Chapter Eighteen #2
He’d probably give his life for her.
She’s fine.
He’s just trying to get into my head.
But what if—
No.
Ignore him.
I wouldn’t let his mind games break me.
Not now.
Not when I was so close.
Rising higher on my knees, I snarled, “I am going to kill you, Vic. You have my fucking word.”
His navy eyes flashed with the tiniest bit of fear before he covered it up with thick arrogance. “You’ve given it a good try, I will admit. But—”
“The castle has fallen,” I hissed over him. “The guards have all switched sides. Your guests are dead.”
Victor glanced at the four sniper guards currently keeping me on my knees. He swallowed hard.
And suddenly, I knew just how to play this.
Victor ruled with threats and pain.
He collared and shocked, abused and raped.
Yet his entire operation, his very safety relied on the men he armed with guns. Men who’d chafed at his law that they could never leave. Men he believed he could collar with jewels and fortune instead of realising that all of us—no matter how vile—all needed someone.
A friend. A lover. A goddamn pet.
Rape wasn’t enough.
Fear wasn’t enough.
Humans needed love, and this island only held hate.
My tired heart kicked with power; I looked at his guards instead. “If it’s true that his cameras are still working, take a look for yourself. See what’s truly happened out there.”
The two guards holding the guns to my temples gave each other a look.
“I was down there. I’ve seen firsthand who’s fighting on our side.” I swallowed and spoke louder, full of truth. “The guards fought on Victor’s side to begin with. They obeyed like you have. They’ve obeyed for years, just like you—”
“Enough,” Victor snarled. “Gag him.”
“But that obedience ended tonight. The remaining guards spied an opportunity. They saw a way out. And they—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Victor punched me in the jaw.
My head swung with his strike, but the pain only added to all the rest.
That welling of strength returned.
That manic ability to ignore the fact that I was dying all in order to protect.
Ily...you better still be alive, mon c?ur.
Tonguing the fresh blood from a split lip, I grinned at the guards. “They’re fighting with us.”
The muzzle of the guns inched away from my temples.
“They’ve swapped sides. They’re not his anymore.”
Indecision filled the four men. Two brown-haired, one dark-skinned, one bald, and for a second, I no longer existed for them.
Victor no longer existed.
They looked at each other with sudden hope in their eyes.
“They’re going home,” I hissed, tasting their hesitation. “The question is—”
Victor kicked me right in the gut.
I doubled over, landing on my side. I twitched involuntarily as my organs tried to decide if they’d had enough of this abuse and if this one little kick would finally kill me. “The question is—” I coughed up a mouthful of blood “—are you going home...with them?”
Snatching a gun out of the guard’s hand, Victor aimed at me. “Fuck it. I’ve had enough of you.”
His finger squeezed the trigger.
The ear-shredding crack as he fired—
The guard he’d stolen the weapon off barrelled into Victor and shoved his arm wide.
The bullet slammed into the wall.
For a moment, no one moved.
The guards all froze, shocked that one of them had laid a hand on their employer.
And then...
They moved as one unit.
Well-trained.
Well-disciplined.
They pounced on Victor and pinned him to the ground.
He cried out in agony.
He cursed and spat, turning unhinged with rage.
One of the guards stepped toward me.
I braced myself—
He reached down and helped me stand.
My knees threatened to collapse. The wall offered a much-needed resting stop. I tried to look more composed than I was, but I had nothing left. I was grateful I wasn’t passed out on the goddamn floor.
Blinking back grey spots, I wiped the blood off my lips with the back of my hand and nodded. “Good choice.”
“If you’re lying to us, we’ll kill you ourselves,” the bald guard muttered.
“You fucking ingrates!” Victor bellowed. “How dare you do this! How fucking dare you—”
The dark-skinned guard clamped a hand over Victor’s mouth, silencing his foul language.
“I’m not lying.” I hid my flush. I hope.
Just like I didn’t believe Victor that he’d seen Ily die, I didn’t know for sure if the guards had revolted and joined our side. Enough had. Enough had armed us and helped. But they still outnumbered us. Still could’ve wrangled back control.
All I had was hope.
And it was such a flimsy, fragile weapon.
“Come on.” The guard who’d helped me stand took my elbow and nudged me toward the door. “We’ll go assess the mess out there. Then we’ll know who’s made the right choice or not.”
Staggering where he pushed me, I tried to fight his hold. “Wait. What about him?” I looked at Victor squirming like a demon on the carpet, pinned down by three guards.
“We’ll keep him here until—”
“No.” I shook my head. “He comes with us. I don’t want him out of my sight.”
“He’s not going anywhere. We’ll make sure of it.”
“I’m not willing to risk it.” I balled my hands and shoved the guard off me. “I’ve underestimated him too much. I’m not doing it again.”
“You don’t have a choice. We’re in charge now. You’ll do as we say.”
“No. You’ll do as he says if he dangles enough temptation in front of you.” Crossing my arms, holding onto the bleeding hole in my side, I sniffed. “Before he tries to bribe you back onto his side, I’ll give you each five hundred thousand euros if you give me a knife and some rope.”
“A knife?” The brown-haired older one scowled. “What for?”
“To make sure he won’t run again.”
“If you tie him up, he won’t.”
I gathered every shred of energy I had left. “One million euros for a knife and some rope. Do we have a deal or not?”
The men looked at one another.
Victor thrashed and mumbled beneath his imprisonment.
Finally, the bald one nodded.
Without a word, he reached behind his back and yanked free a wickedly sharp blade from its leather sheath. Passing it to me, he marched toward the bullet-shredded curtains and tore off the tiebacks. Bringing them to me, he smirked. “Imagine this is rope.”
“Fine.”
With shaking hands, I accepted both and stepped toward Victor.
The adrenaline and stress that’d granted me such power ebbed and waned.
The strength brought on by the sheer need to stay alive in order to protect the one girl I loved more than myself slowly faded now the end was near.
Not yet.
Please, not yet.
I could collapse the moment I was back with Ily.
The second I knew she and Peter were okay. That we’d won. That the jewels were safe...then I could pass out for weeks.
Sucking in a breath, cursing the unsufferable pain bleeding back into existence, I stood over Victor and commanded, “Put him on his belly.”
Victor’s eyes glowed with fury, his mouth hushed by a guard’s hand.
My lacerated back flushed with agony, already feeling the punishment he’d give me if I didn’t see this through.
He might be a monster but...so was I.
I’d become human thanks to Ily, but there would always be a part of me that was sick and twisted and just as vile as him.
That darkness inside me swirled and slobbered to get free.
I needed to let that beast loose.
I needed to hurt him.
Badly.
If only I was alone, I would take my time. I would extract retribution. I would do things I would never be able to undo.
That would have to wait.
For now, I merely did what was necessary.
I wished I could say that I hesitated.
That I was a better man than this.
But the truth was...
I was a Mercer.
And as the guards flipped him onto his stomach and held his kicking form down. As I kneeled on the back of his legs and shoved off his expensive shoes. As I rolled off his diamond-chequered socks and pressed the knife against his Achilles tendon...all I felt was satisfaction, perversion, ecstasy.
Victor screamed as I cut.
He sobbed as I hobbled him.
Left leg. Then right.
And as his tendons snapped and I took away his ability to run, I knotted his hands behind his back and wiped the red-dripping knife on my war-filthy jeans.
“Bring him with us,” I ordered, my vision fading in and out. “I promised his death to another. Let’s take him to the jewels.”