1
Demi
When my uncle’s bloody knife falls to his side, I gasp in a sharp breath. I thought death would be more painful than this. Don’t get me wrong, my heart is decimated, shattered from witnessing Maddox’s fight to get to me, but there’s a peacefulness associated with knowing my uncle isn’t the ruler of my realm anymore, that he’d rather end my life than govern it. I just wish I had gotten Maddox off his radar first.
That was the term my uncle agreed to when I arrived at his private residence only an hour ago, to the house I avoided like the plague in my teens. He said if I followed the rules and gave myself wholly to him, Maddox would be free.
It was stupid of me to believe he’d keep his word. I was clearly blinded by hope.
The only good that’s come from his betrayal is having more understanding of my father’s decision. More respect. Heartbreak hurts but being manipulated by the people who are meant to love you is a devastating blow to overcome.
I hope Maddox is stronger than my father, and he can find it in his heart to forgive me. I had to put him first, or not a single thing I’ve done in my short life would have been worthwhile. Sacrificing my life for his was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. My father often said that the greatest sacrifice you can give is surrendering yourself for someone you love. I’m sure with time, Maddox will understand this.
Wanting my last breaths to be shared with my fifteen-year-long crush, I tilt forward until my forehead rests on the un-shadowed glass separating Maddox and me. Unlike when I pressed my hand to the two-way mirror, Maddox doesn’t balance his forehead against mine. He stares up at my uncle, his eyes murderous yet stunned.
I discover the reason for his shock when I follow the direction of his gaze. My severed head isn’t in my uncle’s hands. Massive clumps of my hair are.
As my hand shoots up to check my neck for a life-ending gash, my uncle’s victorious eyes drop to mine. “Let this be a lesson,” he says, his tone slow and brimming with superiority. “The next time either of you go against me, we will return here so I can finish what I started.” After smirking at my shocked expression that I don’t have a fatal neck wound, he strays his eyes to Maddox. “You now know what I am capable of doing. Don’t underestimate me again, or I won’t stop at one member of your family next time.”
While taking in the massacre behind Maddox, my uncle clicks his fingers together two times. Like magic, several men enter the room from a door in the far corner. I assume they’re here to hurt Maddox but am proven wrong when they drag the deceased man into the corridor before popping bullets into the two Maddox subdued without mortally wounding them.
I stop contemplating how inhumanely my uncle treats members of his crew when the vault-like door my uncle walked me through ten minutes ago automatically opens. I scramble for Maddox, my wish to get to him having me unconcerned that I’m as naked as the day I was born.
I have no reason to fret. Maddox moves for me just as quickly, and within seconds, his shuddering frame engulfs every inch of me.
As the fast beat of his heart mollifies the fear clutching my throat, he blocks my view of the horrifying scene circling us with his hand, having no clue scenarios like this will soon become the norm for us.
Our love saw us selling our souls to the devil.
Now we’re living in our own version of hell.
When I say that to Maddox, he brushes away the strands of hair my uncle’s unexpected cut forced into my eyes before muttering, “If you’re here, I’m right where I am meant to be.”
He doesn’t say it, but his eyes most certainly expose he isn’t remorseful about the lengths he went to today to get to me.
That’s the fear my uncle is feeding off. He used my wish not to be sexually abused by a family member to force Maddox into my life, and now he will use Maddox’s anxiety about losing me to fuel his wish to rule the world. We’re nothing but puppets to him, people he can manipulate to do whatever he wants, and since I’m convinced his brutality won’t stop at Justine next time, I have no clue how to prevent his plans.
“He’ll use this against us. He now knows how far we will go for one another, and he will milk it for all it’s worth.” I bang my forehead with my palm, frustrated about the naïve idiot I’ve portrayed the past couple of months. “I should have let him kill me.”
Maddox’s heart skips a beat before he snatches my hand away from my face. “Don’t ever say that, Demi.Ever.If you die, I die.” He brushes away the tears careening down my face with the back of his index finger. “Remember that the next time you want to let him win.”
“I’m not letting him win. Heiswinning because he’s cruel and heartless. I fucking hate him.”
When my watering eyes drift across the room three men lost their lives in—four if you include Maddox’s soul—Maddox grips my chin in a nonpainful manner before wordlessly demanding my eyes back to his. “Look at me, Demi.” When I do as asked, he mutters, “Trulylook at me.”
I do. I take in every inch of him—the fear in his eyes that we nearly lost each other, the love a lifetime of hurt couldn’t shift, and a soul that won’t bend no matter how rough the conditions. I drink it all in while falling in love with him even more than I thought possible.
Confident I have the gist of what he’s saying, Maddox drags his index finger down my nose. It isn’t as effective today as it usually is, but it does lessen the turmoil wreaking havoc with my stomach.
“He isn’t winning, Demi. We are because we have each other.” The nicks his battle stabbed my heart with are filled with love when he adds, “This game will never last as long as our love. We can’t lose if we remember that. It isn’t possible.”
We’re in a house of torture, in a town I hate, but the horrors of my life fade away when I press my lips to Maddox’s. My head is too hazy to conjure up meaningful, heart-stuttering words like he did, so I use my body instead. It’s probably stupid of me to do, but when you sell your soul to the devil, you do anything you can to grip reality.
“I love you,” I whisper over Maddox’s kiss-swollen lips a couple of seconds later.
He smiles in a way that wipes the agony from my heart as quickly as his hands clear away my tears before replying, “I love you back. Never forgot that because our love is what makesthisworthwhile.”
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