"Discuss what?" Kody demanded, picking himself up and buckling his belt, a move that Steele took in with a scowl. "What the hell is going on?"
"No!" Archer barked. His enraged glare didn't shift from me for even a second. "No, I've had enough, we're dealing with this now."
"Dealing with what?" I shouted back, sick of his intimidation routine. It was hot when it was likely to turn into sex, but I was getting clear vibes that this was not heading in that direction.
The vein in his temple throbbed, and his eye twitched slightly. "Did you fucking drug me, Madison Kate?"
I froze.
Oh shit.
That.
"My manager just called me," Archer continued, his voice threaded with pure violence, and a shiver of fear passed through me. "As a courtesy, to let me know that tomorrow I'd be getting disqualified from my fucking debut UFC fight. You want to take a wild stab at why that might be happening, Madison Kate?"
A flicker of guilt lit up inside me, but I smothered it quickly. He deserved it.
Own your choices, MK. Back yourself.
Folding my arms, I tilted my chin up defiantly.
"If I were a betting woman, I'd say you tested positive for anabolic steroid use. Sure does explain your short temper and bulging muscles. Not to mention those shriveled balls I'm sure you're hiding." I gave him an unkind, sarcastic smile. "Sucks to see your goals get flushed down the toilet, doesn't it, D'Ath?"
Rage built within him until he was fucking shaking, his muscles so tense I worried he might tear out of his shirt like the Hulk. His fists were clenched, but I wasn't afraid of him. Not really. Okay, maybe a tiny bit.
"You fucking bitch!" he shouted, then slammed his fist through the passenger-side window of the G-Wagen, shattering the safety glass and sending rock-salt-sized chunks scattering everywhere. My skin stung where the exploding pieces had hit me, but I knew from experience those scratches would be light. Archer's knuckles would be another matter.
Still, I hadn't moved. I hadn't run screaming in fear, and I sure as shit hadn't groveled for forgiveness. Fuck that shit.
I stayed motionless and impassive while Archer howled and cursed and generally threw a rage tantrum. Both Kody and Steele stayed out of it, too, which I noted. It wasn't until Archer looked like he might hit the car again that Kody intercepted him and grabbed his fist.
"One punch we can fix before the fight with ice, bandages, and bruise balm. Not two." His tone was low and even, not betraying any emotion, and I couldn't help making the whole situation worse.
"What fight?" I asked, snarky as all hell. "He's getting disqualified tomorrow."
Kody's glare in my direction was a crystal clear "shut the actual fuck up, MK" but I just grinned back at him. Yeah, I was smug as hell. Archer deserved this.
Archer's ice glare swung back around to me, and I bit my cheek to keep from flinching. But damn he was one scary fuck. "You little—"
"Stop it," Kody snapped, his voice cracking down like a whip, "You're being fucking dramatic, Arch. You know perfectly well that Jase called you tonight so we could fix it by morning. You'll still fight next week."
My jaw dropped in outrage. "So why the hell is he throwing a goddamn toddler tantrum?" I demanded. Now I was pissed. He wasn't actually getting disqualified? How?
"He's angry because you almost ruined his whole fight career before it even got started," Steele told me. His arms were folded over his chest and his glare accusing. "Not to mention what it would’ve done to Kody’s future as a trainer. You had no way to know that we could fix the drug test results. You wanted Arch disqualified from the fight."
I tipped my chin up once more, defiant to the end despite the stab of guilt I felt for dragging Kody down too. "You're damn right, I did. Now that I know it hasn't worked, I'll just try harder next time."
Archer's scowl turned venomous. "Why? Why would you do this when I've done nothing but protect you since you arrived back into Shadow Grove?" He was furious, no doubt. But there was a thread of something else that tugged uncomfortably at my heart.
"You must be joking," I scoffed, ignoring the twinge of guilt at that other emotion in his voice. "You had some random chick dump juice on me because you didn't like my outfit."
His glare darkened. "How is this remotely on the same scale of seriousness? Juice on your slutty outfit, versus the attempted destruction of my entire future?"
My own stare turned acidic. "Oh, you mean like when you framed me a year ago? How I was arrested for a crime I had nothing to do with, then charged and sent to goddamn, fucking court to prove my own innocence? Like that? How about how you three came forward to corroborate my story and provide the evidence I needed to get out in maybe three days instead of three months? Oh wait. You didn't. You left me there to fucking rot and didn't look back twice."
I was screaming this at him. At all of them. My chest heaved and the familiar burn of hatred seared through my veins. It was about damn time.
"How about the way you deliberately handed me over to the police that night? How about the way every fucking Ivy League university I had early acceptance to withdrew their offers the same day my arrest was aired on the news? Or how my job prospects are fucking shot now because all anyone sees when they look at Madison Kate Danvers is a criminal? An acquittal doesn't count for shit when you've been publicly branded as guilty."
I was on a roll now. The floodgates had been opened, and this wasn't going to be over until I got it all off my chest. So, fuck it. Why not go the whole way?
"Or maybe this was justified payback for the fact that your brother stalked and murdered my mom?" I shoved him in the chest as I said that and must have caught him off guard because he stumbled back a step. But I wasn't done, yet. "Oh, but of course the Reapers have enough cops in their fucking pockets that he was let go after just three weeks in holding. Now my mom's murderer is running around free to do whatever the hell he wants, like, oh I don't know, stalk me."
Tears stung my eyes now, and to give myself something to do other than burst out crying, I ripped my mask from my hair and threw it at Archer's chest.
"So, yeah, Archer," I sneered, "you fucking deserved a bit of steroid powder in your protein shakes. Be thankful that's all it was."
I stooped down and swiped the key for the G-Wagen where it'd dropped out of Kody's hand earlier. I didn't know what my plan was. I hated driving, but I couldn't stay there.
"Madison Kate," Steele said, his voice shocked, "Zane didn't kill your mom."
His words were like a slap in the face, and I reeled back.
"Excuse me?" Of all of them, I hadn’t expected Steele to be the one defending that psychopathic murderer. "What the fuck would you know? I was there. I saw it."
"Did you, though?" My attention swung around to Kody, and I glared at him. He looked pained, but continued anyway. "I'm just saying, you were wrong about me planting that key on you last Halloween. Isn't it possible you're wrong about this?"
My jaw dropped, betrayals hitting me from every side. "I'm not wrong. I saw it. He beat her unconscious, then shot her in the head." My body trembled as my mind dredged up those painful, long-suppressed memories.