Page 15 of Temptation
I lifted my hand up, the dagger heavy between my fingers, and struck down, right in the middle of her chest.
Her eyes flew open and connected with mine. Her mouth opened into a silent shriek, but no sound came.
I’m sorry, I mouthed, but no amount of sorries could fix what I was doing right now.
Blood pooled around the wound and I pulled the dagger out.
“Again!” Judah barked, looking at me.
I struck again, hitting her stomach, then her chest, then her stomach again, over and over and over, until the blood seeping from her wounds covered her entire body. Only her arms remained untouched, but my friend wasn’t breathing anymore.
Her eyes remained open, but life wasn’t there. Nothing was there, only emptiness and unshed tears.
I looked down at my hands, at the vermilion color coating my fingers, my dress, and my legs. The dagger fell out of my hands while I kept staring at the carnage in front of me. The picture of Lauren’s mutilated body would forever be stuck in my mind.
I fell to my knees and grabbed her hand, still unable to speak, unable to scream. She hurt me, she betrayed me, but she didn’t deserve this.
“Why?” I whispered and looked up at Dylan. “Why did you make me do this?”
He dropped to his knees while the squelching sound ran through my ears. When I looked up, I could see Judah cutting through her body like she meant nothing.
He opened her chest like it was made of gum and cut a piece of something.
A piece of her heart.
“Oh my God,” I murmured, wanting to get out, but Dylan’s hands held me in place. Just like with Lauren, he lifted me up.
“You did well, Little One.”I am going to be sick.“You did so well,” he whispered in my ear, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Judah and the piece of Lauren he held in his hand.
He cut over his palm, coating the piece he cut with his own blood.
“Silence!” he suddenly thundered, and the chanting stopped. “Tonight, we have gathered to witness history in the making.” The motherfucker smiled. “My son,” he looked at Dylan with a tenderness I never saw before, “and my daughter.” He looked at me. “Are finally ready to take the next step.”
Were they going to kill me now? Was this the step? Was Dylan going to carve me like those other girls?
“Are you ready?” Judah Blackwood smiled at me, showing a row of perfect, white teeth. A perfect father, perfect husband, perfect politician, but all of it was a mirage, just another lie.
“We’re ready, Dad.” Dylan’s voice echoed around us, an edge to it I had never heard before. Some part of me still prayed, still believed that there was good in him. That he knew a way out. But as he took a hold of my hand, his grip tightening, all those prayers evaporated into thin air, and I knew no one would save me.
Goosebumps erupted on my skin, the cold and humid air of this place wrapping me into its embrace. I would’ve given everything to stop feeling right now. I would’ve done anything to bring back that feeling of apathy like when I was in the hospital, yet I couldn’t.
I looked to my left, taking in Dylan’s face, memorizing every curve, every line, from his eyebrows to his cheekbones, to that full bottom lip and the tiny scar on his chin. He suddenly turned and looked at me, his lips forming into a tiny smile. Some part of my brain registered that Judah started talking, but I didn’t want to move my eyes away from Dylan.
Did he know that my heart broke a thousand times living in that house of horrors? Didn’t he feel that everything he did was wrong?
“We have all been waiting for this day to happen.” Judah’s voice finally got to me, and I turned to him, hiding away from those stormy eyes. If I could, I would never look at him again. If I could, I would hide what was left of my heart. “It’s been over thirty years since my father stood where I am standing now. And now I stand here in front of you and I ask you,” he paused, looking at the crowd on both sides. “Do you accept Dylan Theron Blackwood to ascend?”
“We do!” they yelled in unison.
“And do you accept,” he looked at me, “Skylar Willow Blackwood as his companion?”
His what?
“We do!”
No, wait. No!
I tried to pull my hand from Dylan’s but his grip was too tight. His eyes were unapologetic when I looked at him, pleading, begging, urging him to see how wrong it was to keep me here.
