3: 3

My body pitched forward against my will, slamming toward the doorway.

Pain shot through me all at once, and for an instant everything went white.

Hester screamed, forgetting her own crushed, purpling fingers, and threw herself forward to shove Bartholomew off me.

"You animals, I'll take you all down with me!"

But she was a girl who barely weighed a hundred pounds. What chance did she have against these village thugs who worked the fields every day?

Vincent stepped up, sneering, and brought the back of his hand down in a hard slap across her clean, pale face.

"Get out of the way. I'll deal with you later!"

Five red finger-marks bloomed across Hester's cheek. She staggered, and her back struck the corner of the vanity.

She slid to the floor and lay there, unable to catch her breath for a long moment.

"Hester."

My eyes stung as I tried to scramble up and go to her.

But the next second, a pair of big hands clamped down hard on my shoulders from behind.

The face that had once been so gentle with me was now twisted beyond recognition.

"Jennifer, so you make a little more money than me and suddenly you forget who you are?"

He pressed down on my shoulders, his knuckles white.

"Let me tell you something. Once you're in the Lyons house, dragon or phoenix, you learn to keep your head down."

"You don't bow today, this doesn't end."

Mavis stood to the side, lifting the basket of eggs and setting it on the edge of the bed with a smile.

"All right, all right, had your fun? Get this cleaned up so they can consummate the marriage."

The groomsmen traded leering looks and slowly closed in.

The whole room was full of their filth, the reek of liquor on their breath enough to make me gag.

Vincent picked up a raw egg and came toward me, eyebrows raised.

"All the good luck's tucked in here. Just bow your head, and your days ahead are guaranteed to be lively."

The other groomsmen dissolved into laughter, whistling and egging him on.

I twisted my body with everything I had and kicked out, catching Bartholomew square in the shin.

He sucked in a sharp breath of pain and let go on reflex.

Then, humiliated and furious, he swung his arm and slapped me hard across the face.

My cheek swelled hot and stinging in an instant, and a faint taste of rust seeped from the corner of my mouth.

The room swayed before it steadied.

I froze. Three years together, and he had never laid a finger on me.

Now, in front of this pack of scum, he'd hit me.

Bartholomew seemed startled by his own hand too. But then he heard the excited howls of the groomsmen.

And something twisted and smug crept into his eyes instead.

He seized my hair again, forcing my head up so I had to look straight at him, and softened his voice into a coax.

"Jenny, sweetheart, you've got such a pretty little face. Why go asking for a beating?"

"Bruise it up and it won't be pretty anymore. Play along, everybody's happy, and your husband will treat you right from now on."

He probably thought a slap followed by a sweet word would be enough to cow me.

But he had no idea where I'd grown up.

My father taught me from the time I was small: a martial artist's bones can break, but the neck must never bend.

Vincent, egg pinched between his fingers, sauntered up in front of me.

The liquor on him mixed with the stink of cheap cigarettes, close enough to choke me.

Hester lay slumped in the corner, her back still not recovered, but she stretched out her hand as hard as she could and still couldn't reach me.

The other bridesmaids were pinned by the groomsmen and couldn't come to help.

Bartholomew's hand bore down hard on the back of my head, slowly building pressure.

"Be good. Cooperate, and it'll be over fast."

4: 4

The eggshell was already at my lips.

I opened my mouth and bit down hard on the web of Bartholomew's hand, the part pinning me in place.

I put everything I had into it, biting like I meant to take the flesh clean off.

Bartholomew screamed, and the pain jerked his hand back on reflex.

The instant he let go, I used the give to shove myself up and drove my knee straight up.

The blow landed dead-on, right into the softest, most fragile spot between Vincent's legs.

Vincent's face went white in a heartbeat, his eyes bulging like they'd pop out of his skull.

He curled into a ball, both hands clamped over himself, and rolled on the floor.

The egg dropped from between his legs, cracked on the ground, and smeared everywhere as he rolled over it again and again.

I used the chaos to scramble to the other side of the bed and grabbed the brass table lamp off the nightstand.

The solid base had to weigh a good ten pounds. It sat heavy and real in my hand.

I lifted it and smashed it down against the edge of the bed.

With a sharp crash, the glass shade shattered into countless jagged shards.

Gripping the base tight, I turned the broken glass on them and moved slowly toward the bridesmaids.

The groomsmen closest to me had been about to lunge again. When they saw what was in my hand, their feet stalled.

"One step closer and I'll put this through his eye. Anyone who isn't afraid to die is welcome to try."

The sheer force of it froze them. For a moment, none of them dared come forward.

Bartholomew clutched his bleeding hand, hopping in a rage.

"Jennifer, you looking to start a rebellion?"

"If I don't break you tonight, how am I ever supposed to hold my head up in this village again?"

Beside him, his mother's eyes went red too, and she started calling toward the door.

"Someone get in here! The world's turned upside down, the new bride won't be managed, she's trying to kill us!"

"What are you all standing around for? Get outside and bring the relatives in to help hold her down!"

The men outside heard the commotion and started pushing into the room.

I herded the bridesmaids back to the window, put my spine against the wall, and made sure no one could jump me from behind.

Then, fast, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Bartholomew saw the phone and froze for a second, then threw his head back and laughed.

"Calling the cops? Jennifer, did the fright scramble your brain?"

"You remember the scene when you got here today? The wedding cars blocked the village road solid ages ago."

"Out here in these mountains, even if the police pick up, they'd need wings and two hours to fly in."

"By the time they get here, the deed's long done. Save your strength. Nobody's saving you tonight."

No wonder they were so brazen today. They'd worked it all out in advance.

Too bad for them. I wasn't some lamb in their cage, waiting to be slaughtered.

Hester tugged at the hem of my dress, glancing at her own phone to tell me not to worry about the police.

And I wasn't dialing 911 either.

Instead, I opened my contacts and pressed the number that had sat pinned at the top all year.

It rang once and was answered on the spot.

Through the receiver came a roar of voices and the clink of glasses. My academy brothers were clearly still at a banquet in the village.

I stared at the crowd closing in on me and let out a cold laugh into the phone.

"Brothers... someone just laid hands on your little junior sister!"