Chapter 59 #2
He handed off the leg to Nolan before removing the knife from his mouth and bringing it down on the skin below the tattoo.
The cut wasn’t clean. It never could be.
The sick sound of tearing flesh mixed with choked screams filled the air with a noise that would never leave me.
I couldn’t watch anymore, biting down on my fist as bile rose so fast up my throat, I nearly choked on it.
It felt like hours before the sounds stopped and a loud thump hit the desert floor.
Slowly, I turned back to see what was happening, finding the chunk of skin was now lying in a heap next to Alec’s bloody leg.
Red liquid oozed, spilling in a heavy river that turned the desert into a paste of mud and crimson.
Kaius wiped the blade across his light-washed jeans, red streaks staining pale threads like war paint.
I knew what was coming before Kaius even reached into the waistband of his pants and retrieved the black gun.
The dark metal winked dangerously at me in the moonlight as he stepped around Nolan and stood directly in front of Alec’s head.
My brother weakly lifted his skull from the dirt, eyes locking on Kaius with a defiance that I could practically hear him say, “If he is going to kill me, I am going to look him in the eyes as he does it.”
Kaius lifted the gun until the barrel was inches away from Alec’s forehead.
“My father once told me that it is not the birth of a person that defines who we are, but what they hold in their heart. The actions they take to ensure those they love are never harmed again. And I won’t let you hurt her or anyone else again. ”
The click of the safety releasing rang out through the night air. My breath caught in my throat, but I didn’t dare move an inch. Kaius cocked his head to the side, a dark grin coming across his face. “You shouldn’t have shown your hand so soon.”
The sound of the gunshot was sharp and unmistakable.
It cut through the air like a thunderclap, momentarily drawing out all the other sounds around me.
A reverberating echo lingered in the back of my ears, and I watched as Alec’s head fell into the dirt underneath him.
I spun away from the scene, eyes burning with tears as fear coursed through my veins.
Each inhale was a struggle as I fought against an invisible force gripping my lungs.
I slammed my eyes shut, trying my best to piece my thoughts together, but only one repeated itself like a metronome.
Kaius Mordred, the King of Lovelen, had killed my brother right in front of me.
And I swore on the ashes at my feet, on the blood seeping into the dirt, that if it was the last thing I ever did, I would paint his perfect town in his blood.
“Poor, sad little Spade.”
The voice slid out of the shadows like a snake coiling around me.
My stomach clenched as I turned, eyes narrowing on the figure at the kitchen table.
Logan sat in the farthest chair, posture lazy, one finger tapping a slow, mocking rhythm against the glass surface.
The overhead light didn’t touch him, his face cloaked in the kind of darkness I’d never been able to outrun.
But I didn’t need to see him. That voice had been burned into me years ago, stitched into every nightmare, every broken promise.
“What do you want?” My words were clipped.
I didn’t rise, didn’t give him the satisfaction of rattling me.
My fingers skimmed the back pocket of my shorts.
From where he sat, he couldn’t see my subtle movement as I withdrew the phone and hit call on the first name in my call log.
“You got what you wanted. I’ve got nothing left—no fight, no cards to play, not even a single family member living.
So whatever this game is, Logan, end it. Enough with your riddles.”
“Stop the pity party, Emersyn.” He spat the name like venom.
My gaze flicked down to his arms, rage bubbling hot under my skin at the sight of the tattoos inked into his flesh—all three club symbols.
A spade. A knight. And now, a serpent. He wore them like trophies, a collection of broken loyalties he never even earned.
Logan took what he wanted, and without even an initiation, he had decided he was now a member of all three clubs.
Which only meant one thing: he wanted the power of them all.
To rule them as one, and he would slaughter anyone who got in his way.
He followed my stare, grinning wide enough for the moonlight to catch on his teeth.
“Tell me what you want, doll. One wish. I’ll grant it. What’s your desire?”
The answer throbbed inside me, unspoken and dangerous.
There was only one man I wanted, one man whose forgiveness I would bleed for.
But Logan would never have that piece of me, not when he’d already carved out too much.
So I said the only thing that mattered, the only truth I could offer without giving him more of myself. “I want you to let Astoria Mordred go.”
Logan chuckled, low and cruel, shaking his head. “And why would I waste such a perfect bargaining chip? The Knights dance on her leash, and I’m the one holding it.”
“Use me instead.” The words were out before I could stop them.
My pulse jumped, but I forced myself to keep going, steady and certain.
“Take me. I’ll be your bargaining chip. You’ll have everything you want—the Knights on their knees, me at your mercy, and revenge wrapped in a perfect, pretty little bow. ”
Logan leaned forward, his shadow spilling longer across the table. “And what good are you now, Acelynn?”
He hissed my new name like it was poison, and I almost laughed. He thought it was tainted when Emersyn was the name that had damned me. Logan’s eyes narrowed. “You torched your leverage with the Knights. You’re worthless.”
“He’ll come for me.” My voice stayed flat, even as bile rose in my throat.
I knew they were listening to every word, and just the thought of him hearing this made my heart skip a beat.
“Kaius will come. And then you can kill him. Isn’t that the dream, Logan?
The Knights burned to ash and me ready to be your submissive pet. ”
He studied me, the silence long enough that my heartbeat sounded like gunfire in my ears. Finally, Logan slid a hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a burner phone. Tossing it across the table, he nodded once. “Prove it.”
I reached down, ending the call on my phone and sliding it under a broken lampshade.
My legs wobbled as I stood, but I forced them forward.
The burner felt like ice in my palm as I flipped it open and dialed the one person I knew would answer an unknown number in the hopes that Astoria would be on the other end.
My shaky hands lifted the phone to my ear, and I listened as it rang, once, twice, and then a familiar voice called out to me over the line, “Hello?”
I swallowed hard, forcing my tone to steady. “Nolan. Meet me at the border of Lovelen where the old, abandoned barn sits. I…I think I know where Astoria is.”