Chapter 8
Dominik
Abyss.
I was low in a fucking abyss until she took me out of it, just to put me back in there, and then rescued me again.
Or maybe I kidnapped her. Semantics. Rian was doing a hell of a job taking care of her.
I followed the fucker to the bar, and when Love went outside I felt tempted to just steal her.
I just didn’t immediately, since I need to change my mindset if I want Love to love me. No damned pun intended.
I look back at my room cursing under my breath, Damian will pay for robbing me of precious time with Love. I walk to the door trying to look careless until I open it and see him.
“What the hell is he doing here, Ian?” I question Damian not sure I’m ok with nicknaming the prick after he brings no one other than Rian Denfell, the remaining parasite in our lives.
“Hello to you too, Dominik-”
And I’m thrown against the wall with a punch and fall on the living room’s table, that’s mahogany the bastard will pay for the blood spot on it.
“Happy to see you too, Rian, or should I say Ry?” I ask with the best smirk I can manage on my face. I get up and Rian gets ready to punch me again, but I won’t let him. I deserved the first. I hurt Love, needless to say I should’ve suffered worse than she did. Ok maybe I deserve a second punch.
“Go ahead,” I say opening my arms ready to take a second hit.
Rian is the violence-driven type. To be honest, been there, done that, didn’t help.
I wait for another punch, Rian’s silver eyes are trying to kill me with a stare, “Come on, I know I’m charming, but even you?
” I say and another punch comes but I grab his fist and twist his arm before he can do anything else.
“Bastard,” Rian screams and I’m sure Love will be out soon, and see the monster I am. She’ll run. I’ll pursue her. She’ll hide. I’ll seek. She’ll beg. I’ll take her.
“Come on it isn’t even sprained, I know how important hands and wrists are to doctors-”
“Rian don’t,” Love screams putting herself between me and Rian I instinctively and not trusting Rian to contain his anger pull her behind me.
She’s fully clothed, in my clothes. Fuck, I like that too much.
“What the hell did you do?” Love asks her eyes scared, I try to soothe her by caressing her but she shakes me off.
The blasphemy. “How did you get that?” she asks hovering her hand near my busted lip.
“Courtesy of Rian Denfell. But don’t worry, I deserved it,” I say knowing exactly what I just did and I hate myself for it.
I just made Rian look like a messed-up prick, don’t get me wrong he is.
However Love likes him, and I shouldn’t have manipulated the situation in my favour.
For some reason Love doesn’t mind having a tick always sucking her energy.
However, I mind, I don’t let people hurt the ones I love.
And I’m not happy Rian is sucking Love’s anything, even if metaphorically.
“Rian, what the hell are you doing here?” she asks and tries to get closer to him, I let her since there’s no wrath in his eyes now.
I analyse Love. She’s so contained around others.
She cares too much about what others think.
She moves carefully as if breathing too hard near him would make him collapse.
She feels the need to protect and save Rian, despite knowing he’s an absolute idiot.
That’s the worst, she doesn’t see it! To her, Rian is perfection, he is her best friend.
A sucky one. He’s only around either to hit on her or drain her.
I even suspect the creep tied Love to him with the premise of being drug-free for her. And only, because of her.
“I was afraid you were kidnapped. And seems like I was right,” he says trying to drag her away from me.
“No kidnapping involved. If you were properly keeping an eye on her, you’d know where she was.
Did you see the vile way some junkie was looking at her?
I needed to get her to safety,” I want to go back and pop the guy's eyes out of the socket but I already handled the situation. Karl is taking care of him for me. And as much as I’d enjoy seeing him suffer until he slowly dies and starts to rot, I’d much rather be with Love.
“Near you isn’t safe-”
“I protest. Near me is the safest, I won’t take her to sketchy places and leave her alone to snort some-”
“Enough, you two,” Love screams with her palm in Rian’s chest to stop him from doing something stupid. Well, stupider.
Yet I feel like making the stupidest decision here and breaking his neck. Seems like I’ll have to chill if I want to keep Love and not start some kind of revolution against myself. Who am I kidding? Let’s start the revolution.
I take a step but am stopped by darkness. It envelops me and takes my ability to move, think or breathe on my own. I see everyone in slow motion. Love’s hand on Rian’s chest in the only colour I see, deep, dark, tempting shades of red.
