41. Ashmaker
FORTY-ONE
ASHMAKER
"This isn't safe," Xavier growls as he glances around the darkened space with worry. I roll my eyes at his antics. Imagine being a serial killer who's afraid of the shadows. Amateur. "She's not well enough for this."
I halt, instantly striking out and grabbing his neck, before tightening my fingers and feeling his pulse flutter.
To his credit, he doesn't attempt to fight my hold, instead he stares down at me with those eerie blue-gray eyes, filled with the hidden madness that inhabits his soul.
The one I'm all too familiar with because it also stirs in mine.
"We are fine. Stop your whimpering. No one asked you to come along.
You came of your own volition, and your unhinged need to be constantly close to her. "
It irritates the fuck out of me that he's behaving as if we're weak.
One little injury and he's forgotten all that I've accomplished, and what I've ensured Scarlett has survived.
"Justice waits for no one. Sins must be cleansed.
" It's been too long since I last used my blade to cut through flesh, and heard the miserable pleading of those that deserved justice, but escaped it. Well, until they meet me, that is.
"Let me be your weapon then. Use me as your arm of justice.
" His pretty words should bring warmth to the cold darkness inside of me, but they don't. He respects and admires me, but he loves her.
Even though we are each a side of the same coin, his instinct is to always protect her.
Lately, that doesn't bring me the relief it should.
I'm tired of living in the shadows, tired of giving up my control to Scarlett.
Her morals no longer match mine, and it's a struggle in our minds.
I release my hold on his neck, and allow my fingers to trail down his black hoodie, until I reach where his heart lies encased in flesh and bone. "What are you willing to do to protect her, hmm? Would you set the world on fire at her feet?”
His gloved hand rests against mine, pushing it firmly into his chest. "I would tear out my own beating heart and place it at your feet. The world means nothing to me without you in it. I wouldn't hesitate to end it for you."
No, I don't suppose he would hesitate, because he truly believes he's in love.
I rise on my toes and lean forward, allowing my lips to skim over his jaw, licking and nibbling as his body tilts towards me, until I reach his ear.
"What would you do to protect her from me?
Might be a better question, don't you think, Xavier? "
His body instantly stills, and his hand shoots out and grabs my neck, our faces almost pressed together, squeezing tightly until my next breath is gasped, and I allow it.
Somewhere inside of me, Scarlett is heaving with rage, unable to stop me, and not knowing what I'm doing.
I want her to understand that I can take everything from her if I choose to.
She will not stop my mission, my need to cleanse this disgusting world of men like the ones that hurt us.
"If you hurt yourself, hurt her..." he growls, his gaze narrowing dangerously, and I wonder if he's about to lose control.
He's got a monster inside of him too, one he seems to have better control over than Scarlett does of me.
We are the same and yet not. His goals have always been Scarlett, while my purpose was always to protect Scarlett, to shield her from what she could never handle.
I find that it's not enough anymore with him in the picture.
He and that other cunt are slowly taking her from me, and then I will be alone in the darkness, nothingness once more.
"What... will you... do?" I gasp as he immediately loosens his hold.
"Come on, Xavier, let your monster out to play with me.
" I wink mischievously at him, knowing full well he never will, since he would be a danger to Scarlett if he did.
Poor Xavier's hands are tied by his own mind, and allegiance to the other version of me.
At his silence, I turn away and put space between us, a feeling of dejection rising within me. "It will only be a matter of time before she has to choose, Xavier. Are you so sure she will select you over him? Your hands are as tainted as mine, and she still fundamentally believes that she is good."
I run my hand over the smooth kitchen counter, wondering how many souls it's witnessed suffering.
"Your love is slow dancing over landmines, just waiting for when they will explode, and they will, Xavier, sooner or later.
Will you survive the fallout?" I stare around the quiet cottage, the one that, from the exterior, looks quaint and pretty, but inside hides horrors and brutality.
