Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
I gasp for air and choke on my breath. Malik’s arm wraps around my waist, pulling me closer to the shield of his body.
“Shway, shway,” he whispers against my hair. “You must be strong now.”
I grit my teeth. Strong? How can I be strong when the man I love, the only man I’ve ever loved, is about to die? Tears prick my eyes and roll down my cheeks.
“Please,” I sob, “you have to help him.”
He shakes his head and his chin rustles my matted hair. “I can’t.” There’s a quiver of sorrow in his quiet voice. “Grayson asked me to protect you above all else. His life means nothing without you, ya helwa.”
Tears fall from my eyes, blurring Gray’s form. Nico’s knife is at his throat, red beads forming beneath the metal.
Nico’s voice booms through the room, rough and angry.
“Did you think that you could come into my home and take what belongs to me?” His fist collides with Gray’s stomach, jolting a ragged cough from his mouth.
“That mousy bitch is mine now and I will fucking have her!” He lifts his upper lip, baring his teeth in a sneer.
“Maybe I’ll fuck her in front of you while you die on my floor. ”
No, no, no! My own voice screams inside my head. This isn’t right. This isn’t how it ends!
I clench my fists at my sides. The Christmas tree topper digs into my palm, but I don’t loosen my hold. Instead, I let the bite of the metal ground me. It reminds me that I’m real. That this is real. And that I’m strong. I’m so fucking strong.
My body begins to move before I tell it to. My arms wriggle and my feet lurch forward. Malik’s arm tightens around my waist, halting my movement.
“No, habibti,” he murmurs.
I whirl around in his arms, forcing him to face me. The growl of a feral animal spews from my mouth. My arm juts out, jabbing the ornament toward his neck.
“Let me go,” I snarl, “or I’ll kill you just like I killed those men in the basement.”
Malik looks down at me, a knowing look shining in his eyes. He releases me with a chuckle and flashes me a toothy grin. “Yes, tiny killer, I believe you would.”
Pivoting on my heels, I face the mayhem in the room.
The previously luxurious looking furniture is toppled, broken, and caked with blood and soot.
The tall windows are smeared with red, allowing only small slivers of moonlight to peek through.
An enormous wooden beam lays against the floor, the mass of it blocking me from getting to Gray directly.
My bare feet pad against the dirty floor. Pain spikes in my heel, but I refuse to look down. Skirting around the beam, I move toward the nearest wall. Nico’s angry voice rumbles through the room, but the words are meaningless when they reach my ears. They don’t matter. He doesn’t matter.
I squeeze the small weapon in my palm and slide my back along the wall, steadily inching closer to them. I keep my eyes forward, my gaze entirely focused on the man on the floor. A pained groan bubbles out of Gray’s mouth and my lungs seize. It’s now or never.
If I don’t move now, he’ll die. And I can’t let him die.
My mind reels, visions of my life before him flooding through me.
It was quiet and comfortable. I lived through the books I read.
Within them, I found love, I fought battles, I saved lives and rode dragons.
But it wasn’t real. None of it was real.
Yes, I lived within those pages, but I never really lived.
Not until Gray found me. My life was safe and I fucking hated it.
I lunge forward. Blood splashes against my ankles as my feet slap against the floor. Debris lodges between my toes, cutting into my skin, but I don’t stop. Hot liquid drips from my palm as the ragged metal digs into me, but I do not stop.
You are stronger than this, someone whispers in my mind. The voice doesn’t belong to my father and it doesn’t belong to Gray. It’s mine. No one can hurt you anymore. You are stronger than them.
My heart slams in my chest and I scream out a war cry.
Nico’s head turns toward me, the knife in his hand lifting from Gray’s neck.
Shoving my toes into the floor, I launch myself at Nico’s back.
I wrap my arm around his shoulder to anchor myself to him.
He howls and thrashes beneath me, trying to buck me off.
Pain bites into my arm as his fingernails drag across my skin.
I wrap my legs around his waist and lift the Christmas tree topper above my head.
Gray looks up at me, his eyes sparkling with pride.
His mouth lifts into a wide smile that makes his eyes crinkle.
He dips his chin in a subtle nod and I slam the ornament into Nico’s neck.
Yanking it back, I jump from his back, barely avoiding being covered by the blood that spurts from his wound.
He gasps a yelp as his knees give out, sending him crashing to the floor.
Nico writhes against the floor, using his hands to grip his throat to stop the bleeding.
Gray jumps up, his hands wrapping around Nico’s and pulling them away from the wound.
I stand over Nico’s twitching body, watching a pool of red form beneath him.
“You will never own me,” I spit. “My life is mine and no man will ever control me again.” My eyes flick to Gray. “Not unless I decide to let him.”
We watch in silence as the spurting of Nico’s wound becomes a slow trickle and then stops altogether.
“It’s over,” I breathe, finally letting the metal star fall from my fingers.
“Not quite, little bird,” Gray grumbles as the sound of clattering wood and metal rings out around us.
Movement drags my eyes toward the room’s entrance. Chunks of wood that used to be furniture topple over, revealing a very angry Italian woman in a white pants suit lumbering toward us. Bianca’s eyes hone in on the bleeding corpse of her son, and she lets out a horrific scream. “Nico!”
She rushes toward him, the hem of her white suit pants collecting blood and soot as it drags against the floor.
Gray shoves my body behind his as she nears.
I stare at the wall of his back and listen to the choked sobs that tear out of Bianca’s chest. Gray steps toward her and I follow on his heels.
At the thunk of his boots on the marble, Bianca whips her head toward him and points her gun at his head.
In a movement faster than my eyes can track, Gray’s foot collides with the woman’s chest. The gun clatters against the floor as she falls back into the rubble.
His fist wraps around the collar of her designer jacket, hauling her to her feet.
She spits and curses, her fists smacking against his chest, but he doesn’t move.
“You made a very big mistake, Bianca,” he seethes. “You took something that doesn’t belong to you.”
She kicks her leg out, jabbing her heel into Gray’s knee. He winces, but doesn’t loosen his hold on her.
“You killed my son!” she screeches.
A laugh bursts from his mouth. “I didn’t kill your son.” He cocks his head in my direction. “She did.”
Bianca’s eyes rocket toward me and for the first time, I don’t shrink back at the anger in her gaze.
I killed three men today and I’m not sorry about it.
Just like if I were reading a novel, I fell into a role.
Her son was a rabid dog and I was the skilled veterinarian that put him down.
A giggle climbs up my throat. That sounds like the beginnings of a meet-cute story waiting to happen.
“Close your eyes, Ava.” Gray’s voice pops the bubble of my thoughts.
The confident woman that lives inside of my chest lets out an angry huff. Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. “I can handle this,” I growl. “I won’t be meek anymore.”
He nods, understanding flashing in his eyes. “I know, precious,” he sighs, “but right now, I need you to close your eyes.”
Though my fingers tense against my arms, my eyes slip closed.
Bianca’s pained wail blasts my eardrums and I stumble back from the sound.
The audio track for a horror movie I never want to see plays in my ears.
Bones crack. Pained moans and shrill cries echo around me.
Drops of liquid patter against the floor.
The wet squelching of something I can’t even attempt to name fills the room.
Arms wrap around me and I yelp.
“You’re safe now, little bird.”