Chapter 36 – IVY
Chapter
Thirty-Six
IVY
The guard strikes Venom again. “Stop! Please! You’re hurting him!” I yell, my voice cracking.
“That’s the fucking point you ungrateful, disloyal bitch!” Nikolai spits.
Venom lifts his head, meeting my tear-stricken eyes.
Another whip lashes his back as he grits his teeth and flinches. “It’s alright, beastie,” he grits out. “Just saying hello to an old friend.”
I shake my head through the tears and try to breathe through my constricting lungs.
I can’t bear to see any more. Are they going to whip him to death?
More lashes land across Venom’s back as he falls forward onto his hands. Sprays of blood scatter through the air along with the whip when it’s pulled back.
Each lash strikes my own heart, the harsh cracking sound echoing inside my skull. My hands curl into fists as my eyes blur with tears. But I can’t look away. I won’t.
I feel utterly helpless as my screams lodge in my throat and my pleas fall to whispers.
His tormented eyes look at me once more before he hangs his head. Blood seeps from his body onto the marble floor and my stomach twists. Something inside me shatters.
Desperate, I yell, “Stop this, Nik! I’m begging you! I’ll do whatever you want! I’ll never leave you again! Just please stop!”
My pleas are ignored as Nikolai continues watching with a smug smile.
I can't let this happen. He’s only here because of me.
It was supposed to be me!
Tears stream down my face as I watch Venom, beaten down, whip by whip, edging closer to something I’m not sure he could come back from.
Again, Venom looks at me. Sadness carved into his beautiful face as he takes in all my tears for him. “Don’t go soft on me now, sweet beast. Show me your teeth,” he says with a bloody grin.
He’s right.
I’m not soft.
I’m not weak.
I’m his beast.
I sink my teeth into the guard’s arm, tasting the metallic tang of blood, and break free when he pulls his arm away. I run towards Venom, throwing myself over him as the whip comes down, slashing across my back.
“Ivy! No!” Venom growls.
“I won’t let them hurt you anymore!” I cry out as my already damaged back feels the sharp bite of the whip. But I’ll take it. I’ll gladly take them all for him.
Before another strike can come down, Venom uses what strength he has left and twists his body enough to grab me and pull me under him, shielding me.
“I’m supposed to be the hero here, darlin’,” he whispers into my ear before his body jerks from the force of the whip. “Let me be the hero, Ivy.”
“Sacrificing yourself isn’t being the hero!” I say through a sob.
“It’s not a sacrifice. It’s a distraction.”
“What?”
“Grab her!” Nikolai shouts.
Strong hands latch on to me and pull me away from Venom. He tries to hold on but the blood now coating us both makes his grip slip. “No! Venom!”
I kick and scream, trying to get back to him, but several loud noises disrupt the whole house.
Another boom blasts open the entrance to the room and what I see step through a cloud of smoke has my eyes going wide.