Chapter 55 – Jace
JACE
Silence follows and I prepare myself, waiting for the sound of his footsteps to draw closer. Only…none come.
Seconds turn into minutes, and I draw an unsteady breath into my lungs. I try to ignore the hints of iron heavy in the air, from where my skin has broken, that do nothing to help push down the rising panic the longer this silence continues.
I hold my breath, closing my eyes, despite not being able to see anything, and try to focus on what I can hear. In the distance, I can hear Bonnie’s soft sniffles and laboured breaths until they cut off completely.
We’re both listening, waiting, trying to hear what he’s up to but I can’t hear a single thing to tell me where he is.
There’s no footsteps, no breathing, nothing. After his threat, I expected him to storm straight over and start laying into me with his fists, inflicting as much pain as possible until I break.
What I didn’t expect was absolutely nothing. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t moved an inch.
It’s disorientating to say the least.
Suddenly, the air by my ear shifts and my head snaps in that direction, my nose brushing against warm skin and I jerk away.
A startled sound scapes from my locked jaw before I can stop it as a sharp prick plunges into the skin of my neck and I feel a slight pressure of something being depressed into my system. Instantly my head feels woozy, my limps growing heavy and my ears start to ring.
The sharp bite of the metal that’s bound around my wrists and ankles disappear, and it takes every ounce of concentration to force my body to move, to roll over.
Something I regret when my body falls to the floor, smashing against the rough concrete. I try to shake it off, to pull myself up, but my movements feel exaggerated. Too slow.
“Come on.” The words are muffled, held behind glass and distorted. A hand wraps around my bicep, leaving fire in its wake as I’m pulled to my feet. Feet which seem completely incapable of holding my weight.
What…What’s happening to me?
Somebody growls out in frustration, but I can’t tell if it’s coming from me or him. Him?
My head pounds as I try to think through the fog. I physically shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts and focus, but it’s getting harder and harder to grasp onto anything.
The ground disappears, my feet being ripped out from under me, a strong arm bracing behind my knees and I sink into the touch, my head resting against their chest.
“Charlie?” This…this is nice. At least it is until his arms disappear and I’m plummeting down, my head hitting the cold hard concrete. “Why?” I cough out, a warm liquid dribbling down from my forehead into my eye.
“Jace?” The whispered name cuts through the air and the fog in my mind, sounding like it’s right next to my ear, yet so far away. My hand reaches out across the ground, seeking them out, but there’s no one there.
Hands grip my calves, flipping me from my stomach onto my back.
I let out a soft grunt at the impact, wincing as my ribs protest. Hands roam from my bare legs down to my ankles, before their grip tightens and I’m being dragged closer.
A whimper escapes my throat as the rough texture of the ground scratches and scrapes the skin of my back.
“Charlie?” My head lulls to the side as his warm body looms above me, his chest lowering until I can feel his shirt against my naked chest.
The contact ignites a fire in me, and I ache to run my hands through his hair, to pull him closer so I can seal our lips together, but they refuse to move.
“Jace, please.” I frown. There’s that voice again, filled with so much sadness it pulls at my heart in a way I don’t understand.
Charlie’s hand runs down my side, gripping under my knee and raising my leg until my thigh is pressed against my chest. I wince at the painful stretch in my muscles, but the pain quickly morphs into pleasure, my cock twitching and I moan.
“Stop it! Leave him alone!” She screams out. “Fight him, Jace. Fight him.”
Fight? Why would I fight Charlie? Does she not want us all to be together? “Charlie?”
“Yes, it’s me,” he whispers, his lips pressing against my neck and a shiver works its way up my spine as he bites down.
“It’s not him, Jace.” Her voice breaks. “It’s not Charlie.” What does she mean it’s not Charlie?