Page 251 of I Will Break You
My breath catches, but I keep my features even to conceal my surprise. Betrayal rises to the surface like bile, but I force down the bitterness and focus on my survival. If I can get him to open the door, then maybe I can leave the rectory without shedding any of my blood.
“Do you have a prayer room or a library?” I ask.
His eyes flicker. “How about a reading room?”
“That would be perfect,” I rasp through the fear lodged in my throat. “Let’s go.”
He gives me a sheepish smile. “Will you help me carry the cameras?”
And turn my back on a psychopath with an erection? I force asmile and flick my head toward the furthest corner. “Sure. You fetch those two over there. I’ll get these two.”
He stands three feet away, scrutinizing my features for a heartbeat too long. I breathe hard, trying to stop my insides from squirming. Fighting Reverend Tom isn’t the same as sparring with Jynxson and Xero. I felt safe to make the first move with them because I thought they cared enough to keep me alive.
I need this perverted priest to turn his back so I can plunge a knife into his spine.
“Alright,” he says, his voice breathy. “I’ll get the cameras.”
He rushes forward and backhands me across the face, filling my vision with an explosion of stars. I stagger backward, tasting blood.
My shoulder hits the wall, but before I can recover, he wraps his fingers around my neck and lifts me off my feet.
“Don’t play coy with me, Dolly,” he says with a manic grin.
I reach out my left hand to claw at his eyes, but he grabs my wrist and slams me against the wall.
He leans close, his fingers tightening around my throat. “What’s your next move? I’ve committed all of yours to memory.”
A strange calm washes over my senses, and I stare into his gray eyes. This part-time psycho thinks he has me cornered, but I already practiced this move with a real monster.
We’re standing too close for me to gather enough momentum to kick him in the groin, and in a few seconds, I’ll run out of air. Head-butting him might buy me a moment before he strikes back with renewed fury, so I need to make the next attack count.
But I have one chance to make him drop his guard, and now isn’t the right moment.
“Show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” I say through clenched teeth.
He leans forward, his mouth parting. I hold my breath, my heart thrashing in my ribs like a caged beast.
His tongue flicks out and leaves a trail of warm saliva on my cheek. Revulsion wriggles through my gut, making me want to gag. With my free hand, I bring up the knife and drive it into his face.
Screaming, he jerks backward, his grip loosening around mywrist and neck, but not before I’ve drawn a deep cut across his eye.
I drop to the floor, gasping for air and blinking the spots out of my vision.
He cups the side of his face and stumbles backward with blood seeping between his fingers. “You bitch!”
“Let me out or I won’t miss the next eye.”
Still clutching his gushing wound, he races toward his fallen dagger. I run to the nearest corner, grab the tripod, and swing it like a golf club.
The heavy camera attached to it catches him on the side of his face, knocking him off balance. I swing it backward and slam it into his injured eye, sending him stumbling to his knees.
“What the fuck are you doing to my equipment?” he roars.
My instincts scream at me to run, but I can’t turn my back on a man bent on making me his victim. I swing the tripod once more, hitting his temple.
“Stop! You’re ruining my shot.”
Keeping close to the wall, I rush toward the next camera. Reverend Tom staggers to his feet, but I’m faster. Fueled by adrenaline, I snatch up the tripod and crash the second camera into the back of his head over and over until he falls forward on the floor.