Page 37 of Ricochet
I wiped my jaw angrily, trying to lose the tingling feeling he left behind. I had to pace myself, I had to control myself because emotions, good and bad, could kill you if you weren’t the one controlling them.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t like that.” Smug bastard.
“Why the fuck am I here,” I asked. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”
“Where would the fun be in that?”
I wanted to wipe the stupid smirk off his face, stab him in the neck, find his brothers and do the same, but I couldn’t.Just, deep breaths, Ophelia. Deep fucking breaths.
“Since when do you wanna have fun?” I glanced toward the door. I had no idea where we were, but I had to check the grounds. I had to see their security details here, and staying inside playing dead wouldn’t help with everything I had planned. Oh no, we were going to have fun, all of us. We were going to dance.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” he gritted. “These grounds are filled with our guards. Besides, you wouldn’t last a second outside.”
Kieran, Kieran, Kieran… so pretty, yet so dumb.
“I’m sure that dying in this cold is better than being here with you.”
“Ophelia!”
I laughed, dashing to the door, my heart racing in my chest. Come on, chase me baby. We loved to play this game. Cat and mouse, yin and yang, that’s what the two of us always were. Two opposites, light and dark, chasing each other for years now. Come on, give me the thrill.
I had no idea if the front door was unlocked, but who gave a fuck anymore? I didn’t. Even if it was, I hoped their security detail this time around would be capable of getting me first. I really didn’t want to freeze my ass off here, wherever here was.
“For fuck’s sake.” I could hear him behind me, inching closer, but the thundering roar inside my head urged me to run faster. Adrenaline rush, the thrill, I hadn’t felt this in years.
The door was just a couple of inches from my reach, when a strong arm wrapped around my midsection, pulling me back. Oopsie daisy, I got caught.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Let me go.” I struggled against his hold, but I knew my efforts would be futile. “You’re going to kill me anyway. What difference does it make which way?”
Truth be told, if I really had to die, I preferred for it to happen in a real battle and not this way. But, he had to believe me. He had to believe I was helpless, that I was at his mercy. I urged my chin to tremble, my eyes glossing over.
There they were. Emotions.
He pushed me against the wall, his body heavy behind mine. “The difference is that I will be the one who gets to slice you up.” He pressed harder into me. “The difference is that I will get to break you, piece by piece, just like you broke this family. If you thought my love was strong, my hatred is even stronger, little bird. Do not mistake my calmness for my weakness. I’ve dreamed about cutting you into pieces for years, waiting for this moment. Waiting for you to be back in my arms, just so that I could show you what real pain is.”
He moved the hair from my face, pulling me closer to him.
“I told you already. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You belong to us now, until I am satisfied with your punishment. Until you tell us everything we want to know. And then, and only then, will I kill you. You do not deserve to die peacefully. I will take everything from you, until the only thing that’s left is a shell of who you used to be.”
It’s been four years,six months, and twenty-eight days since I last spoke to the little hellfire that kept my soul awake. Ophelia Aster used to be everything I desired. Now, she was everything I wanted to destroy.
Sometimes it felt like an eternity since the last time I saw her.
Sometimes like a second.
There were days when the pain became too much, when my heart didn’t know which way to go. Did I hate her? Did I love her? But how could I love her, when she was the one who destroyed everything? I could see the hatred in her eyes, I could see the pain reflecting my own. I waited while Cillian and Tristan hunted. I was patient, waiting for her to come back, to tell me it was all a lie. That what they told me was just a bad dream. That she didn’t do what they were accusing her of. That she didn’t run away when they confronted her about it.
That she waited for me to come home. But none of the answers I needed ever came, and I was left with a pain that turned into something darker.
Something vicious. Something I have never felt before.
When my love turned bitter, when the resentment and anger consumed my whole being, I started believing everything my brothers told me. I became numb, and the only thing that kept me going was this insane urge to find her and make her pay for what she did. She shattered us all, leaving the broken pieces behind.
I’ve tried to understand what made her do it. A thousand scenarios ran through my head, but nothing could justify her actions. I’ve been waiting for this moment for what feels like forever, but now with her in my arms, I was torn, blinded by rage. I thought Cillian would kill her, but I wanted to be the one to turn those blue eyes lifeless. On the other hand, I didn’t want her dead, at least not yet. I wanted her to suffer. I needed to own not only her body, but her mind. I wonder if she still bleeds the same; does she still taste the same?
My demons wanted to play with hers, just like they always did. It didn’t matter if it was love or hatred, she always made me feel alive. What a shame really that she had to die.
