Chapter 41 #2
“Forgive you?” Gideon asks. Smiling, leaning closer. “How sad, the fight looks almost gone from you. You were so chatty earlier.”
“F-f-” I try again.
“I will not. I have told you what is to—" He begins to smile.
“—Fuck y-you.” He pauses. Eyes alighting. Before I know it
the first punch lands hard across my jaw. Next the ribs. I take them both, silent, refusing to give him a sound. The chain rattles with each hit, scraping deeper into my skin.
I lift my head slowly, locking eyes with him through the blood dripping down my chin.
“C-cold.” I grind out. This seems to piss him off more.
“H-hey, G-gideon.” I say teeth chattering. “B-bet my dicks still bigger.” I say with laugh, half mad from pain that radiates through me. Each wave of water has me spluttering and grinding my teeth hard enough to chip them, pushing my mind to the brink.
A sound cuts through the silence. Dogs barking. A hunting call. Not random. Trained.
My dogs.
Artemis. Klause.
The corner of my mouth curves.
“Y-you think I wouldn’t protect my wife with everything I could?”
Gideon scoffs.
“You? You’re just a boy. Na?ve enough to think you could ever take her from me.”
I hum under my breath, tilting my head, tasting blood. “I-I m-might be a boy compared to you.” My bloody grin spreads slow and feral.
“B-but my wife? She’s the very air I breathe.”
His jaw flexes.
“S-sounds like you should h-have dumped a-all our belongings.”
Confusion flickers in his eyes, just for a heartbeat.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” I continue, voice dipping dark. “My wife.”
The barking grows louder now. Closer.
“How many trackers d-do you think were on Seraphina?” I ask, a low laugh slipping out. “One? T-two?”
Realization dawns—rage twisting his face.
“I was expecting you,” I whisper. “Every piece of her jewelry has a tracker.”
My smile widens. “I m-might be a boy, but I’m a rich one. You just l-led a war right to your door.”
The moment the words leave my mouth, the dogs barks explode right outside the walls. Boots pound the ground. Shouts echo in the distance.
For the first time—Gideon looks afraid.
I chuckle, low and raw, blood dripping from my face.
“I hope your c-cults got h-health insur-rance,” I say, baring my teeth in a grin that’s more promise than threat.
“I-I g-guess your time’s up, bitch.”
“Get my wives out. Now.” His voice cuts through the room like a blade, calm but deadly.
A static-laced crackle comes from a walkie-talkie at his belt.
“Breach…breach…breach—”
The voice screams, then a gunshot rips through the compound, cutting the transmission short.
Gideon freezes, eyes narrowing. His hands twitch, fingers flexing, muscles coiling like a predator ready to strike.
I shift just enough to grin through the blood and grime, chains rattling.
He lunges at me, fists swinging—but the confidence is edged with panic now. The cold, calculated calm I hated so much is fraying.
Outside, the barking rises—urgent, disciplined. They’re inside wherever this shithole is. I can hear claws on concrete, the shuffle of boots that aren’t his men.
Gideon’s glare snaps back to me.
“You’ll regret this!”
I meet his eyes, unflinching.
“S-she’s mine, a-and you can’t h-have her.”
I shift, testing the chain, pain flaring but manageable.
His laugh is sharp, brittle—more for himself than for me.
Pain sears white-hot as a blade sinks deep into my side. The sound that leaves me isn’t human—just air and agony tearing out of my lungs. Steel burns through flesh, fire spreading under my ribs. My chains are the only thing keeping me upright, the metal biting deep into my wrists as I sag forward.
Gideon’s grin gleams in the swinging light, serpentine and satisfied. “You talk too much.”
I force my head up, blood wet on my lips, the room tilting in and out of focus. My heartbeat roars in my ears, drowning out everything. I draw a broken breath as he plunges the blade in again, and again.
“Any. Last. Words.” He spits, breathless.
“Fass.” I say, as I spit a mouthful of phlegm and blood right into his face.
A low growl rolls through the corridor. Claws scrape concrete. My chest tightens. They’re here.
The word leaves me like a promise—like a spark—and then hell ignites.
Klause bursts through the smoke first, a blur of muscle and fury. He hits the nearest guard like a missile, jaws locking around his throat. Blood sprays the walls. Screams fill the air.
Artemis follows, silent, precise, her body low to the ground before she lunges—teeth flashing, bone crunching.
I drag a breath, copper coating my tongue.
“S-spur…Mommy. Go.”
They bolt, dark shapes vanishing through the doorway. Gunfire erupts. The smell of gunpowder and blood fills the room.
“Sir, I’ve located Mr. Baker. I need a medic now.”
Voices blur. I can’t keep my eyes open. They’re too heavy. My head lolls forward, the world dipping in and out of shadow.
Hands grab me, lowering me to the floor.
“Trey! Hey—Trey!”
“C-chace?” My voice sounds wrong, far away.
“Yeah, brother, I’m here.” His tone cracks, something frantic bleeding through. “The place is surrounded. My uncle’s men are sweeping the building.” He slaps my cheek. “Keep your eyes open, Trey. Come on—look at me!”
“She’ll be fine. Fuck, what did you do—getting stabbed at the last fucking second, you idiot!” A full body shiver racks me.
Why is it so goddamn cold?
“Ch—” I try to speak, but I choke instead, blood bubbling up and splattering across Chace’s face.
Oh, shit. This is bad. This is really bad.
His pupils are blown, skin drained of color. Panic twists his features.
“Medic!” he roars, voice cracking. “Stay awake, Trey. You hear me?”
“I don’t…” another cough tears through me. More blood. Thicker. “Want to die…Chace.” The words scrape out on a gasp.
“You’re not gonna fucking die, Trey.” His voice shakes, but he lies for me anyway, clutching me like he can hold the life in with his bare hands.
“Trey!” Her voice slices through the noise. Then her hands—warm, shaking—on my face. “Oh my God. Trey, I’m here. What—what happened?”
“Careful,” Chace warns. “He’s losing a lot of blood —”
The edge of my vision is fading. My lungs can’t seem to remember how to pull air in.
“B-baby…” I say weakly.
“Where’s the fucking medic!” Chace roars.
Boots thunder. More voices. Orders shouted.
My tongue feels thick. The air’s thin. Every heartbeat’s slower than the last. “S-sera…” I choke, blood flooding my mouth.
“I’m here, Trey. Please—please don’t leave me.” Her voice breaks.
I find her, even in the dark.
“I l-love you,” I whisper, lips barely moving. “Loved you…the second you told me…to get on my knees.”
A choked laugh falls out of her, broken and desperate. “I love you too. So much. Please—just hold on—”
“His pulse is too slow!” someone yells. “We need that medic now!”
I can’t feel my legs. Can’t feel the ground.
The words echo only in my mind now—clearer than anything I can force past my lips.
I always knew… in my world… love means death. And somehow, it still feels worth it.
Blood fills my mouth, hot and metallic, stealing the breath I can’t drag in anymore.
But I’d choose you again, Sera. A thousand times over. My vision fractures at the edges, black swallowing the light, but her face stays—my final anchor, the last thing I reach for.
I was always… all in.
Her sob drifts away, fading like someone’s turning down the volume on my life. The world’s color fades out, everything dimming, her voice echoing through the dark.
“Please don’t leave me. Please, Trey. Please.”
An apology sits heave on my tongue—one I’ll never get to finish—as my heart stumbles…then stops.