“Um, Henry?” Shy and innocent Claire was raising her hand again.
“Yes, Claire?”
“Out of curiosity, why should we leave? Wouldn’t that just increase our chances of becoming one of them?” Nick and Nate nodded in agreement. Henry looked at Sophie.
“Well, we could stay and fight all the undeads here, I suppose. Then we could lock down the area.” I was watching the effect of Henry’s words on everyone.
Sophie was glaring at him in anger. My mind was racing. I was trying to figure out how staying would work. I was thinking about how many undeads we would have to kill. I shuddered.
“I like that idea,” said Claire. Again, Nick and Nate nodded. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if I liked that plan, but I just wanted to be wherever Henry was. I couldn’t bear to lose him. He started to chew on his thumbnail, a habit he picked up from me, while he thought about the idea.
“I think Claire’s idea is good for the time being.” Sophie scanned everyone else as she spoke. She didn’t look happy with the idea, but she was playing along for some odd reason. “Anyone else have any ideas? Elaina? How about you? Have you got any better ideas?” And she flashed the grin again. I was fucking sick of her.
“I’m fine with whatever Henry decides. He is our leader.”
“Of course. Right.” She shook her head. “Weak-minded people never have good ideas.” She struck my last nerve. I lunged at her again, pinned her down, and punched her in the face. Surprisingly, I was quite strong when the wild animal was unleashed from inside of me.
“Hey! Stop! Elaina!” Henry yelled. He jumped up to pull me off of her. Sophie was cackling like a madwoman, which just pissed me off that much more. I wanted to rip her fake lashes off, and pop her fake tits.
Nick jumped up to help Henry. I was a slight handful when I was in a rage, as we have already established. Between Henry and Nick, they were able to pull me off of her.
“Screw you!” I screamed.
Henry stood between us. “Enough!” he roared, then grabbed his head and bent over for a second. He pointed to Sophie. “Shit! You. Back bedroom. Now!” She got up and strolled down the hall. Then he pointed at me. “And you need to calm the fuck down!”
“Fuck her, Henry! Throw her skank ass out to the undeads! She has been nothing but a bitch since she strolled up in here like she owned you, with all of her kisses and darlings.” Oops. Everyone turned and looked at me. Okay, I admitted out loud that I was a bit jealous. I really needed to keep that in check.
“Just, please, calm down.” He was pleading with me. I could see he wasn’t feeling well. “I’m going to go talk to her for a minute. Nick, would you like to witness?”
“Ah, yeah, sure. I guess.” Nick shrugged and looked at me. It seemed like he was looking for approval. I just shook my head.
“Why him?” Nate seemed to have a knack for asking the wrong questions at the wrong time, which irritated Henry.
“Because! Is that reason enough for you?” No answer from Nate. “I said Nick because I know Elaina would trust him if she wants to know what is said. There is a method behind my madness! Anything else?”
Nate held his hands up, like he was trying to deflect Henry’s anger. “Hey, I was just wondering. Calm down. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Henry grumbled as he turned and walked down the hall, Nick following. When I heard the door slam shut, I began to pace.
***
“What the fuck is your issue, Sophie?” Henry ran his hands through his hair while he paced.
“I’m not a fan. And besides, it’s so much fun getting her all riled up.” She giggled, then walked up to him and started rubbing his chest. “You’re much larger than you used to be.”
Henry backed away. “Cut the shit. We are no longer an item. Got it?”
Sophie backed away, stunned. But she pressed forward again. “Darn.” She made her voice raspy. “I was looking forward to hooking up with you again. You know exactly how to make me roar.” She recovered well. She was used to swallowing her feelings, among other things.
“I love her with everything that I have. You know that! And I know why you’re here.” He stepped away from her again, his face stern.
“That never stopped you before.” She chose to ignore his second statement.
“I’ve changed, and I grew up. I live for her. We have discussed that on several occasions.” Henry’s eyes watered and he clenched his jaw, struggling not to pour his emotions all over the floor in front of his former lover.
“I see that. Apparently, you have gone all soft on me, Liam.” Sophie gazed down at his nether region, and winked at him. He shook his head. Nick stood there with a raised eyebrow, thinking that was something he would not be repeating to Elaina.