Tame Me (Broken Heroes 5)

Out the corner of my eye, I see Sophie scurry away, her eyes confessing her heartache. I’m fine with her escaping me—for now. I don’t want her to see me kill someone else today. Pulling back my lips in a snarl, I squeeze the bastard’s throat. The pressure against his windpipe is enough to break it. The idea of making him suffer encompasses me. I stare into his face, watching his eyes widen, like they’re about to pop out of their sockets. His skin starts to turn blue, and tiny blood vessels inside his eyes burst, coloring the whites in red. His feeble attempts to hit me and push me off are a joke. I almost smile.

Such a pitiful excuse for a human.

I squeeze harder, listening as his windpipe crushes beneath the pressure of my grip, and even then, I don’t let go until his eyes are vacant and his body is still, his arms falling lifelessly to his sides. I drop him to the floor like the sack of shit he is, and then I hear the blood curdling scream behind me.

I turn just in time to find the chick I had in my bedroom standing in the hallway, her eyes wide with fear. She’s halfway dressed, one hand clutching her purse and shoes while the other covers her mouth.

“Shut the fuck up or you’ll be next,” I growl, then twist my head around, scanning the hallway.

Where the fuck did Sophie go?

Now that the fuckface is gone, all I can think about is finding her and making things right. I need her in my arms, her scent around me, her eyes filled with happiness.

“Sophie!” I yell as I stomp down the hall and into her room. I check her bathroom, even her closet—nothing. My pulse pounds in my ears. Where did she go?

I run back to my room, checking everything there while continuing to call her name. When I can’t find her anywhere, I jog back out into the living room, nearly slamming into a group of people.

“Did you see Sophie?” I scream at Devin, who’s dry humping some chick on the couch.

“No, man. Everything all right?”

“Make everyone leave, then call someone to dispose of the guy I just killed in front of my bedroom door.” I feel nothing and everything all at once. It’s like I’m more than high, like I’m not even in this realm anymore.

“What the fuck happened?” he asks, his tone changing dramatically. I don’t even answer him. I have no time. I need to find her. All will be well when I find her.

“Just fucking do it!” I yell on my way out. What if something’s happened to her? What if someone else got her? My thoughts are irrational, but I don’t care.

All I can think about is her…

A second away from turning the entire fucking house upside down, I run into the same chick from my bedroom…again. I’m about to throw her out the fucking door when she lifts her finger and points toward the front door.

“The girl, the one I’m assuming you’re looking for… she went that way,” whatever-her-fucking-name-is whispers.

“She went out that door?” I ask to confirm. If she’s lying to me, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. She nods, and that’s all the confirmation I need.

I’m so fucking glad I didn’t have my pants off yet—for several reasons—but most being that I wouldn’t have gotten out of the bedroom fast enough to stop that fucker from hurting her. I run down the driveway, my bare feet slapping against the cold concrete.

“Sophie!” I call out into the fall air.

I stop at the bottom of my driveway, looking left, then right. Panic grips ahold of my insides, twisting them into a knot. I don’t see her anywhere. Would she just run away—away from me, from the safety I provide?

Have I hurt her so badly she’d rather risk being on her own? I exhale a ragged breath and run my hands through my hair as I lean forward, resting my arms against my knees.

Where the fuck could she have gone? Left or right? She could have gone either fucking way. I look over to the right again, feeling compelled to do so. I stare long and hard, then something catches my eyes.

It’s not much, and hell, it could be a figment of my imagination, but something moved behind a tree in one of my neighbor’s yards way off in the distance. That’s enough for me and I head off in that direction Gravel bites into the bottoms of my feet. I grit my teeth through the pain. If she’s out here, I’m going to find her.

When I get closer to the large oak tree, I slow down, not wanting to scare her if she really is hiding behind it. I hear some quiet sobs from close by and I know my suspicions are right.