Eliah grabs my arm.
Turning me towards him, he punches me right in the face.
...and I gasped, clutching a chain hanging from a roll down door in one hand, the ring in the other, the ocean wetting my back. My jaw hurt where he’d hit me, and my skin felt flushed, almost fevered. I faced Eliah, who held my wrist to keep me from going over the side. He gave me an apologetic look...but I knew.
That hadn’t been the past.
Which meant everything he’d just told me had been a lie.
“You did this,” I managed. “You’re him. Terian.”
He blinked at me, his different colored eyes widening in surprise.
Then he broke into a smile. A smile that turned quickly into a chuckle.
“Allie, my dear...I am endlessly impressed by you. So many surprises...”
When I tried to jerk away from him, he slammed my back against the edge of the roll door, his different-colored eyes hardening on mine.
“You’re hardly in a position to fight me now, though, love,” he said.
The man who’d killed my mother smiled at me affectionately, his thumb absently caressing my upper arm. He held the beretta in his other hand, aimed at my middle section. I hadn’t seen him reach for it, but I stared at the end of the barrel now, wincing as he tightened his hold on me.
“I suppose it is fortunate that I met you before you were fully trained,” he said. “How on earth did you find Galaith...? I am so impressed. So very, very impressed.”#p#分页标题#e#
I tried again to yank my arm away, but his fingers gripped like talons, pulling me closer, then slamming me back against the metal wall, and into a sharp protrusion on one of the beams. I gasped, the air knocked out of me.
“You know,” he said. “...you’ve put me in a bit of a bind, dear heart. I really had hoped to be out of here before der Fuhrer showed up. He was quite fond of your mate.” Terian/Eliah sighed, gazing out over the water. “I suppose I’m in for a bit of a spanking on that score. I’m afraid your dear Dehgoies isn’t long for this world. And I really had hoped I’d get the package deal...”
I threw myself at him.
I grabbed his hand with the gun, trying to force the barrel towards his face. I don’t know if I thought I could do it without being shot, just push him over the edge and it wouldn’t affect me, or if I just didn’t care anymore.
There was a loud sound in my ears.
Eliah jerked forward, nearly into me, as if sharply pushed. When I looked up at his body, he had a bleeding wound in his chest. The gun had left his fingers, clattering to the deck like a broken toy. I watched the red expand over his gray sweater in a numb confusion, then looked around and past him for the source, knowing that it hadn’t been me.
I focused on a high pile of wooden storage crates right as Chandre stepped from behind them, raising a gun towards my face.
“Move away from him! Allie, step back!”
Eliah burst into a laugh.
“Move away!” Chandre said, louder.
When neither of us moved, Chandre fired a shot past our heads that clanged when it impacted against the metal hull.
I don’t think I even flinched.
Eliah ducked his head, then grinned around at Chandre. When I released him, taking a half-step back on the ramp, Chan aimed the gun directly at my face.
“Stay where you are!” she said.
I held up my hands, but my mind remained indifferent.
“Kill him,” I said. Tears ran down my face, but I barely felt those, either. “Please, Chan...kill him. Do it now.”
“What are you doing with him?” she demanded. “Why did you leave the cabin?”
I didn’t answer.
It wasn’t stubbornness. At that point, I could barely make sense of her questions. I didn’t understand why she wasn’t shooting him.
Chandre fired off another warning shot, and I felt it whiz by my head. I continued to look at her, still thinking only the same repeating thought.
“Just shoot him, Chan. Please.”
“Do not mistake me for him!” Chandre warned me, her voice coming out emotional, angry. “Do not mistake me for your husband the Rook, Alyson! I don’t kill simply because you tell me to. I demand an answer! What are you doing with him?”
“I do believe I’ve made her angry, Chan,” Eliah said. Smiling, he pointed from where he held his hands above his head, gesturing towards my face. “Look at her! If I didn’t know better, I’d think—”
“Shut up!” The hunter aimed the gun back at Eliah. “Get away from her, you piece of shit! We know what you did.”
“He’s not Eliah.” I surprised myself again by speaking. My voice sounded strangely calm in my ears. “He took his body. He’s not real, Chan...”