37. Colton
Chapter 37
Colton
I watch Luella, in fucking awe of the energy she radiates. Her gaze, fixed on the man chained to the wall, burns with a cold fire that both terrifies and excites me. I see the strength in her, the resilience that has kept her alive through unimaginable horrors. And I feel a surge of pride mingled with a protectiveness so fierce, it makes my chest ache.
Xavier whimpers, his eyes darting between us, pleading for mercy in a way that makes my stomach churn. He doesn’t deserve it. Not an ounce of compassion.
“You should have listened to me when I warned you,” I growl, moving closer. “I told you she was mine.”
“You make out that you’re a fucking saint, Colton,” Xavier rasps, his gaze fixed on Luella. “But you were here when her sister died. You did nothing to help her, did you?” The words are laced with venom, aimed at twisting the knife in my gut. He knows exactly where to strike to inflict the most pain, the fucking pathetic cunt.
I was there the night she died. The memory of these animals touching her, hurting her… It makes me want to tear Xavier apart with my bare hands. I can feel his words slithering into my mind, the shame clawing at me. I was there, a puppet in his sadistic theater, bound to him by blood and weakness. Part of me wonders if, deep down, I’m more like him than I want to believe. And if she knew, if Luella truly knew...would she still see me as someone she desires?
Luella stiffens beside me, her grip tightening on the gun she stole from the guard, before glancing at me, a question in her eyes. I can see the understanding dawning in them as she pieces together the fragmented memories Xavier is so cruelly dredging up.
“You were there?” she whispers, her voice barely audible.
I refuse to give him the reaction he so badly wants, but I won’t lie to her. Not about this.
“Yes. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Did you...” Luella pales and stares at me, her attention solely on me.
My heart twists as she scrambles for the words I don’t want to hear, but I know she has to ask. “Did you touch her?”
I scowl. “Did I—fuck, no! And if he says I did, I’ll kill him myself, and I’ll make it slow.” I shoot him a warning glare, but he stares back at me, dead behind the eyes.
Fucking soulless cunt. Why did I have to be burdened with him for a father?
He smirks, a cruel twist of his lips. “You didn’t have to touch her to enjoy it, boy? Watching was enough. Just like it was enough when your mother?—”
“Shut your fucking mouth!” I roar, lunging forward and slamming my fist into his jaw. He cries out, the sound muffled by the blood bubbling in his mouth.
Luella flinches but doesn’t move, her gaze still locked on mine.
The voices in my head scream, a chaotic chorus of rage and pain.
Kill him! End it now! He deserves to suffer!
I clench my jaw, fighting for control. I can’t let them win. Not now. I need to focus on Luella.
“Are you alright?” I ask her, my voice rough.
She nods slowly, blinking hard. “I will be,” she replies, her voice strained. “But...we need to finish this.”
I take a deep breath, steadying myself. She’s right. We need to end this. For her. Sophia. My mother. For everyone Xavier has hurt.
“He’s right,” Luella says quietly, “about one thing. You were there. You saw it happen.” Her voice cracks, and for a moment, I’m afraid she’s going to break down. But then, she straightens, her gaze hardening. “And now, you watch him die.”
Xavier scoffs. “My men will be down here any minute, and when they do, I’m going to fuck your?—”
Luella walks forward, cutting him off. She shoves the gun between his legs and pulls the trigger.
I wince as my father screams, but then Luella’s face splits into a grin so wide, I can’t help but smile. She is so beautiful when she’s happy.
“That’s for my sister.”
I catch the slightest tremor in her hand just before her fingers press down. Her breath is shallow, her eyes glistening, and I realize that behind her rage is a girl who just wants the pain to stop. For her, for her sister, for us. Then she plunges her fingers deep into his wound, gripping what flesh she can, twisting and clawing at it until my father passes out, a brief relief from the pain.
But Luella doesn’t accept that.
She grips his cheeks, shaking his head and slapping him until he wakes up, dazed and confused. Then he starts screaming again.
“Just fucking kill me!” he screeches, blood pooling between his legs.
“How many times have women begged you for death, Xavier? How many times have you granted it?” Luella sings, leaning down to drag her finger through his blood. “Still warm,” she remarks softly, lifting it to her nose. “It smells like death, Xavier.”
His eyes roll back in his head as she dips her hand into the wound, her fingers coated in the near-black liquid. She drags her fingers down her cheeks and laughs, inhaling deeply as she paints herself in revenge.
I’m transfixed, unable to take my eyes off her.
“You like the smell of death, Xavier? You’re about to smell a whole lot more of it.” She dips her fingers again and spreads the blood across his lips, a sick joke of a kiss. “There,” she whispers. “Now you’re ready.”
Luella looks at me, her eyes shining with pain and fierce determination. “You don’t have to watch this.” Her voice falters, a crack in her armor. She’s thinking about me in this moment—me. But she doesn’t understand. I’ve been waiting for this more than I’ve waited for anything in my life.
She’s unreal. She is thinking of me seeing my father die, and I couldn’t give a flying fuck. I want to watch him die. I should have done this myself years ago, but no, I was controlled. A fucking puppet.
“I have front-row seats.” My voice is low.“This is your reckoning, and I want to witness every second.”
