“I have to do it!” Cora yelled.
Daggett’s arm pushed against her chest, keeping her in place. “Do what?”
“Slit my throat,” she answered. “He said I have to.” Her face scrunched up tight, and her eyes momentarily closed. “Oh, god, my head…it hurts.”
“Daggett, do something!” I ordered.
He stared inquisitively. “That’s what Melanie meant. She must be under mind control, probably from this Master guy.”
“Okay. Can’t you do anything about it?”
“I don’t even fully understand how this mind control works, much less how to undo it. Us werewolves don’t have that power.”
“She’s gonna fucking kill herself.” Cora squirmed like a worm on a hook, but Daggett was able to keep her at bay. I got close to her and said, “Cora, hey, stop being a dumb bitch and don’t kill yourself.”
“This sounds like a really, really bad therapy session.”
I wound my hand back and slapped her in the face. “Get a grip!” I yelled. She continued to squirm, so I hit her again.
Daggett gently pushed me back. “Hey, hey, take it easy. I don’t think that’s doing anything.”
My hand was red and stinging. “Somehow, I thought I would enjoy this more. At least that’s how it was in my fantasies,” I admitted.
Daggett stared at me strangely. “Let’s save that topic for another day.”
“Sounds good.”
“I wanna try something,” he said as he bent down and let his hand search for the butcher knife that had been tossed into the snow. I didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and all my red flags went off when he put the knife back into Cora’s hand.
“Uh…what are you doing?” I asked.
“It’s all right, trust me.”
“The last time I listened to a man who said that to me, I was handcuffed to a bed for two days.” Daggett’s left eye glanced over at me. “It’s nothing kinky, sadly. My dad thought I was on meth and tried to detox me. Turns out, I was just depressed, and having your dad keep you prisoner for a couple days really doesn’t help the depression. Who knew?”
“I can never tell when or if you’re pulling my leg.”
“You think I’d make this story up? Who the hell is that gonna impress?”
Daggett shushed me. It had to be for a good reason, because he knew I’d kick him in the dick otherwise. Cora’s hand holding the knife trembled as Daggett grasped onto her, keeping her from being able to press the blade to her skin. He restrained her so effortlessly, like it wouldn’t even cause him to break a sweat that I found it…kind of hot. He was pretty strong.
I was still confused, though. “What exactly are you doing?”
“Cora,” he began. “I’m gonna let you break the skin, okay?”
What was he doing?
Cora whimpered and cried as Daggett guided her hand to her throat with his own fingers entwined with hers. He held the knife just as much as she was, maybe more. The tip of the blade poked her skin, and I saw Daggett’s arm jerk slightly. They were fighting for control of the knife. She wanted to slash her shit up, and he wanted to do it slowly.
I was still fucking confused as to how this was going to do anything.
“Cora, cut lightly,” he ordered. Together, their hands glided the blade across the side of her throat. A thin, shallow red mark broke out on her skin, and only a few trickles of blood dripped down that was as puny as me when I’m popping a zit. Once the blade had gone over her entire throat, Cora’s whimpering silenced and her tense body eased up. The stoned trance in her eyes broke, and she blinked a few times and let out a heavy sigh.
Wait, did he just end the hypnosis?
“Cora?” he called out softly.
She breathed heavily for a second. “Jesus, that sucked,” she said.
Daggett smiled, and then chuckled. “I’m just glad my hunch turned out to be correct.”
I looked at the two of them, puzzled. “What even happened? What did you do?”
“We weren’t going to be able to undo the mind control, so we had to find a loophole. He wanted her to slit her throat, so she slit her throat.”
I let out a laugh. “Wow. You’re kind of smart.”
“Kind of?” Cora asked, offended. “He just saved my life. He’s a genius! Thank you, Daggett.” She smiled like a goof until she looked at me. “And thanks for hitting me, you turd.”
My mouth dropped. “Excuse me? I was trying to bring you back to Earth.”
“Don’t pretend you weren’t looking for an excuse to do that.”
“Hey, I fucking hurt my hand on your vegan face. I’m just as much of a victim in all of this.”
“I’m not vegan, I’m a vegetarian! And what would me being vegan have to do with how my face feels?”
“I don’t know. Your jawline is probably full of grapes and hay.”
“Hay?! I’m a vegetarian, not a horse, you bucket head.”
“Ladies, ladies, now is not the time,” Daggett intervened. “We gotta get out of here.”
Cora gasped. “Oh, god, Max and Melanie. Are they okay? I fogged
