by Lechna Baram
“It would?” he quickly asked.
“I thought you loved Rose,” I said, faking confusion and relief.
“No!” he quickly exclaimed. “It was always you! I saw you at the strip club. I looked for you everywhere and when I finally found you, you wouldn't know how happy I was,” he said. He stalked me? Holy hell. “I acted as if I was interested in Rose just to get close to you. You're everything that I want, Athena.” A tear rolled down my cheek. It was mostly sadness as Damian and I were trapped in this shitty situation. I faked a smile then chuckled.
“If you told me before, we wouldn't be in this situation right now,” I told Jace. Yeah, you sick bastard! I would have had you locked behind bars. I was furious but I had to keep a cool facade.
“Is it too late?” Jace asked. I shook my head, then pretended to be shy.
“Of course, it's not!” I said. Jace stood up and walked behind me. I felt him cutting off the ropes. When my hands were free, I quickly brought one in front of me and massaged my wrist.
“What are we going to do with him?” Jace asked. He was so fucking easy to fool and I gained his trust so easily.
Now I needed to save Damian.
Chapter 64
Crazy
“What about we go upstairs and decide about him?” Jace asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
I turned to look at him with wide eyes. Me and him? Alone? I took a deep breath and turned to look at Damian, who was now looking at me with worry in his eyes.
“You're not going anywhere with that bastard.” Damian growled.
To our surprise, Jace burst out laughing. It sounded so evil. I took a step instinctively backward. When he was done, he stared at Damian, shaking his head.
“Mr. Spears.” He started as he walked towards Damian. My heart started beating quickly. I didn't want Damian to get hurt even more. “Athena never loved you,” Jace said slowly. Before he could reach Damian, I grabbed his hand. Jace turned to look at me, with a frown.
“Why don't we go upstairs?” I quickly asked. Damian clenched his jaw. “Don't bother yourself about him,” I quickly said, glancing sideways at Damian. “He's not worth it,” I told Jace. My heart clenched at the words. I pulled on his hand. A smile appeared on his face. He interlinked his fingers with mine. I faked a smile. We started walking to the stairs. I quickly turned to look at Damian. He looked alarmed.
“Don't go anywhere,” Damian growled in anger as he stared at me. No more plans. He didn't give a damn about his own safety. He simply wanted me there. He hated the fact that Jace had his hand in mine. He hated to think about what Jace might do once we went upstairs.
I hated to think about it too.
I didn't trust Jace.
Think of a plan fast, Athena.
And I couldn't think. Jace pulled me with him. Soon, we were walking up the stairs. I tried to calm myself.
Come on, Athena. You're smarter than that. Think fast.
“You first,” Jace said as he opened the door. I faked a smile and walked in the main room. I've never been at Jace's before. His house seemed pretty cozy. I saw a couch and quickly walked to it. I needed some distance from him. But no. Jace followed me and sat next to him. To be honest, right now he looked like the Jace that I knew.
“I'm lost,” I told him. “You wanted me dead?” I simply needed more time. I needed to do something. Jace looked away, as if he was ashamed of himself. He slowly nodded. “Why?” I asked. Just as he was about to talk, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He didn't pick the call. He lifted his head to look at me. I could see shame in his eyes.
“I was angry. I thought you actually loved Damian,” he said. I love him, asshole. “If I couldn't have you, no one would,” he said, determination in his voice. I knew for sure that he was a psycho then. I blinked several times, trying to calm myself. I noticed that his phone stopped vibrating.
“When you love someone, you should be wishing for her happiness, not her death.” I tried to change his mind. He scoffed.
“That shit is just for books.” He snapped. “In real life, when you want something, you take it or you do everything you can to get it,” Jace told me. He then wrapped his hand around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. Slowly, I pushed his hand away, causing him to glare at me.
“I wanna talk right now.” I didn't want him hurting me. Or my baby. There were so many questions in my head. He took a deep breath, then glared at me again.
“Go on,” he said, as if I were the crazy one.
“What happened the night I found Rose in the park?” I asked, curiosity at its peak. He sighed, then shook his head.
