The Long Road to Ruin Ch. 27

"And you have Shanna now? Isn't she enough for you?" Shiloh taunted before she slapped him soundly.

A menacing growl came from Vico's lips and he grabbed her with the arms, throwing her to the floor. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Rhys watched her fly through the air and crash to the floor in a heavy heap. A cry of pain escaped her lips. It was all the incentive he needed. Rage twisted his facial features and he lunged at the blackguard, his meaty fists clenched tight, but Vico was ready for the attack. A flying elbow connected the larger man's midsection followed up by a pulverizing uppercut to the face. Fists lashed out and Vico hissed as he was thrown to the ground. Rhys pounced, straddling his core, punches flying like his life depended on every ounce of drawn blood from the blackguard's body. "She's mine now!"

Vico threw Rhys off, his booted feet catching Rhys in the head. Blood poured from a gash above Rhys's eye and a split lip as he elbowed Vico hard in the solar plexus. Vico grunted and caught Rhys in a chokehold and slammed him down, knocking the wind out of him. The two combatants wrestled around for several minutes, kicking, punching and slamming each other into the floor. Rhys broke free of Vico's hold and flipped up to his feet before the blackguard could hit again and slugged Vico hard across the face, resisting the urge to add a brutal kick to the groin. Rhys gasped at the sweet pain as Vico in return landed a brutal punch to the mouth, splitting his lower lip wider and forcing his two front teeth through the upper one. Blood ran down his face and Rhys retorted by breaking Vico's nose, oh, so careful not to hit him straight on and thus driving the nasal bone into his brain. Rhys's muscles coiled, readying another hard slug as he punched him a good one in the stomach and drew back a hard uppercut fast just shy of breaking Vico's jaw, releasing tangy blood down his five o'clock shadow.

With a feral howl, Vico bullrushed the bigger man and threw his shoulder into Rhys's midsection, driving him back to crash into the bookshelf. A groan slipped from Rhys as the shelves splintered on impact. He could feel the embedded wood digging into his muscles. Vico held Rhys there, landing heavy blows to his middle and groin. Rhys groaned and brought his knee up hard, connecting with the mouth and chin of the blackguard. He threw himself forward, landing on Vico and pinning him down to the floor. Playing dirty, Vico summoned a ball of negative energy to his palm and pressed it to Rhys's face. He howled in pain and grabbed a handful of hair belting Vico across the face so hard that sent him reeling. Rhys punched, Vico blocked; he countered, Rhys dodged. And so the dance of death continued with neither standing still for long, adjusting and modifying their attack to bring the most damage to the other.

"You fight like a sissy bitch," Vico taunted as he landed pulverizing hits across to Rhys's face, again and again. Pain rang in his ears, and he bit his lip to keep from showing it. "My little birdie hits harder than you do."

The two continued, swinging, blocking, lunging. And soon they were back to circling each other. Vico swung once more, but Rhys dodged it and grabbed hold of Vico, knocking him hard against a wall, causing another bookshelf to break. Rhys became relentless, grasping a fistful of hair to slam Vico into the wall repeatedly. Blood bubbled out from Vico's mouth and nose when he tried to breathe. He felt Rhys's hands leave and made a move to strike. Vico caught Rhys's arm with his free hand, slamming his elbow into the side of Rhys's face, and at the same time letting go, allowing the bigger man to topple onto the floor. Rhys looked up just in time to roll out of the way and dodge Vico's foot before it connected with his ribs. Groaning, he sprang to his feet, once more at the ready, and lunged again, once more meeting Vico's fist. He ignored the pain and swung with everything he had. The blackguard quickly blocked and pummeled Rhys in the ribs with hard, punishing blows.

With blood and sweat stinging his eyes, Rhys let out a bellow and threw a crushing punch into Vico's bloodied mouth. His neck cracked as his head snapped back at the force of it. He staggered and went down on one knee. Sparkles of light exploded before his eyes and he shook his head to regain his equilibrium. Fury gripped him even tighter and he lunged at Rhys, his fist tangling into the bloodied blond locks hand while planting his other fist firmly into his ribs once more. Bones snapped, cracking grotesquely, and Rhys let out a howl of sheer pain. Before he could think twice, Vico threw another punch at him, hammering the already bruised and cracked ribs, but he was quick to retaliate, despite the pain. He went for the low blow, bringing his knee up into the blackguard's groin and before another moment passed, he landed a hard blow to the gut. Vico groaned and staggered, clutching his balls as he nearly blacked out from the pain inflicted in such a sensitive area.

