the night. “Tanner,” she cries out, something in her tone forcing me to stop and look back.