“That bitch is crazy. She was yelling at me because I was dancing with some other chick,” he scoffed. “I slapped the hell out of her slutty self, then dumped her.” He chuckled. I hated him even more. “It was difficult as hell pretending to be in love with her. The only good thing was the sex.” He added as he smirked at me. When he realized that I was glaring, his smirk disappeared. “Oh, I'm sorry baby,” he said, taking my hand in his. “You must be jealous right now,” he mumbled more to himself. I was about to say something ugly when I heard the doorbell. Again, Jace ignored it.
“Someone is at the door.” I snapped, pulling my hand away from his. He shrugged.
“They'll go,” he simply said. No. I hope they don't go. It might be help. The ringing became more insistent, making Jace hiss in annoyance. Suddenly I heard the door open. Hope filled my heart. Jace groaned, turning towards the door. Relief flooded when I saw Rose.
“What the fuck?” Rose mumbled to herself when she saw me. “What are you doing here?” she asked me, ignoring Jace’s glare in her direction.
“What are you doing here?” Jace asked, disgust evident in his voice.
I saw pain flash in Rose's eyes, but she quickly recovered.
“I came to look for you so that you could help us look for Athena and Damian,” Rose said.
Jace chuckled, taking my hand in his. Rose's eyes moved to our hands then to me. I was secretly praying that she would understand the situation. “What the heck is happening, Athena?” she asked, disbelief coating her voice. I opened my mouth to tell her but Jace beat me to it.
“Athena and I are together.” Jace explained. “We don't know where Damian is. You may leave now.”
I watched as my best friend's mouth drop open. “I was just using you to get to Athena,” Jace said with a smirk. “And it worked.”
“What?” Rose gasped, staring at me. She blinked once, twice, and thrice before finally taking a deep breath. Shock was evident on her face. “What the hell is he talking about?” Rose asked me. She didn't want to believe Jace.
Don't believe him. Please.
I didn't know how to let her know that I was in some deep trouble and I needed her help. I gulped when I realized that my best friend was now glaring at me. Rose scoffed before shaking her head in disbelief. She clenched her jaw, then glared at our interlinked hands.
“So this is what you've been doing!” Rose snapped at me. My eyes widened. For the first time in my life, Rose was actually furious at me. “We're all looking for your boyfriend! For the father of your future child! And you're here, with the man I love!” she exclaimed in disbelief. “Wait! Maybe the child is not Damian's after all!” she said. I noticed her eyes tearing up and mine started tearing up too.
“What?” I heard Jace suddenly say from next to me as he let go of my hand. He was now looking at me as if I was the guy in the story. “You're pregnant?” Jace asked suddenly. I took a deep breath. My breath was shaky. I could see fury in his eyes. I didn't reply which made him even angrier. He took a step in my direction and pulled hard on my hair, causing me to scream in pain.
“Let go of her!” Rose shouted from the other side of the room.
Jace turned to look at Rose. He gently let go of my hair. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. I took a few steps away from him, tears now running down my face.
“Jace, stop all this p
lease,” I cried. I fell on my knees. All that mattered right now was my baby and Damian. “Please.” I begged. Jace seemed frozen while Rose seemed lost.
“What is happening here?” Rose demanded. She looked lost and confused. She had reason to be. Jace clenched his jaw then turned to look at my best friend.
Oh. Run, Rose.
“Rose, go away!” I exclaimed when I saw Jace walking towards her. Before she realized what I meant, Jace had his hand around her neck. I noticed the sick smirk he had on his face when he slammed Rose against the wall. My best friend was struggling in his hands. “Jace, stop!” I begged again as I ran to him and tried to get him off Rose. I could see that Rose was having problems breathing by then. “Stop!” I yelled and dug my nails deep in Jace's arms, causing him to wince. He let go of Rose but before I could sigh in relief, I felt a hard slap on my face. It was so hard that I was thrown a few steps away. Rose fell to the ground. Her eyes were closed but she was still breathing.