"You tossed her aside like yesterday's trash. She's not yours!" Rhys retorted as he captured Vico in a chokehold, his massive forearm applying pressure to the blackguard's Adam's apple and with his free hand delivered vicious jabs to his kidneys. Vico grunted, slamming his head back to connect with Rhys's chin. Rhys grunted and continued pounding his fist into Vico's bruised flesh.

The blackguard grunted and snarled, "Had to have my leavings, did ya?"

Rhys ignored the barb and smashed Vico's face into the wall. He grinned as he heard the sickening sound of bones breaking. Vico let out a roar and kicked backwards, his boot connecting with Rhys's knee. He heard a grunt and wriggled out of the hold. He grabbed one of the wooden chairs that sat beside the table and swung it at Rhys. The sickening sound of the chair hitting flesh and the coarse expletive that followed filled the room. Rhys groaned and spat out a tooth.

Vico staggered, clutching Rhys. Both men were winded and breathing heavily. "You give up yet?" Rhys chided him as he favored his bruised and broken ribs.

"Fuck you, never!" He sneered and headbutted his opponent before slamming both his fists into Rhys's bloodied mouth one after the other. Rhys groaned and retaliated with a fierce kick to Vico's middle, causing him to stagger and fall. Rhys followed him down, once more straddling his core while landing heavy blows to the head and chest. He refused to give up. He would make the blackguard surrender. He would make him give up his hold on Shiloh.

On and on he went. Blood coursed from Vico's mouth, nose and eyes. "Fuckin' give up already!" Rhys roared.

"Fuck you!"

A wry chuckle slipped from Rhys's mashed lips, "You ain't my type, asshole!" Rhys wasn't sure where it came from, but soon he felt a blade slam into him. He snarled from the pain and rolled off the blackguard, who held the bloody knife in his equally bloody hand. "Fuckin' cheater!"

Vico rolled to his feet, coughing harshly and spitting up blood. He threw the dagger away and kicked Rhys in the same exact place he'd stabbed him, causing a wail of pain to explode from Rhys's lips. And as he moved to land a second kick, Rhys grabbed hold of Vico's leg and yanked, wrenching his knee and pulling him the floor. They lay side by side, gasping for air and attempting to land hits upon the other.

"You give up?" Rhys gasped after hitting him one last time.

"Fuck no!" Vico groaned, slugging Rhys in the ribs once more.

"Gods damn you, asshole!" He growled before lapsing into belly shaking laughter which ended in a deep hacking cough. He spat blood up once more before collapsing back to the floor. "I ain't givin' up. You'll have to kill me first."

Rhys's laughter proved infectious as Vico joined in. "You're already dead, you stubborn sonofabitch."

O.O

Shiloh and Shanna watched fervently while clutching each other tightly. The brutal fight and the odd laughter of the two men in the aftermath had astonished them both. "They're nuts! Absolutely nuts!" Shiloh stated, thoroughly exasperated.

"This is your fault!" Shanna accused, turning fearful eyes onto her sister.

"Me? Is not!"

"You have to have them all, don't you? Damn you, Shiloh! Not every man wants you!" Shanna jerked herself out of her sister's embrace, drew back her hand and slapped her with all the force she could muster. "Vico is mine!"

Stunned, she sank to the floor and gaped, open mouthed, at Shanna. "I don't want Vico! I swear that to you!"

"Liar! He wouldn't be fighting for you if that wasn't true."

Shiloh left out a deep sigh. "Enough! I don't know what brought this on, but it's not my fault. It's so like your precious Vico to want to have his cake and eat it, too."

Shanna shook her head and sniffled loudly, wiping away the tears that were burning her eyes. "It's not fair!"

Shiloh surged to her feet and marched to the middle of the living room where both Vico and Rhys still lay, exhausted and dripping in blood. She surveyed the damage around her. Two of her bookshelves resembled firewood as well as one of her chairs. She let out a scream before running back into her bedroom and grabbing her bag. From within she pulled two of the healing draughts. She knew it wouldn't take care of all their wounds, but it hopefully heal the worst. She helped the two men to sit up and made them drink. Then she turned tearfully accusing eyes upon the man who'd made her life hell.

"Why, Vico? I risked my life to give you back Shanna? Why? Why do you still want me?"

"I think I loved you from the moment I saw you," he admitted as he gazed deeply into her eyes.

"Then why, Vico?"

"I wanted to avoid this situation."

"What situation? What are you talking about?"

"Of falling head over heels in love with you. Love has to be the cruelest thing the gods ever created. I don't want to be one of those guys who follow you around. It would make me seem weak."

