True Colors (The Masks #1)(65)

Pain shot through my head and I cried out.

“You stubborn bitch. Give me that damn stick!”

His hand came around my throat, his thumb pinching into the side of my neck as he pressed his weight down on me. My air supply cut off immediately and the edges of my vision turned blurry as Mason’s free hand roamed my body, no doubt hunting for the memory stick. I wriggled beneath him, trying to buck him off, but my limbs were growing weaker by the second.

As my world grew black, I was faced with the reality that my life was about to end. Oddly enough, my first thought was that I had let the strange, homeless man down. I knew he never should have picked me. Regret made me want to fight back, but it was too late. I didn’t have the energy for fight or flight.

I was done.

And then everything changed. Mason’s weight lifted off me in an instance. My body spasmed with coughs as I rolled to my side and fought for air. Peeking my eyes open, I spotted the reason for my sudden release.

Eric.

He had thrown Mason off me and was now diving after him, pushing him to the ground and pummelling him with his rage-infused fists.

Mason fought back, slapping at Eric and trying to get a punch in, but it was pointless, Eric was in full control and he wasn’t giving Mason an inch.

“Eric.” I coughed again, holding my aching throat. “Eric, stop! You’ll kill him!” It’s not that I wasn’t tempted to let Mason die, but I didn’t want Eric saddled with a murder charge.

I crawled across the sand with the intent of pulling Eric off Mason, but he had obviously heard my weak warning.

He grabbed Mason’s shirt and yanked him up. Blood was streaming from the lean guy’s face, his nose looked crooked and his blue eyes were glazed. He seemed small and pathetic next to Eric. I peeled off his mask as Eric gripped him with shaking limbs that were only just in control. He was terrified of my Hercules and he should be.

I didn’t need to read Eric to see his rage. It was pulsing out of him as he whispered between clenched teeth, “If you ever hurt my girl again, I’m going to kill you.”

With his mask off, I saw straight through Mason’s nonplussed glare. Eric shoved him away. Mason stumbled to the ground and glanced at me one last time before scrambling across the sand and racing back to his car.

“He believed you.”

“That’s because I meant it.”

I tried not to let Eric’s tight voice unnerve me as I stood from the sand on shaky legs, watching Mason trip and stumble to his car. My gaze then drifted to Eric who was turning towards me, his expression stone cold.

I didn’t know what to say to him. He looked pissed. Crossing my arms, I dropped my gaze to the sand, breathing through my nose in an attempt to rein in my spasming stomach. Sobs were itching to break free. I blinked at tears and finally looked back up at him.

His expression had softened a little. “Come here,” he whispered.

I gratefully stepped towards him, hoping for a warm embrace. Instead he held me at arm’s length, inspecting my neck. His brow creased with concern as he gently ran his thumb over my tender flesh. His expression buckled as he touched my bruised cheek. “You promised me you’d stay out of trouble.”

“I had to go and help Micah and Indie, I couldn’t just leave them.”

He scowled.

“I called you. You didn’t answer,” I ended with a mumble.

“Which is why I called you back as soon as I heard your message. And what do you do?” He threw his hands in the air. “You hung up on me.”

I was beginning to think that pissed was an understatement. He looked livid. I couldn't help reading him and saw that it was just fear talking, but it didn’t make any difference. His fear was being manifested as anger and there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“I didn’t want anyone to hear the phone,” I muttered, knowing instantly it was the wrong thing to say. Eric’s pointed glare screamed the obvious. I was sneaking into a situation that in my gut I knew was dangerous. I should have stepped outside and taken the call...or at least called him back. I should have waited for him.

But it was too late now. I couldn’t change the past. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He shook his head and looked away, making the silence between us awkward and deafening.

Finally, I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Can you drive me to the hospital, please? I want to check up on Micah.”

Eric’s concerned gaze shot to me. “Is he okay?”

“He got...” I swallowed, hating the truth and the fact that I had to tell it. “Shot.” The word barely made it out of my mouth. It was so small and tiny, but Eric still heard it. His skin blanched, his usually calm gaze going wild for a moment.

“Who had the gun?”

“Liam. I...I managed to talk it out of his hands. We were safe. It was okay.”

“Safe?” Eric scoffed. “Yeah, sounds really safe, Caitlyn!” He spun away and started walking for his car.

“Please don’t be mad with me.” I chased after him, grabbing his arm.

He jerked to a stop and glared down at me. His stance was intimidating and flaring with anger, but his expression was rippling with anguish.

“You don’t get it.” He shook his head. “You have no idea how much I’ve come to care for you in such a short space of time. Do you have any idea how much that freaks the hell out of me?” He ran a hand through his hair, licking his bottom lip. He breathed a couple of times, obviously wrestling with his surging emotions, trying to bring them into check. “I nearly lost you today. If I’d been five minutes later, Caity.” His hazel eyes caught me and I couldn’t look away. I just had to stare into his troubled gaze. Tears glistened in my eyes as he kept going. “What if I hadn’t cleared your message straight away? What if I hadn’t seen Stella as I drove past school and demanded to know where Indie’s house was? What if she hadn’t told me? What if I hadn’t seen you running for your life along the beach? What if I’d driven here another way?”