“You're carrying a freaking mistake!” Jace growled. I flinched when he punched the wall. The terrifying thing was that he didn't seem to feel any pain. Blood was oozing out of his hand but he did not seem to be reacting to the pain. I moved closer to Rose, trying to see whether I could wake her up or not. “We need to do something.” I heard Jace mumble to himself as he held his head in his hands, bending slightly. “I have to do something,” he said again. I was trying to calm down. I've never cried that much. I've never been so scared in my life.
“Rose,” I whispered and shook her at the same time.
This seemed to attract Jace's attention as he turned to me. He clenched his jaw again and stomped towards me. I quickly crawled to the wall. I was crying even more. I didn't want him near me.
“Get up!” Jace growled at me.
The fact that I was pregnant with Damian's baby seemed to be pissing him off. When he realized that I wasn't going to move, he grabbed my arm and forced me up.
“Walk!” He ordered and started pushing me back towards the door to the basement. I didn't struggle. When we were back in the basement, I noticed that Damian was confused and he started struggling after looking at me attentively. Jace tied me to the chair again and walked back up the stairs swearing.
“What the hell happened, Athena?” Damian asked as he looked at me.
I wanted to wipe my face but I couldn't. I shook my head to say that I'm okay but Damian glared at me.
“Rose came here and when Jace knew I was pregnant, he got mad,” I told him, taking a deep breath to stop myself from shaking. “I'm okay.” I tried to reassure him.
“Don't tell me you're okay when you've got a freaking mark on your face.” Damian growled. I sighed, not knowing what to say. I heard steps again. Jace walked in back, carrying Rose on his shoulder as if she were a bag. He then threw her in the corner of the room, chaining her hands and her feet.
“I got an idea,” Jace said out loud.
The grin on his face was making me nervous. I had my reasons to be worried. Jace was mentally sick. “I'm a doctor,” he said as he walked to me. He bent to my level, then pecked my lips, making me move my head. He simply smirked then walked to the other side of the room. He pulled a long metal table and pushed it in the middle of the room, that is, just in the middle of Damian and me. Jace walked to it then tapped on it slightly. “We may not have the proper equipment here, but we'll get that thing out of you,” he said, making my blood run cold.
Chapter 65
Attempt
“No,” I said. “No.” I repeated when realization struck me.
I started struggling. I needed to get out of there. Damian was now yelling in helplessness. He looked scared. It was the second time I had seen him that scared. The first time was when I was drowning. “Jace, please don't do that.” I begged when I saw him opening a drawer to my right. I could hear the metals colliding against each other. I saw a knife in a box and I started shaking. “Jace,” I sobbed.
“I'm doing this for us, Athena,” Jace said as he put the box on the table.
“No, you're not,” I cried. “If you kill my baby, I'll hate you forever,” I told him as I looked at the floor which was now blurry due to all the tears in my eyes.
Jace dropped to the floor on his knees and forced my chin up. I was now looking at him. He looked hurt. He didn't realize how serious this situation was.
“This baby is going to ruin your life. It's going to ruin our life,” Jace said, trying to drive his point.
I tried to play with his emotions when I sobbed again and shook my head.
“If you actually loved me, you would have accepted my baby.” I argued. Jace sighed then shook his head.
“I don't want you carrying anything related to him,” Jace said as he gave Damian a side glance. Damian seemed to be weak. But he was still struggling against the rope.
“Jace, Stop this. Please.” I begged again. “This will not end well,” I told him. “We're all going to get hurt if you continue with this madness,” I told him. He clenched his jaw then turned. I flinched when he punched the table.
“What was my fault?” he snapped. “Is it madness that I love you?” he asked, chuckling. “Is it madness that I don't want a fucker touching what's mine?” he asked. His? I was his? Since when? “What is madness here is that you're pregnant with his baby! His! Not mine! But his!” he exclaimed and punched the table again. I could see his wrist turning red. Blood was oozing from it. I wished he would feel more pain. I hated the fact that he was trying to ruin my life.
