Instinct » Liam Dunbar [Book 3]

17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN » FURY
"Is that all you got?"

☽

"What the hell are you doing?" I burst out, coming to a stop as my eyes landed on Liam, fresh blood dribbling from his nose and his eye already bruised and swelling. I wasn't entirely surprised to find Nolan and Gabe stood in front of him, staring down at him with clenched jaws and hard looks. "Let me through," I ordered with a snap, beginning to barge past a few of the lacrosse boys, narrowing my eyes as they tried to block my way. "I said let me through!"

"Keep her back," Gabe instructed lowly, sparing a brief glance towards us before turning his attention back to Liam.

I felt a rough hand curl around my arm, yanking me back as I tried to push my way forwards again. I shoved my elbows back, and the boy yelped, his grip loosening on me. Whilst some of the other spectators were turning to look at the commotion between us, I managed to shove my way through the bodies, reaching the front of the crowd.

"Are you just going to let us do this to you?" Nolan asked harshly, watching Liam with a look of impatience. He sat silently, his body rigid as he kept his back pressed against the wall.

All of a sudden, Gabe launched forwards, landing a hard punch on Liam's nose, the force knocking him down to the floor. Nolan stormed forwards and grabbed his face, roughly pulling him up from the ground. Some of the lacrosse boys came to my side again, practically swarming around me.

"You know you can take us," Nolan said darkly. "All you have to do is change."

Liam's heartbeat hammered, inches away from spiralling out of control. I cast a frantic glance at Mason, who was still struggling to break away from the people who had a hold him.

Desperately, I tried to push through again, but by now there were too many people crowding around me. My eyes swooped around wildly as I willed them to land on something that could help me out, until my gaze fell on Liam's. "The sun," I whispered quickly, holding my stare as I tried to tap into Liam's hearing. "The moon." I strained my ears over the sounds of my own heart pounding, finally listening to his pulse again, hearing a slight change in pace. He could hear me. "The truth."

Moments later, Liam began to quietly mutter the mantra to himself, his heart beginning to steady with every word he spoke. It was working.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nolan suddenly demanded, still gripping Liam's face tightly.

Gabe stepped forwards, lightly shoving Nolan out of the way. "Who cares." Without a further word, he threw another punch at Liam, letting him crumble to the ground again with a pained groan.

"Stop!" I lunged forwards, slamming straight into a boy called Justin, before somebody else grabbed my arms, tugging me back so insistently that I thought my arms might tear off if they pulled any harder.

After attempting to put up a struggle, I began to slow to a stop, feeling as if I had no strength to move as I watched Gabe tug Liam by the material of his shirt before roughly flinging him down to the floor. Nolan brought his foot down hard, his shoes slamming against Liam's ribs.

Gasps flew out around the crowd, as Liam let out a struggled groan, his fists clenching together fiercely. He remained on his hands and knees, blood and spit tangling together as he began to breathe heavily. "You're fighting it!" Nolan snapped. Liam continued to grunt, his heart beating so fast I thought it was going to burst out of his chest. "But you can't hold back forever!"

"Do something!" Mason's desperate exclamation brought me out of my stunned silence, and I turned to my left as our science teacher, Ms Finch, broke through the crowd.