After the Walls

Chapter 8

The feral, soulless glint in the man's eyes makes me shiver, sending sharp claws down my back. I flinch as the knife clatters to the floor, reverberating off the stone walls.

Edward clicks his tongue and ducks, snatching the knife from the floor. He places it back in my trembling hand. "Did I stutter?"

"I won't do it."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, please. We all know you'd do anything to save the ones you love."

"Why are you doing this?" My voice trembles and cracks and an icy draft blows in the doorway, raising the hairs on my arms.

"You need to do a better job of convincing me of your loyalty," he says with a low hiss. "This happens when you are not convincing enough. When you let your stupid little Ruben loving heart impede your duties to me."

"So, why isn't Ruben here?" I gesture between the man and Ajax, who remains granite.

"I have other plans for Ruben," he says. "A brother's bond, if you will."

I swallow the lump in my throat and glance at Ajax. He stares right past me. A loose strand of black hair falls into his face, and he doesn't bother flicking it away. But there is a tremor in his breath, and he sniffs. My heart clenches.

"I can't do this, Edward," I say.

That's when the man laughs. A trilling cackle that grates along my bones. His lips stretch back. "Just do it, Elle," he says. "I'm a dead man, anyway. Put me out of my misery."

I open my mouth to speak.

"Do it, Elle!" he shrieks, and my grip tightens on the knife. "Kill. Me."

Edward chortles. Then he prowls around us like a lion stalking its prey, gnashing his teeth as a muscle twitches in his face. "Why the hesitation, Elle?" he purrs, and I stiffen. "You can save your best friend. The man begs for death. He knows his illness will kill him, anyway. A lost cause."

My shoulders tense, and the knife scorches my hand. "If only there was something that could cure him."

Edward smirks and waggles his finger. "If only." Then he steps up to me, leaning his mouth up to my ear. "Choose one."

I touch Ajax's chest and he flinches, lip quivering. "I'm so sorry."

His cerulean eyes burn into mine. "Do what you have to do. It's okay."

Tears blur my vision and I furiously wipe them away. "It is not."

A low, crackled wail tears from the man's throat. His knees thud to the ground with such force he cries out, likely splitting the kneecap bones. "Please just kill me. Please. Please. Please."

Vomit jumps into my mouth as the room sways and spins.

"Kill me. Kill me. Kill me!"

I cry out as I plunge the knife into the man's chest, splitting his heart in two. In the same second, I jerk the blade out and toss it across the room, splattering us all in blood. The man gasps. His eyes bulge from his skull. Blood and saliva spray as he coughs. I squeeze my eyes shut, tasting the copper of his blood as it slides into my mouth. The strangled chokes bore into my ears and my bones as the man slumps forward, spilling his blood around our feet.

Edward chuckles. "At least you are who you say you are, Elle Fallon," he says, crossing his arms and shifting his weight. "The girl who'd do anything to save the ones she loves. Even if it means siding with her lover's brother."

"You bastard," Ajax says, his voice a low growl that makes my hammering heart jump. He lunges forward, grabs Edward's collar, and slams him into the wall. "You are a sick, lonely little boy, aren't you?"