“I don’t care how many women he’s been with, and I don’t care that he killed someone. He didn’t do it because he wanted to.” Elyse’s sweet voice sounds like it doesn’t belong here in this room, or even this world.
“It’s so adorable how you think you know him,” Damon taunts.
I need to figure out how to diffuse the situation before it gets worse.
“I bet you think he’ll stay with you, protect you, cherish you. But that’s not Hero. He’s not really living up to his name, baby. He’s a criminal. Blood covers his hands the same way it does mine. You’ve seen that part of him, though, so you know. It’s living inside him, the dark part, the part that feeds on the innocent.”
Elyse shakes her head in disbelief. “Hero lives up to his name every single day. I don’t care about what I saw that night, I care about him and the person he is when he’s with me.”
Tension fills my muscles.
I make a move to put Elyse behind me, but I’m not fast enough. Damon reaches out for her, his fingers sinking into her golden-brown hair. Her neck twists as he drags her from my grasp, forcing her eyes to meet his. He brings the barrel of the gun to her lips, and my entire world sinks away.
“Do you care about him enough to take a bullet for him? To fucking die for him?” Damon acts as if I’m not standing right here.
I clench my fists and unclench them, every possible scenario running rampant inside my mind.
What if he accidentally pulls the trigger?
My heart beats for the person in front of me, for Elyse. If he kills her, if he harms her, I’ll kill him and everyone else in this fucking building.
“Let her go, Damon,” I order, not wanting to make too much of a scene. There is no hiding Elyse from this life anymore. There’s no point in me denying us what we want. Not after this moment.
A sinister smile pulls on Damon’s lips as his grip tightens into her hair.
A whimper escapes Elyse’s lips, and I move without thinking, letting instinct take over and direct my body.
With the element of surprise, I push the gun in Damon’s hand upward with my right and punch him in the ribs with my left. The gun goes off in his hand, a bullet hitting somewhere in the ceiling above us. Damon releases Elyse, and I push her out of the way with my elbow.
She staggers to the side before landing on the hard ground. For a split second, I want to grab her and hold her to my chest and tell her everything will be okay, but I don’t know if it will be, and I can’t do shit for her while Damon is still a threat in front of me.
His face is contorted with anger and betrayal. He snarls at me like a wild animal. “You’re going to fucking regret coming here.” He’s still holding his gun, finger on the trigger.
If I let his hand down, he will shoot us. He swings for me with his free hand, hitting my jaw. My head snaps to the side, but I don’t feel pain.
All I can think of is Elyse and how she’s in danger because of me. I’m going to get her hurt…all over again.
How many times am I going to fuck up?
“Hero…” Hearing her say my name like a prayer is all I need to find that extra strength to twist Damon’s hand, making him drop the gun to the floor.
He reaches for it, but I’m faster. I lift the gun, pointing it in his direction, something I would have never thought I’d be doing.
Damon takes a small step back, putting his hand up, showing me his palms. He shakes his head at me tightly, as if he can’t believe I’m holding a gun on him.
“I can’t let you hurt her.” I look into his eyes so he knows I mean every word I say. “I love her, and I will not let anybody hurt her. Not even you.”
At my admission, his face changes.
I lower the gun to point it toward the ground between us. I don’t want to hurt him, but I will. I know I will. “We have been through a lot together, Damon. You are the closest thing I have to a friend. Don’t ruin it over this.”
“Don’t get all sappy on me now,” he huffs. “Fine, I’ll leave her alone. But I’m warning you, if I hear of her yapping about me to anyone, she is done.”
Hearing him threatening her doesn’t put me at ease, but this is the best I’m going to get out of Damon right now. I change the grip on the gun to hand it over to him before I crouch down to Elyse and pick her up from the ground. I slip my arm around her waist and pull her close to my side.