Cade?
Deianira held her breath as he stepped forward.
He was only in his slacks from the night before, though those were almost torn to shreds as he limped up to Jude’s shaking body. His chest was a mix of dark and bright reds. Burns, cuts, blood.
And his face.
His beautiful face was almost unrecognizable. Through his one good eye, she could only just see that pop of green that she loved so much while one side of his lip was twice the size of the other.
Deianira slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her cry. What did they do to him?
She stepped away from the group to run to him when she realized that he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Jude. She watched as Cade staggered over to him. He put a knee to Jude’s shoulder and pulled something out of his back pulling a shrill cry from him. And he didn’t stop there.
It was like he couldn’t see the rest of them standing there. Like Jude was his sole focus. Cade knelt down behind Jude and grunted as he flipped onto his back.
Deianira was convinced that she heard a faint “Please…” before Cade pulled his arm back and buried the knife in Jude’s chest, forcing a gurgled cry out of him.
Her whole body went still.
Despite what she’d learned in the last hour, her heart lurched. The man she loved just put a knife through the chest of the man that raised her.
Then Cade did it again. And again. And again. He wouldn’t stop. After a while, she couldn’t even see the shine of the dagger, just the blood and Cade’s arm pulling back and plunging repeatedly as she stared on in horror. She was sure that Jude was already dead but Cade wouldn’t stop stabbing him, even as the blood splattered across his own face.
That didn’t deter Deianira from taking small, unsteady steps in his direction. She wasn’t afraid of him.
“Cade,” she softly called as she came up to his side. It was as if he hadn’t even heard her. “Cade,” she called again, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He jumped and whirled on her, knife pulled back. She froze. He was covered in blood, it even dripped from his sweaty locks of golden hair. Even his gaze was punishing.
“Cade, enough,” she whispered. “Please.”
Then his face changed. All the anger, the pain, the rage. It doubled.
“Deianira…” he breathed.
She shakily nodded.
That was all it took for him to drop the knife and grip her throat with both hands.
“Cade!” she gasped.
Cade
“She betrayed you. She used you. You mean absolutely nothing to her. The second you see Deianira Rikar, you will end her and watch the light go out in her eyes. You will not remember this. Only your own rage. Kill her.”
Cade quickly bent and ducked out of Jude’s grasp before the gun went off above his head.
“Cade!” Deianira gasped.
Kill her.
Cade could distantly hear voices in the background, but he blocked them out.
She betrayed me.
“You betrayed me,” he whispered as he watched her eyes go wide.
“No!” she screamed, grasping at his hands. “Don’t hurt him.”
She used me.
“You used me.”
“Salem, no! He’s…compelled!” she choked out before meeting Cade’s eyes. “I’m sorry…”
Cade felt his hands loosening before he shook his head and re-tightened his grip.
“I mean absolutely nothing to you,” he said through gritted teeth as he shoved her into the wall, releasing her neck.
She hit the wall and fell to the ground, gasping and wheezing.
Cade was hit with a pounding sensation in his head. It got more and more intense with each breath he took until he had to grab both sides of his head, grunting in pain.
On her hands and knees, she raised a pleading arm.
“I can take it! Devin, make her stop!” she yelled. “Please, stop, I can take it!” she cried.
His whole being was throbbing. He could barely breathe. Then in the next second, the pain disappeared, finally allowing Cade to take a breath. Deianira’s sigh of relief reminded him of his task. He drew a leg back and sent it into her ribs. She screamed as she dropped back onto the ground. The voices around them got louder but she still pushed back up.
“Salem, I swear to the Gods, if you hurt him, I’ll kill you!” she growled with tears streaming down her face.
She’s protecting me…
No. She used me.
Before Deianira could turn back to him, he backhanded her with as much force as he could deliver. He couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. It was all numb.
“I can take it… I can take it…” she chanted over and over again.
When she finally caught his eyes, she tried to reach him. “Cade, listen to me…’’
He fell to his knees on top of her, cutting her off.
“I want to kill you,” he seethed in her face before picking the knife back up and bringing it to her throat.
“I know…” she whispered, as tears rolled down the sides of her face.
Cade shook his head, blinking.
Kill her. I want to kill her.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you,” she hiccuped.
“Shut up…”
“I was just scared that you would see what I am. That you’d hate me,” she whispered.
Oh, Deianira…
No. I want to kill her.
“Stop! Talking!”
He pressed the blade more firmly against her skin.
“You’re so good, Cade.” She was shaking beneath him. “You make me wish I was too, but I’m not.” She winced as the blade nicked her under the chin. “I ruined their lives,” she whispered. “They were so happy and I tore them apart. I was the reason your mother left the Dome.” She blinked slowly.
Cade jerked his head away.
“Stop!” he barked.
“When I realized who you were, I was convinced I was being punished. That the Gods wanted me to suffer for my sins. But you weren’t a punishment.” she breathed, shaking her head. “You saved me.”
Cade’s mind pulsed. “No, no, no…”
“Not just physically, but in every way you could possibly imagine. I couldn’t see you hurt after everything you’d done for me. And…and I just wanted you to look at me like I was a good person for a little longer, but it was wrong.”
Cade groaned as a sharp sting ran through his temple.
“I shouldn’t have taken that from you, either of you.”
Kill her.
He shakily dragged the blade an inch across her throat.
Deianira gasped. “I know that now. If you want to kill me, I won’t stop you.” A few shouts of outrage sounded behind him but Cade tried to focus. “But you should know that I love you too.”
Kill her.
Kill her.
Kill her.
She smiled at him, wincing as her split lip stretched. “I love you so much.”
“Deianira, I can’t…” Cade stressed, his heart racing. “Run.”
She shook her head.
“Hit me.”
Again, she refused.
“I’ll kill you,” he growled.
“I know.” She nodded before straining to lift her head and press a soft kiss to his lips. As she pulled back, a small stream of blood seeping from the side of her neck, she closed her eyes and released a breath.
Kill h…
Cade gasped and choked as his mind flipped inside of his head.
Deianira
Deianira closed her eyes, content. After pouring her heart out like that, she should’ve felt vulnerable, but she was at peace. She’d never been in love before but she was just glad that she got to experience it before she left. Nothing she’d done before had ever made her feel so fulfilled. Any second now, he’d take the kill. And she was ready.
“Deianira?”
She opened her eyes warily.
Cade blinked through wide, teary eyes before he jumped off her. Spotting the knife in his hand, he threw it like it was on fire.
“Cade?”
Deianira took her eyes off him for a second to see Lia and the rest of the group sag with relief.
“Did I just…”
She struggled up onto her knees, ignoring the burn in her ribs and the bruises on her limbs.
“It’s okay, ” she said as softly as she could.
Cade scrambled away from her on the floor. “No! Don’t come closer!”
“Cade, you broke the compulsion, you’re not going to hurt me,” she tried to reassure him.
“You don’t know that!” he yelled before his bewildered eyes darted around the hall. “I’m sorry,” he rasped, eyes red, face crumbling. “I didn’t mean to, I swear.”
She followed him and took his arm. “I know. I’m okay,” she sniffled as she climbed into his lap and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He cautiously wrapped his arms around her, his hand coming up to stroke her head as his body shook with tears.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” he said over and over again as he rocked her back and forth.
“It’s okay…”
