Slaughter Daughter by Eve Langlais
13
The personwho’d grabbed me oomphed, and I knelt on a thick chest, digging in with my knee. I stared down at a familiar-looking face. “I know you,” I said, not easing up on the pressure. The guy I’d pinned sat in a few of my classes.
He smiled lopsidedly at me. “I’m Erik. I’ve been trying to muster the courage to meet you. I’m a big fan. I’ve got a whole series of articles dedicated to you.”
At his words, my lips pulled into a grimace. He was one of those freaks turned on by the media firestorm.
“I’m nobody special.” I moved off him, and Erik scrambled to his feet.
“Not special? What are you talking about? You’re the Slaughter Daughter. And your pics don’t do you justice. You’re even hotter in person.” He licked his lips. “What do you say we go somewhere?”
My nose wrinkled. “Ew. No.” What was it with guys who thought I was some kind of slut?
“Then let me take some pictures, at least. Do you know how much I could make if you give me some titty shots?”
“This conversation is over.” I went to move past him, but Erik reached out to grab me roughly.
“I didn’t say you could leave.”
I looked at the fingers clamped to my arm. “Let go.”
He squeezed tighter. “You’re coming with me. Maybe instead of pics, I’ll take a video of us fucking. Me, fucking the daughter of serial killers.” He practically panted with excitement.
“They were never convicted,” I spat, jerking out of his hold.
He moved faster than expected. He lunged, and in moving backwards, I tripped over the edge of the path where it dropped into the grass. I hit the ground on my back, my head slamming hard enough that it left me dazed. The bright-eyed fucker landed atop me, pinning my hands by the wrists, using his weight to subdue me. I bucked.
“Get off!”
It only served to excite him. “You like it rough?”
I’d show him rough.
I struggled, and he murmured, “What’s wrong with your eyes?” I managed to get an arm free. Before I could break his nose, someone cleared their throat. I looked sideways to see legs, leading up to a dark sneer.
A sneer I knew.
“Is this a one-man rape, or can anyone join in?” Jag drawled.
A chill went through me. I wished I hadn’t been a moron, jogging at night. What the fuck was I thinking?
“I saw her first.” My attacker seemed to think he could call dibs.
“You are an asshole,” I declared. Vastly irritated, I snapped my head forward and heard a satisfying crunch. I managed to shove Erik off and move away before the blood spurted. While he yelled and clutched his face, I rose and faced Jag, who stood with hands in his pockets.
Would I have to fight him off next?
“He’ll probably cry to the administration,” Jag remarked as the wanna-be rapist stumbled to his feet and ran.
“It’d be dumb because then they’d know what he tried.”
“His word against Slaughter Daughter’s. You really think you’d win?”
I already knew the outcome and sighed. “Why is it so hard for people to leave me alone? I’m not like my parents.”
“I thought they were innocent.”
“They are.”
“Then why wouldn’t you want to be like them?”
I glared. “I am not in the mood to argue with you or deal with you twisting my words.”
“You don’t seem to be in the mood for much. Always studying. Never going out. Are you always this boring?” he asked.
“It’s called taking my education seriously.”
He snorted. “That’s a bullshit answer, and you know it. You don’t have to live like a nun to keep good grades.”
You did with a nickname like mine. “Why do you care what I do?”
“I don’t. Just find it curious that you never do anything at all.”
“It’s safer that way.”
“Safety is overrated,” he said, keeping pace with me as we headed for the house.
“I’m not boring,” I blurted out as the building came into sight.
He paused to eye me. “You’re definitely not as expected.”
“Meaning what?”
He shrugged. “You’re just you.”
“Was that supposed to be an insult?”
“Calm the fuck down and stop being so defensive all the time.”
“Am not.”
“Whatever. Don’t go wandering by yourself. It’s not safe,” he said before walking away, leaving me to wonder if he would have helped rape me. Because he certainly hadn’t done anything to save me. Not lifted one finger to protect me.
The fact that it even crossed my mind angered me because I wasn’t a princess who needed a prince.
But the next day, I needed a hero.