Jacques St. Clair is living his last moments on this earth; he just doesn't know it yet.
"I won't allow her to discard me. She belongs to me.
She's the other half of my soul." How fucking poetic.
He's wrong, though. Scarlett belongs to me.
She has from the first moment I awoke in the darkness to her screams. A pitiful, scared, abused two-year-old who cried for a fairy-tale protector, and gained me instead.
A flash of light reflected in the windows, winding down the long driveway, captures my attention.
Ah, my prey has finally decided to grace us with his presence.
At least I can't complain that Jacques is not predictable.
Every third Friday of the month, he comes to this cottage to play his sick games with whichever wretched soul has landed in his grasp.
Unfortunately, today his luck is about to run out, and he won't ever be leaving.
I meet Xavier's gaze, and in it I see the resolve to go through with my plan.
He will help me paint the walls in Jacques' monstrous blood, cleansing the world of one more demon.
If only to keep this body I inhabit from harm.
I slip into the shadows off the kitchen, and watch as Xavier also melts into them closer to the back door, until he can't be distinguished from them in his all-black clothing, and skull mask.
A car door slamming has my blood rushing in my veins, and anticipation unfurls in the pit of my stomach.
I pull my blade from its sheath, grasping it tightly as I steady my breathing.
The back door unlocks and swings open, heavy footsteps making their way down the corridor towards the room at the back of the cottage.
A streak of moonlight catches on him as he shifts further into the space, and I get my first glimpse of the young woman thrown over his shoulder, her long, curly, dark hair spilling down his back.
Predictable indeed, it looks like Jacques has drugged yet another woman and brought her back here to rape and torture, before he'll inevitably discard her disfigured body somewhere in the woods to be consumed by wild beasts.
I've been watching him for months, ensuring I had a plan in place, not only to end him, but the network he’s built around him that teaches other men to do this to women.
With Xavier's technical help, that finally became a possibility tonight when Xavier dismantled the whole system, and alerted the different authorities worldwide of who the participants were.
Poor Jacques has no idea his world has crumbled, and that he's already a wanted man.
He was too busy selecting his current prey and unknowingly falling into my trap.
Of course, it helped that Xavier has rerouted all his incoming messages and calls, and he's currently blind to what is happening around him.
Xavier sure is handy, plus he has that magical dick with all those piercings. I guess I should leave him alive a while longer and enjoy what he has to offer. A shove happens in my brain, as Scarlett attempts to fight through, but she's no match for me and my strength.
Xavier slips silently like a wraith behind him, as I make my way closer.
I watch with interest as he waits for Jacques to place the woman down on the bed, and strap her arms into metal handcuffs, before he wraps a cord around Jacques' neck and drags him backward.
Jacques instantly panics and attempts to fight the hold, but he's no match for Xavier's strength and determination.
Perhaps he could be my arm of justice, as long as he doesn't attempt to stop my hands from getting bloody.
I tap the blade hilt against the nearest wall, catching both of their attentions.
"By all means, struggle, Jacques. It will only excite and enrage my companion more.
" He drops his weight, forcing Xavier to choke him harder, or release him.
Xavier doesn't disappoint, tightening his grip until Jacques' face goes a shade of ugly plum.
Once he's unconscious, Xavier drops him like a sack of potatoes, before stripping him and hog-tying his hands and feet firmly at his back, as I move over to check on the female.
Her breathing is shallow, and even in the semi-darkness with the moonlight shining in, I can see blood coats her nostrils and the corner of her mouth, and bruising is already forming on her face.
It looks like she did her best to try to fight him off before the drugs took hold of her, but it just wasn't enough.
It never is with these vile creatures. The only way to protect humanity from them is to eradicate them.
My hand trembles as I push back her hair from her face, and take in how young she is.
Tonight will leave scars on her heart and mind, and there's no avoiding that, but at least she won't have to fear the darkness and that he might be hiding in it.
I'll make sure she knows she's free, and he's permanently gone.