Pet // Completed // Liam Payne AU

29. Targeted

Chapter Twenty Nine

Targeted

HI I LOVE YOU BYE

No matter how long I stared at him, I couldn't believe he was still there. Tears welled in my eyes unwillingly, and I felt my bottom lip trembling. He looked good. For the first time since I met him in the dark room, Liam looked well-rested and at peace. He was in a plain black t-shirt and dark jeans. His hair had been cut since I'd seen him last, and he had grown out the stubble a little more on his jaw.

It wasn't until he frowned at me that I realized my whole body was trembling like crazy. Liam gave me a hopeful smile and repeated his earlier question. "What were you going to say about me?"

I didn't know whether I wanted to hit him or hug him. Niall and Tanner were suddenly pushing out of the apartment, car keys in hand, to give us privacy. "Sage... I-"

He took one step towards me, and I automatically threw myself at him, burying my face in his chest. His tensed body relaxed immediately, and he fell backwards onto his rear, holding me in his lap. "I'm so sorry, I missed you so much," he whispered.

"You left me," I sobbed. "I thought... I thought..."

He held me tighter, pressing kisses into my hair. "I know, I know what you thought. And I hated myself for it. But I had to tie up loose ends."

I leaned away from him, glaring as best as I could through my tears. "Why didn't you visit me?"

Liam wiped the tears from my face delicately with the pads of his thumbs. "I did, silly girl. I visited you almost every night."

"Niall never told me! That little-"

"Niall was in just as deep of a sleep as you were. I had to sneak in and out in the middle of the night. But I was there. That's why you healed so quickly."

I sniffled, my bottom lip pursed as he softly kissed my forehead. "I want to hit you," I mumbled.

"I don't blame you." His fingers tipped my face up slightly, and pulled me towards him, so he could brush his lips over mine tentatively. In that moment, all my anger vanished, my body relaxing into him. I wanted to kiss him until we made up for the lost time, but Liam pulled back first. "I don't want to go too far. I just want to be here, in this moment, with you," he said, his hands falling to my lower back to pull me against him.

I nuzzled into his throat, crying again. "Don't cry, baby, don't cry. Everything's alright now. It's all over. We can be happy and healthy and love each other like a normal couple. We don't have to hide anymore."

"Liam, what happened?"

His body tensed up, and a low growl escaped his chest. "I thought Niall would have told you."

"He did. But he-he didn't know all of the details. I want to know exactly what happened."

*Liam's POV*

I stood rigidly in the doorway to my room, first taking note of Sage, who was still sleeping. Next my gaze moved to the hand that was frozen, hovering just over her cheek. I didn't know who I expected to be touching her, but I definitely didn't expect it be Klaus.

"Just when I thought I'd finally get my alone time with my favorite little human, you have to burst in," Klaus sneered.

"I killed you," I hissed. "Shot you straight-"

"You're right. You did kill me. But Alicia killed a talented little witch who was able to bring me back. Nice how things work out, huh, mate?"

I didn't want to know the backstory of how he got here, or what Alicia had done to do so, what I wanted to know was how to kill him again and why he was back. "Get away from her," I snapped when he leaned down to touch her again.

"I can see why you're taken with her. The innocence of a young human girl is much too alluring, isn't it? She reeks of all things pure and good," he cooed, his knuckles softly stroking her cheek.

An animalistic growl ripped through me and I lunged forward, but only to hear the sound of a gun clicking. Klaus had a pistol pointed at my mate. "One step closer and I'll make sure she never walks again."

"She isn't apart of this, leave her alone," I said desparately.

"So the girl isn't just some slut you find attractive. I heard she was your mate, but couldn't believe it. The Liam I knew only treated his pets like trash until they offed themselves," Klaus said calmly, pulling the gun away from Sage and examining it in his hold.

Now that I had a closer look at him, I noticed that he wasn't quite normal. I could actually see where I shot him, and there were dark veins running in all directions from that spot. His eyes were bloodshot too, and he seemed to sway a little.

"They couldn't put me back together perfectly. But they did a pretty good job. It's too bad I'll only be here until I finish my job, but at least then I'll know I'm leaving my traces behind," Klaus claimed, smirking wickedly at himself.

I narrowed my eyes and glanced towards Sage, who had her eyes open. My gaze snapped back to the psycho in front of me, not wanting to give up my mate. I had to stall him long enough to get her out of here. "What do you mean, Klaus?"

"The little witch could only bring me back if I had unfinished business. My business being killing you. Once I get rid of you, and maybe play around with your girl a little, I'll return to my grave. A little disappointing, but I'll take it."

Klaus had unsteadily moved towards me now, so Sage was out of his peripheral vision. She sat up, and silently got onto her knees on the bed. She was trembling in fear, her eyes on the gun now aimed at my chest.

"You deserve to die, Liam. At least the way I see it. You will betray this pack by taking her as your mate and not Alicia. Alicia was made to be your Luna. She's perfect for it, and yet you banish her for human scum? It's despicable, really. We'll call it treason, so you know what you're dying for," he claimed. His hands shook as he raised the gun, and he growled at himself, annoyed with how he didn't have the same skills he used to.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Sage jumped towards me, just as Klaus pulled the trigger. Sage slammed into me, and we fell to the ground together. I waited for the pain to start, but only felt blood seeping into my shirt.

Klaus laughed softly. "Well, good enough, I suppose."

I set Sage beside me and lunged for him, grasping the gun and flipping it on him, not wasting anytime before emptying the bullet into his heart. I didn't know if it would do anything, since we was enchanted, but I'd shoot him thousands of times if I had to.

The first shot sent him to his knees, and he grinned wickedly up at me, before laughing. Only instead of a laugh, it sounded like he was gurgling water. Blood sprayed from his mouth and onto my clothes, as more dribbled down his chin and onto his shirt.

"You're going to be too late," he said darkly. "She's not gonna make it through you torturing me."

I shot him again, unconcerned about the lies he was telling. The monster fell to the floor, into a puddle of his own blood. I turned to see if Sage was okay, my fingers releasing the gun.

I hadn't felt any pain or any blow from Klaus' shot because he didn't shoot me.

He shot Sage.   

:)