Kill him. I don’t care.
Because I don’t, not after everything he has done; he deserves to die like this, at the hands of a woman he hurt. He stole her sister, her dignity, her soul. He deserves to pay with his.
Luella tilts her head and looks at me. “I need a knife.”
My father is already bleeding out, but the fear in his eyes makes me relax.
“What are you going to do, you stupid bitch? You’re the same as your sister, a fucking hole to use.”
I head over to the table where the torture instruments are held, listening to him spouting vitriol at my woman. My rage knows no bounds, and then the voices start, and I have to remember who owns his life.
It’s not me, it’s Luella.
I pick up the sharpest knife I find, then glance at the clamp beside it with a grin.
“May I?” I ask, turning to show Luella the two objects I’m holding.
My ears ring with the voices, and Luella nods, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She isn’t just after revenge—this girl has bloodlust. My dick hardens at the very thought.
I stride over to my father and roughly open his jaw, inserting the clamp to keep his mouth open. He struggles against it, his eyes wide with terror, but it’s useless. I tighten the clamp until I capture his tongue, staring into his eyes as I yank it as far as I can out of his mouth.
He screams, and I slice into his tongue, taking my time. His howls of agony are music to my ears, and I watch as the final slice severs his tongue from his body; I throw it to the floor with disgust. The fucking venom that came from that thing.
His breathing is shallow, wheezing through blood and spit, his face twisted with agony as he tries to form words. The scent of blood and fear fills the room, mixing with the rust of old chains and sweat. It’s sickening and intoxicating, a smell I realize I could get used to if it meant freedom for her.
Luella steps forward, her eyes gleaming with a predatory light. She picks up the severed tongue, holding it between her thumb and forefinger as if inspecting a particularly repulsive insect.
“Such a nasty little thing,” she murmurs, her voice laced with disgust. Then, with a swift, decisive movement, she shoves it into Xavier’s bleeding mouth. His scream is choked off, morphing into a guttural gurgle.
She doesn’t stop until he swallows it, and I watch in fascination as he struggles, his eyes popping out of his head as he tries to gulp it down or spit it out. He starts gagging, his face turning blue before my very eyes.
“That’s for every lie you ever told,” she whispers, her voice barely audible above his strangled cries. Luella shoves her fingers into his mouth, forcing the tongue down his throat.
Fucking hell. This woman is something else.
My breath catches in my throat, a mixture of admiration and awe swirling within me. I can’t believe how far Luella has gone, but at this moment, I understand. She is channeling the pain of losing her sister, of every woman he’s ever brutalized, and it’s beautiful.
Xavier’s eyes roll frantically in their sockets, terror gripping his features as he struggles, desperate for even the slightest breath. I can see his world collapsing around him, the realization hitting him that the power he’s wielded for years is crumbling into nothing. His skin turns blue from lack of oxygen, and my heart beats frantically in my chest.
It’s happening. He’s dying.
His eyes meet mine, a final plea of desperation that sends a shudder of satisfaction through my veins. No words can escape his lips, only a cacophony of choked gasps that echo through the dingy room.
But Luella is relentless. She lingers over him, a dark goddess in this horrifying sanctuary, her presence commanding and consuming. “You see, Xavier,” she taunts softly, “the beauty in your demise is that it’s not just the end—it’s a reckoning. Every life you took, and you relished in their suffering, has led to this very moment. Welcome to justice.”
He panics, but it’s futile. I can almost taste the victory on my tongue, the sweet satisfaction of witnessing a monster meeting his end. I glance at Luella as she leans closer.
“Tell me,” she whispers, “was it worth it? All those lives shattered for your pleasure? An empire built on the ruins of innocence?”
Each question cuts deeper, and I’m reminded of just how far we’ve come. To her, this isn’t just revenge; it’s a retribution, an act of claiming back the darkness he’s spread. I can barely breathe as she tilts her head, waiting for an answer she’ll never receive, her eyes glimmering with rage and triumph.
With a final, desperate gasp, Xavier tries one last time to protest, but his voice is barely a whisper now. Panic surges in his eyes, scattering any hint of defiance he once held, dissolving into the inevitable truth: this is the end.
I watch as he stills, his body limp beneath Luella’s unforgiving grip. The room is silent save for the soft drip of blood pooling on the floor. As his body goes limp, something cold inside me finally thaws. I’ve cut the last thread to the man who twisted my life, who tried to make me in his image. I look down at the blood pooling around him and know it’s not just his—it’s the blood of every woman, every life he crushed.
Luella lifts her blood-stained hands, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her breaths heavy but steadying as the adrenaline begins to fade. She looks down at Xavier’s lifeless form, her expression unreadable for a heartbeat before a slow smile creeps across her lips. In that moment, she transforms; the terrorized victim I’d known has disappeared, replaced by a fierce warrior, triumphant in her conquest.
“You’re free now,” she murmurs, almost reverently, as if speaking to the specters of the women he’d tormented, the lives he’d extinguished. She turns to me, her chest still heaving with the remnants of her fight. “You’re free, too.”
I watch the last flicker of life leave his eyes and with it, the hold he had on us. I’ve lived in his shadow for years, but with the darkness finally fading, I realize this isn’t an ending. It’s our beginning.