Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

195 - Rebecca

Something close to pure rage settled over me hearing that. My greatest enemy—the man who'd taken my mother and sister from me; who'd taken myself from me—had gained a loyal ally too desperately in need of him that he couldn't leave. He'd found protection in a place where there should have been betrayal—and that didn't sit right with me at all.

So much so that I felt my abilities starting to kick in as I got more and more annoyed; as I got angry. Colby felt my anger through our contact but that didn't stop me from almost taking a step forward. His hand pulled me subtly back another step before his eyes darted to Jake. In less than a second, he'd left Tara's side to come to mine, standing with his arms crossed and glaring across the way at Elliott.

Colby moved forward with Sam and Kevin, who looked pissed just like the rest of us. Elliott saw the shift in the atmosphere this time and, instead of moving forward to meet Colby's challenge, he stepped closer to the protection of his clan. I couldn't explain how much joy it brought me to imagine him cowering away from us. After what he'd said, I was wishing the worst upon him.

"You're one hundred per cent sure about that, Elliott?" Colby snarled out, his voice daring the opposition to stay true to their words.

Elliott didn't crack. "I told you, I don't want it to be this way."

"It doesn't have to be," Colby snapped back. "I'm not one for second chances but I'm giving you the chance right now to go back on what you've just said to us—no hard feelings." He paused. "It's one man."

"One very important man," Elliott corrected as he shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Elliott, you're supposed to be smart. You didn't get to where you are today without-"

He cut him off. "I didn't-"

"Don't interrupt me right now, Elliott. I'm one step away from coming over there and showing you the mistake you're making. Interrupting me will make it worse." Colby paused, allowing for the tension to lower a few notches. Elliott's face was close to scared, but even I knew that he was going to stay true to his decision no matter what we said to him. "You're seriously going to put yourself against something as powerful as me and my girl's clan?"

My heart audibly stuttered, which everyone in the area picked up on. I tried not to meet their gazes as the Crows cast surprised or doubtful glances at me. I only met Elliott's, who didn't seem to find Colby's suggestion far fetched at all. He stared at me for a few seconds then turned back to staring at him.

"Yes."

"Your mistake," Colby growled but he stepped back. "You've just lost close all the respect I had for you, Elliott, even if you're only looking out for your clan. I understand that much, only I truly believe you aren't seeing clearly when it comes to Julian. He has you under his trap just like everyone else. Run away before I send my strongest to plough through your group faster than anything you've ever seen."

Colby's words hung in the air like a sword above Elliott's head. The slightest wrong move and it would come crashing down to slice it right off, leaving him defenceless and likely doomed.

He knew it, too, because his eyes were trained dangerously focused on Colby. He knew that looking away would leave him vulnerable to an angry, no-shit-taking vampire who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. And neither was I—I supposed that's why I was included.

After an eternity, Elliott's mouth moved. It was too fast to read and too quiet for me to hear, but I knew as soon as those at the back of the clan started running away that he'd decided to do the smart thing this time. He still never moved his gaze from Colby's face, even as he was close to the only one left. He had two flanks waiting for him to leave, that was all.

"I hope that one day we can iron this out," he said hopefully, though nothing on any of our faces suggested we felt the same way. "I wish it-"

"Run before I decide to chase you," Colby snapped, shutting him up. Elliott hesitated only for another second, then he was gone. Colby didn't hesitate like he had to come to me, pulling me into his body. I knew it was only so he could control himself; so he wouldn't run after Elliott to kill him right now. I felt the tensions seeping out of Colby the moment his arms slid around me.

We waited for a short while before Griffin, Jake and Tara started running. Xepher was close behind them, with Sam leaving just before Kevin joined Colby and I. I, once again, clutched to him for the whole journey only to end up in the red room on his lap. He had me almost completely on one leg so he had space to lean around me and see anyone he couldn't already. It was comfortable enough for me to settle quickly back into his chest.

Everyone arrived shortly after.

"That's not good," Elton said quite obviously. "We're going to have the whole of the Crow Clan breathing down our necks."

"We can handle them," Aryia replied confidently, waving his hand in dismissal.

"I don't know who you're thinking about, Aryia," Cassie snapped, "but no, we can't. We can handle a few of them at a time—those who drift away from the clan to go with someone like Blair or to exclusively work with Julian, but those are probably the weakest anyway. He had the strongest with him up there on that roof, and we all saw how many of them there were."

"No one's as strong as Colby," Jake replied, confused.

Tara sighed. "Babe, we already told you, if there's more of them, that means they're still going to overpower us."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Reggie asked in exasperation. I felt the same, though I was mostly angry with the whole night. Elliott stating he was standing—and would forever stand—by Julian's side had irked me in ways I couldn't entirely explain other than the colour red.

Colby could feel I was still annoyed; I knew because he was squeezing my side every time it felt like it was getting worse. He settled my nerves for long enough to be able to think, at least.

The silence rang out.

No one knew what to do—not even Sam or Colby.

Were we screwed? Maybe. Was there anything we could do about it? Probably not...

But was I ever going to stop chasing Julian until I killed him? Absolutely fucking not.