"It wouldn't have to be like that," Shiloh's eyes filled with tears. "I gave you back Shanna and it's still not enough for you. By the gods, Vico, I remember when you told me she was prettier than me. All I can remember what was in my head at the time that you preferred my younger half-sister, that despite the fact that I'm the princess, I'm still not good enough and I never will be."

A bitter laugh escaped him. "No man wants the woman he loves to know how much she affects him. I never expected a high-born lady to look upon a commoner like me."

"Gods, if you only knew. But this is so wrong. It can't be. Surely you see that. Why me after I risked so much to give you back Shanna? Answer me!"

He shook his head, "Shiloh, bringing Shanna back was something you should have left well enough alone."

A sob came from the doorway of the bedroom.

"I righted a wrong, Vico. I did it for you."

"No, stupid, I think you've created a worse situation. If she's ever caught by the ones who killed her in the first place, they'll capture her and torture her until she tells them who was behind it. Then they'll learn about you and the rest of us. Is that what you want?"

Shiloh lowered her eyes and studied her feet. "No, it's not. I guess I didn't think of it that way."

"No, you didn't."

"How can you be so cruel to say such things in front of her? Gods, you really are a heartless wretch!" Shiloh accused as she backed away from him. "You don't know what love is. You only know hate and destruction. Get the fuck out of here and never come back. If I find you anywhere near my sister, I'll cut your dick off and feed it to you before I cut out your black heart with my knife. Get out!"

Vico snarled at her, clenching his teeth to keep from hissing in pain as he struggled to get to his feet. Her eyes raked over him, taking in the intimidating sight of his bloodied face, broken nose and bruised flesh. When her gaze met his, she was looking into the most chilling pair of eyes she'd ever seen. Gods, he'd become so unwaveringly distant again. She'd seen him in many lights with eyes full of cold fury and heated bliss and everything in between, but never in all the time she'd known him had witnessed such unmitigated contempt, such uncompromising hatred or undiluted bitterness. She let out a sob as one final emotion assailed her. It was the one she hadn't expected to see, sheer unmistakable love mixed with a hint of blatant betrayal. It pinned her and held her frozen in place. It left her utterly speechless.

Though bleeding profusely from several wounds, Rhys limped his way over to Shanna and helped her to her feet. "Perhaps you two need to have a heart to heart talk. I'll take Shanna with me and head over to the Alchemist's for some more healing potions. Gods know I need it. Have you any more I could drink before I go?"

It took a few moments to fully register Rhys's words before she acted upon them. She dug into her pack and pulled out the ones she had, dividing them between Rhys and Vico. The potions helped quite a bit, lessening the seeping blood and swollen flesh. And she knew she'd be able to acquire more. Next she handed Rhys the sack of gold she'd had in her pack. "Use as much of it as you'd like. I have more."

He nodded and drew Shanna along with him as he exited the apartment.

O.O

Shiloh fixed her gaze upon Vico once more before disheartedly groaning at the destruction their brutal fight had wreaked upon her cozy little home. Her voice cracked as the tears burned for release. "It'll never work for us," she dejectedly whispered. She let out a cry and buried her face into her hands. "Just stop this nonsense. Now! You've already hurt Shanna and I won't let you do the same to me any more than you have."

He laughed aloud, a cold chuckle so evil it sent shivers slithering down her spine. He cradled her in his arms, tenderly stroking her backside. "If hurting you was my intention, I wouldn't be here. You are mine and I protect what is mine. Now are you going to make me prove it to you that I OWN you?"

Shiloh shuddered at his words. Own was an incredibly strong word for him to be using so casually. Vico captured her lips in a possessive kiss, his lips and tongue devouring her mouth. He overwhelmed her, leaving her utterly defenseless against his assault on her senses. She turned to putty in his embrace, her legs buckling beneath her.

"Please... no more," she moaned as their lips parted for a second. She wanted him, by the hells, she did...even though she knew it was wrong. And it was all wrong. She wouldn't take what he was offering if it meant causing Shanna pain. "I can't."

He threw a calculating look at her before he headed for the door. Words were no longer necessary.

"I'm going away to the Summer Islands on a mission and I think it would be best if Shanna went with me. She needs time to adjust," Shiloh spoke up as she followed him to the door. "It's best that we stay out of each other's way from here on out."

"And you know that will never happen," he retorted as he caught her eyes in an unwavering stare. "Nothing else matters, my sweet. Nothing. And I expect you to remember that!"

He left and Shiloh grabbed a few books from the floor, flinging them headlong into the door. The sound of echoed thunks and crashes ensued.

Damn him!

He would not dictate my life!!!

O.O