For a moment in time, they stood glaring at each other. The sun was blaring down on us. My gaze darted back and forth between the two. Shane’s eyes wandered away from Ethan and landed on me.
“Look at me, mutt. You don’t get to look at her after what you’ve done,” Ethan spat. “I’m not so weak that you can look away from me in the middle of a fight.”
“What have I done?” Shane taunted.
“You’ve touched what’s mine,” Ethan growled.
“I haven’t done anything other than touch what is mine. I haven’t done anything but make love to what is mine. I’ve claimed her. She may not wear my mark, thief but she is mine. Don’t claim her as yours. She was mine, she was always mine. She doesn’t belong to you, she never did.” A look came over Ethan’s face as if he knew as if this was confirmation as if he was reminded of something he’d forgotten. “You’re the one who touched someone who wasn’t yours. You are the one who took what was mine. Don’t try to play the victim. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. When the two of us know the truth.”
“You’re full of shit,” Ethan said. He didn’t sound sure.
“Don’t look at her, look at me.”
Shane didn’t listen to him and Ethan lunged at him. I screamed and covered my mouth as Ethan threw a left hook followed by a right hook, and finished with a left hook to Shane’s chest. He didn’t beat around the bush, Ethan went for the kill. He was fighting dirty and going for where Shane was injured.
One after the other, blow after blow landed. Shane blocked some of Ethan’s attacks but not as many as he dodged. His movements were slightly slower than Ethan’s and I wondered if it was because of me and because of what I’d done to him. Was he weaker, slower because I’d injured him the night before? The answer was clear and the guilt was eating away at me.
“Fucking kill him,” Gabe growled.
My eyes widened and I turned to look up at my best friend as his words registered. I knew how he felt about Shane. I knew Shane was the villain in our story but I couldn’t help the shock that dug deep as I saw the hatred in his eyes. There was murder, a taste for blood that shined in his eyes as he watched the fight. The hate Gabe had for Shane could never be put out, it didn’t matter what happened here today. Gabe would never like Shane. I knew the hatred was aimed at Shane and I couldn’t fault him for it but now that I knew everything it made it hard for me to blame Shane for what he’d done to Olivia. Now that I looked back on what happened, Olivia got what she had coming for her. Even if she didn’t remember what happened to her, it was karma coming full circle. Karma came back to her, it took a while but eventually, it caught up with her.
What happened to her was the same thing that had happened to me on the table the first time around. The only difference between my assault and hers were the men who were behind it. Did that make them both good people or bad? Shane had been good then but was a monster now. Ethan was a monster then but was good now. Does that mean they can both be excused or does that mean they’re both damned?
Was there something wrong with this situation or was something wrong with me? Was there something wrong with what I thought and how I was seeing things? Why was I thinking this way? Was this the bond? Was it making me forgive him?
No. Now that I knew I felt the bond, I was trying hard not to let it have an influence on me. I didn’t forgive Shane for the shit that he did. I don’t forgive him for the pain that he caused but I also didn’t hold what he did to Olivia against him like I used to.
Did I think that she deserved to be raped? No, but the monster that Shane had become, wanted vengeance. What better way to get vengeance if not to turn the witch, make her work for him, and send her back to the man who she originally worked for?
I bit my lip and turned to watch the fight. That still left me with the unanswered question. Who would I choose? Ethan was winning. Shane was laying on the ground. Ethan stood above Shane. My heart and mind were screaming two different things, two different names as I watched Ethan climb on top of Shane.
His knee dug into Shane’s chest. Was this it? Was this the end? Shane didn’t flinch as Ethan’s knee dug into the hole left by the sword I had plunged into his chest. His hands fell to his sides and deep down I knew he was done. His face had paled, he’d been bleeding for far too long. He didn’t have any more strength left. My heart bled for him.
Shane turned his head to the side, his eyes searching until they landed on me. Ethan punched him in the face and I choked on a sob. Shane took every punch and I started to cry as I watched him. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t deserve to. My body was tingling, demanding I move, demanding I do something. I took a step forward and his eyes widened as Ethan’s fist landed on his cheek again, just below his eye. He was worried. Not for himself but for me. I took another step forward and Shane slightly shook his head. The movement was so slow that no one else saw it but I did. I saw the way he looked at me. He was worried but happy, happy that I was okay.