Page 79 of Captured
I can see the man’s fear, smell it in the air. I take a step forward, my senses on high alert. He’s a cornered animal and just like one, he’s dangerous and unpredictable.
“It’s over,” I state, retracting my exoskeleton to show my point. I take a step forward, then another until the man is just out of my reach. I can smell her fear from here, the terror and revulsion she feels at the hand of that man. I want nothing more than to end his life, embed my talons inside his chest and pierce his worthless heart.
But I can’t make a move yet. Even now, all it would take is a quick slip of his wrist and Juliet would be dead. My life would be over.
“Surrender and I will be merciful.”
I see the weakness in the man’s eyes, his cowardice and will to live. I will keep my promise if he lets her go unharmed, although it will be hard to let him live after what he did.
“Let Juliet go.”
He lowers his blade away from Juliet’s throat, but doesn’t let her go. His fist is still entangled in her glorious hair as he glances at her face. Tears cover her cheeks and her breathing is fast and uneven. The sight of her fear makes my exoskeleton strain to the surface in protective instinct.
“No!” His voice rises in a high-pitched wail. “You’re lying. You’re just going to kill me.”
There’s a glint in his eyes, the telltale sign of someone who gives up on the fight. Someone who’s willing to bring as many people down with him as possible.
I don’t hesitate, don’t wait. The blood-red veil of my love for Juliet guides my actions as my exoskeleton covers my body, my talons extending into long scythes.
Juliet screams as I leap, but she’s smart and instead of pulling away from the man, she moves to the side, closer into his embrace.
Giving me space to strike.
The man’s wrist moves in terrifyingly slow motion as I hang in midair, then it’s severed completely as my talons slice it clean from his body. Another scream fills the enclosed space, male and full of terror. The blood-red veil covers the ground, the walls as if the color in my mind spills into reality. The man screams, his desire to kill forgotten as he presses his back to the wall, holding the stump of his arm in front of him like it’s something alien and not from his body.
His scream dies along with him as I slice his throat.
Silence falls on the small room as violence comes to an end.
“It’s over,” Juliet calls from behind me. “It’s really over.”
I turn around, picking her up in my arms. Holding her warm, living body close against me, a rush of emotions overtake me. I close my eyes, concentrating on the smell of her hair, the feel of her skin, the beating of her heart.
“It’s over for now.” I answer through a closed throat. “The Senators are not gone, far from it, but for the first time, we have a chance at getting rid of them once and for all.”
That is a battle for tomorrow. Today, having her in my arms is enough.
