25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
Charon
Nyx launches from the window, talons aimed for Jonas's other eye, but he sidesteps at the last minute.
“Not this time, birdie.”
She sails through the open door into the hallway, which he quickly closes, locking her out.
I lunge while his back is turned, slamming into his shoulder. The gun fires once, but the bullet goes wide, shattering the window as we crash into the wall. Hector shouts when Jonas’s elbow connects with my nose, hard enough to daze me.
He’s stronger than he looks, fingers clawing at my face as I try to wrestle the gun from his grip. We stumble over a chair, and I use the weight of it to throw him off-balance, sending us both to the floor in a tangle of limbs and snarling teeth.
A headbutt sends blood spurting from my already aching nose, but I manage to knock the pistol loose. It skids across the room, where Hector dives for it.
“I don't think so,” Jonas grunts, driving a knee into my chest before launching himself toward Hector instead.
No .
I grab his ankle, wrenching it backward with all the strength I have left. There’s a sickening pop as he crashes down, screaming, but not before he wraps his arms around Hector's thighs and pulls him to the ground, too.
My heart drops completely when he rolls over onto his back, gun in hand, the barrel shoved against Hector's temple with an arm binding his chest.
Time slows. The room tilts under my feet, silent except for the rasp of Jonas’s breath and my blood roaring in my ears.
Hector doesn’t scream. He just looks up at me with wide, terrified eyes, and that fear makes me see red.
“On your knees, freak,” Jonas grins through blood-streaked teeth, “or I'll paint this floor with his brains.”
My vision swims from the blow to my head as I whisper the words, “You don’t want to do this.”
He sneers, moving the gun to Hector’s jaw. “Wrong. I’ve wanted to do this since the fucking boat.”
The barrel presses so hard into Hector’s skin that it leaves a mark. One wrong move from me, and Jonas pulls the trigger, ending everything I fought for tonight in a spray of blood I’ll never scrub from my soul .
So I kneel slowly, lifting my hands into the air as my lungs struggle to work.
“Good choice.” Jonas laughs harshly against Hector’s neck. “Would’ve been a shame to mess up this pretty face.”
Hector's chest heaves under Jonas’s arm, but he keeps his gaze on mine.
“Please,” I whisper, the shape of the word burning my throat like acid.
Jonas only tightens his grip as he gets to his knees, shoving Hector to the ground face-first. “Here's what's gonna happen. I'm going to fuck your rotter so hard he passes out, and you're gonna sit there and watch. Then we'll see who's still alive out in the pit for a turn, how about that?”
“Don’t!” Hector shouts, struggling to get free, but Jonas presses the gun to the back of his head.
I shift up in fear, just a fraction, but Jonas clocks it.
“I said sit the fuck down !” he growls, dragging Hector upright like a human shield.
My body trembles with the effort it takes to hold back.
I could end this. I could leap over, tackle him, rip him apart, but if I’m too slow… if I’m off by a second—
“Why are you doing this?” Hector asks, fingers fighting to pry Jonas's arm from his chest. “You already lost. Lena is dead. What's even the point?”
“Dead?” Jonas laughs sharply, empty socket pulsing with fury. “You think this ends just because she’s gone? Oh, no, sweetheart. She might have thought she was in charge, but I was always calling the shots. I’m the Judge now. ”
Hector snarls angrily. “Then do it . Pull the trigger and kill us both, you fucking coward.”
My breath catches in my throat.
“Not before I've had my fun.” He shoves Hector down again, moving the gun away from his face as both hands yank down Hector’s pants, and my body snaps into motion before I can blink.
My shoulder slams into his ribs with a crunch , knocking him to the ground. Hector shouts, scrambling backward as I pin Jonas beneath me and slam his hand down until the pistol skitters away.
He swings blindly, teeth bared, but I catch his wrist in midair and twist sharply, snapping it under my grip.
“I’ll fucking kill you, freak!” Jonas snarls, but I drive my fist into his face once, twice, six times, bashing his forehead in.
Freak . How many times has he spat that word at me over the years? How many times has he treated me like a fucking animal?!
Grabbing his cheeks, I shove my fingers into his mouth and wrap them around his bottom teeth. He starts to buck beneath me, thrashing in fury, but I’ve got him pinned. Using all of my strength, I yank down, pulling and pulling until skin starts to tear.
Jonas lets out a bloody scream when his jawbone snaps, coming clean off in my hand. Just as I go to force it down his throat, Hector’s touch on my bicep stops me cold.
“Wait.”
I freeze, panting, blood dripping from my knuckles. Jonas gurgles beneath me, his mutilated face no longer human.
“Charon.” Hector's voice is soft in my ear. “Don't kill him. Not yet. ”
My gaze stays on the man beneath me, the monster who almost took everything from me. Who hurt him. Hurt what's mine .
But Hector’s hand stays firm on my arm, his lips caressing my neck. So I unclench my fist slowly, letting the jawbone drop to the floor.
“Good. That's good. Now look at me.”
My eyes swing to him, to the gun in his hand now aimed at the wheezing creature beneath me. Fire burns in his eyes as he stares back, but it’s not anger. It’s something deeper, something raw . His hand finds my cheek as he closes the distance between us and crushes his mouth to mine.
The kiss is warm, insistent, and I meet him with everything I have—all the fear, the ache, the need. I grip his waist, pulling him closer, gasping against his lips when he sucks my bottom one between his teeth.
A soft, desperate noise escapes him, one that'll haunt me forever as he delves his fingers into my hair, tugging hard.
“I want to belong to you,” he says, pulling back to inhale deeply before reaching for my zipper, gun still trained on Jonas. “Please. Show him who I belong to.”