Kill him.
Don’t. Don’t move.
Breathe. In. Hold. Out.
Keep the demon chained.
“You ok, Nik?” Damian asks touching my arm and I’m taken back to the present.
“Perfect, never been better,” I tell him, his ice blue eyes remind me instantly of Love. I look at where she and Rian were standing. She’s gone. “Where is she?” I ask my fist closing and ready to break my way to her.
“She’s home. Josh was worried-”
He says and I go to my room shutting the door in Damian’s face. “Are you really, ok?” Ian keeps asking knocking on the door and I scream “Fuck off,” before opening the bathroom door and putting myself under steaming shower water.
My mind takes me many places, to my childhood where I learnt you can trust no one but yourself.
My brother is the exception to the rule.
During my teenage years, nothing excited me, only getting drunk and high, unfortunately I didn’t have an angel to rescue me like Rian did.
I was rescued by the devil and his sidekick, Stephanie and Spencer.
They made up my already viciously destructive mind on war.
On overpowering all enemies. When our only real enemies were Denfell’s and Kane’s.
I thought I was the one in control, I thought I was over the water but I’m drowning in the pool of the blood I reaped. I’m breathing the blood in and asphyxiating on death. And I know the reaper came to reap me. The reaper will be reaped because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving Love.
I grab the reaper’s shirt and smash him against the mirror until it turns too real. Too vivid. I blink several times while breathing in deeply and close my eyes for some seconds. When I open them, I see Damian against the mirror. My hand wrapped against his shirt. It’s not the reaper.
It’s not my time.
“Sorry, man,” I say letting go of him and grabbing a towel.
“Jesus, what took over you back there?” Damian asks following me, is he slightly suicidal?
I’ve seen the pattern that he either loves the adrenaline or doesn’t think he has much to lose with death.
He takes risks. But I’m not going to intrude.
Damian has been the only friend I have here, and I’m not ruining it by turning us into vent buddies.
“Darkness, man, I’m fine though. Now leave before I take a piece of that mirror and slit your throat,” I say in a language he recognises.
“You’re such a freak,” Damian adds before disappearing behind my now closed bedroom door.
I still don’t get it. Love left. She wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t mandatory and Josh being preoccupied was never it.
“What’s up?” I say picking up my phone as soon as it rings.
“Did you get my message?” James asks and I chuckle.
“Does it look like I did? I don’t have the habit of waiting religiously for your messages,” I say and James says something muffled.
“You should. It’s important,” he says and I think ‘What the hell did he get himself into this time?’
“I’m listening,” I say and can tell James is uncomfortable by his huge sigh and hard swallow. “Spit it out,” I scream impatiently. I have to check on a little Cherry that keeps running the fuck away from me.
“I might have someone locked up in our basement,” What. The. Hell. “Your alliance won’t work and we need to get in power”
“Abort the fucking mission,” I demand, James laughs. “The hell are you laughing about?”
“What am I supposed to do? Let him go? You know I can’t.
Stephanie misses you by the way,” more like misses being seen with me, and probably getting laid.
She’s always loved the attention. Nothing more than the attention.
It was mutual, though. Never liked her, never will.
Just tolerate her presence from a distance.
The farther the better. Don’t need opportunists by my side. A-fucking-men.
“Stephanie can go to hell. And so can you if you don’t let the guy go, before you do something stupid,” James’ breathing becomes erratic. “What did you do? And who the fuck is in our basement?” I ask him getting dressed and getting my car’s keys.
Josh pretends he doesn’t know I was a spy because he knows I’m his ally now.
He asked me to keep it between us. I screwed up, now Love knows.
Josh and I have a simple relationship, I help him, he pretends he doesn’t hate my guts from the beginning.
I know he considers me a friend now. Or more like someone he can rely on.
An ally would be the kindest word he’d use.
But nothing erases the fact that I was sent here to destroy his sister and family.
From the moment Love and I connected, Josh threatened me.
He clearly doesn’t know me, threats only make me want something more.
Not that I needed further incentive. I was hooked on Love from the moment I saw that she's this genuinely angelic presence. It’s different from anyone in our business and it surprised me to say the least. When I discovered she killed Max Denfell.
I knew she’d do anything for the ones she loves including killing. That’s my girl.