PAULINE
I raised an eyebrow. "For such a foward stance, you could have fought back the first time he tried to take you." I took another step closer. "Do you pick and choose which ideology to stand on?"
She met my gaze. "It's clear you're threatened by me. To put on all this show." She gestured around us. At the trees. At the sentinels. At the clearing that had become her cage. "If you're going to get rid of me, do it quickly. I'm frankly bored of this game of yours."
The slap cracked through the clearing before I'd even consciously decided to do it. My palm connected with her cheek and her head snapped to the side. A red mark bloomed across her skin in the perfect shape of my hand.
The audacity of the low born.
"You think I don't want to kill you, bitch?" The words came out low and venomous. "I want to. Badly might I add."
She touched her cheek. Her fingers trembled slightly.
