I shake my head and walk over to him. Pity fills me for him and the way he thinks. When I get right next to him, I stand beside him and look straight into his eyes. “No, Dad. You’re asking the wrong question. What does that say about them?”
I don’t wait for him to answer me. I walk away, out of the club, passing Ronan on the way out. Ronan tries to stop me, but I don’t let him. I’m filled with rage, fury burning through my veins. I don’t even look back. I know that no one is going to go against my dad at his point. If they won’t help me, I’ll do it myself.
I get on my bike and kick it started. Spinning the gravel, I fly out of the parking lot, heading straight for the Eaters.
Chapter 13
Mona
I fell asleep in Klaus’ arms. The last few nights, he’s wrapped his arms around me and held me until I’ve fallen asleep. And most mornings, I wake up the same way. But not now. Now I jerk awake suddenly and lie quietly, wondering what the noise was, wondering what woke me up. But then it hits me. There’s someone else in the house and it’s not Klaus. I jump out of bed and pull my shorts and T-shirt on quickly before I grab the sword that is hanging on the wall.
Even before I see him, I know who it is. The room is almost pitch dark, and I blink several times to adjust to the darkness. It seems that as soon as I do, Mandala walks into the room, flipping on the light, laughing when he sees me.
Seeing him again is not how I thought it would be. I expected to be ready and it to be on my terms. Instead, it’s the middle of the night and I’m caught off guard.
I yield the sword over my head, ready to attack if he comes any closer. I don’t even wonder where Klaus is, because I know he’s not here. For whatever reason he’s gone and a part of me is glad he is. He’s not going to want to see this. Wherever he is, I hope he’s safe.
Fear fills me, but I try not to let it show. The sword is weighted and heavy in my arms. My hand holding it trembles, but I just tighten my grip, holding it out in front of me. If I drop it now, I’ll be dead for sure. “Don’t come any closer,” I yell at him.
Mandala laughs menacingly again. “You don’t tell me what to do.” He takes a step toward me and stops.
I jump across the bed to the other side, trying to put distance between us. “What do you want with me?” I ask him. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
His nostrils flare and he takes his jacket off, laying it gently over the chair. The mechanical and controlled way that he’s doing things has me on edge. This is not his normal way. Usually, he’s irrational and impulsive.
He smiles at me, his yellow teeth rancid looking. “I heard you’re even juicier than you were five years ago and I’m going to enjoy fucking you to death.”
He starts to walk toward me, and I hold the sword up again, swinging it in front of me, nicking his arm. He stops and laughs, swiping his finger through the blood and then cleaning his finger off in his mouth.
My stomach turns and I know that in my human form, I have no doubt I will lose this battle. The only chance I have is to shift.
My bones crack and my skin stretches. The light gray hair covering my body is coarse and unruly. On all fours, I attack him, determined to fight for my life and not give in.
I expected him to shift, but he must think I’m no match for him. We destroy the room, rolling around. I have his arm in my mouth and I can feel the bones pulverizing under my grip.
He’s hitting me, across my ribs, my head and my back, but I don’t release him. I fight even harder, clawing at his face, giving it all I’ve got.
Just when I think I have it under control, that I might just defeat Mandala, he rears his other arm back and hits me as hard as he can in the face, pushing me off of him and slamming me into the wall across the room.
He’s standing over me, another smile on his face, knowing that he’s won. He’s beat me and God only knows what he’s going to do to me. There are others in the room now and I hear Mandala mumbling something to them, but I can’t make it out. There’s a ringing in my ears and I’m slowly losing consciousness. The last thing I remember is praying that Klaus is safe somewhere far from here.