“What is madness here is that you kidnapped us! You're hurting us! You're going to harm my baby! You freaking harmed Rose! Do you even know how much trouble you're going to be in when we get out of here?” I asked, trying to change his mind. He chuckled. The chuckle gave me goosebumps. The look on his face said it all. He was sick. Mentally sick. And it scared the hell out of me.
“Who said we're getting out of here?” Jace laughed. “Damian and Rose are definitely not getting out of here,” he said slowly, trying to make me realize how messed up the situation was. “And you and I are gonna get out of here, being the couple we are supposed to be,” he said with confidence as he walked to me. I quickly shook my head, not wanting him near me. He untied my hands and forced me to stand up.
“Get your hands off her,” Damian growled as he glared. Jace exhaled heavily and turned to look at Damian, shaking his head in disappointment.
“You're tied up to a freaking chair and you can't do anything.” Jace pointed out. “I can touch her all I want and you won't be able to do anything.” Then he roughly pulled me in front of Damian. I was literally shaking. As if wanting to prove his point, he ran his hand up and down my arm, causing me to shiver in disgust. I closed my eyes hard enough, wincing at the feel of him touching me.
My hands weren't tied anymore.
The table where the box with the knife was just next to me.
Thinking really fast, I quickly grabbed the knife and turned to defend myself. Jace seemed taken aback. I pointed it at him. Surprisingly, he started laughing. I knew that it was not humor but anger glimmering in his eyes.
“You're not going to hurt me,” he said out of the blue. Sensing a challenge, I moved my hand quickly enough to slash his arm open. He groaned in pain and his eyes quickly turned to the blood oozing out of his arm.
“Don't underestimate me,” I spat and started walking backwards in Damian's direction. Being the clumsy bitch that I was, I tripped. Before I could realize what was happening, Jace had lunged at me and had grabbed the knife in my hand. I didn't want to let go. It was an attempt to escape and I didn't want to let go of it. My hand slipped a little bit and it was now on the sharp edge of the knife instead of the handle. I winced as I felt the knife opening up my hand. Jace was smirking. I finally opened my hand to let go of it. It fell to the floor in front of Jace. My hands were bloody. I raised my head to look at Jace. I was on my knees in front of him. The knife was in his hands. I was at his mercy. I preferred dying than watc
hing Damian die because that was what was going to happen.
“Please. You want her. Don't hurt her.” I heard Damian begging behind me.
Damian was begging. I turned to look at him. His eyes were teary. He shook his head in my direction.
“Then tell her to stop trying to play hero,” Jace spat, then forced me to stand up. “Get on the goddamn table and lie down.” Jace ordered, and I did.
I was now tied up to the table. I was crying. I couldn't do anything but cry. Jace was putting on his gloves. Damian was clenching and unclenching his jaw. I knew that he was trying to figure something out. I took a deep breath and concentrated on the tear rolling down my cheek so I wouldn't freak out.
“Let's get started.” I heard Jace mumble with his back turned to me. I was now shaking. I tried to see what he had in his hands and wished I hadn't seen a thing.
The shiny blade in his hand just confirmed my thought.
I was going to get hurt.
My baby was in danger.
“You're such a coward.” I turned to look at Damian. He seemed calm but there was fury in his eyes. What was he trying to do? I didn't want him getting hurt more. Jace turned to look at him. He fixed his eyes on Jace and put the blade back on the table.
“You said what?” Jace asked. Damian chuckled and raised his head to look at Jace. He was challenging him. What the hell was wrong with him?
“I said you're a freaking coward.”
“You're not in a good position to tell me that, Spears,” Jace spat as he started walking towards him. He seemed pissed. Shit. I knew what Damian was doing. He was trying to distract Jace. He was risking his life for me and our baby.
“I'm going to die, right? So why don’t I tell you the truth before that?” No. Please stop.
“What truth are you talking about?” Jace asked calmly. A bit too calm.
“You're a freaking coward, Jace. Instead of trying to get Athena by actually proving her that you love and you care, you freaking kidnapped us and hurt her. That's not what a real man does,” Damian said, then chuckled to provoke Jace even more.