Page 90 of Dominion

I pushed Danny away from me and met his stormy gaze when he realized that I wouldn’t reciprocate the feelings.

“You fucking disgust me,” I spat out, wiping my hands over the places he touched. “I didn’t miss you, Danny. I didn’t miss this fucking place or the insanity surrounding it, so cut to the chase and stop torturing me with your presence.”

“My, my.” Judah chuckled. “We became brave, didn’t we? I don’t know if I like it.”

I didn’t care if he liked it or not. He had no say in how I lived my life anymore, and we both knew why he didn’t like it. He wanted me when I kept my mouth shut and when I nodded at every single thing he said. He liked me when I was a submissive little bitch, ready to do anything he wanted just to get my next fix, because living in that state was easier than facing reality.

“I think you’re misunderstanding my being here for something else, Judah.” I smirked, unable to help myself. “I’m not here to bow down again and to tell you how sorry I am. I’m not sorry. Not even a little bit. I’m not sorry for setting that fire and I am certainly not sorry for working with people who will bring you down.” His eyes turned darker, the gaze I knew all too well, but I wasn’t afraid anymore. If today was the last day on Earth for me, I wanted him to know that he would never win.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Whatever happened to me would be worth it if he would fall and shatter to pieces, because I trusted Casimir. I trusted thathe had a plan, and I knew that my sacrifice, if it came to that, wouldn’t be for nothing.

“It took me a long time to realize that you’re just a bully, and no one ever dared to tell you that they’re sick of your crap because of all the influence your family had. But the truth is,” I smiled proudly, “you are nothing.”

I chose to look at Kane this time, to see the awe in his eyes. I chose to glance at Rowan who was looking at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. When Judah started cackling, it almost threw me off-kilter, but I wasn’t going to allow him to destroy this for me.

“You’re such a stupid little girl, Skylar. Just like your mother, you’re vermin that should’ve been trained. But no matter what I did, you never learned.” My heart jumped at the mention of my mother, my own unresolved feelings when it came to her, fucking with my resolve to stay strong. “She managed to evade me all these years. Both her and that fucking Lazarus Morass, but once I am done with you, I will find her. I swear to all that I have, I will find her and I will make her suffer for ever thinking that she could outsmart me.”

“My mother is dead,” I said plainly, not wanting to give him any more ammunition.

“You either think I am stupid or…” he laughed. “We both know she isn’t dead. I know she’s in Winworth, and I could bet that she’s in that fucking asylum where the two of them tried to kill me.” Now that was news to me. “But you don’t seem shocked.”

“Because I know you’re full of crap, Judah. I also know you like the sound of your own voice more than anything else in this world. I’m pretty sure that you spend hours in front of the mirror, rehearsing for the day.”

I could see Danny moving on my left from the corner of my eye, but I had my gaze firmly plastered to Judah and his everymove. Danny wasn’t the one I should fear right now—Judah was, and I was baiting him to do something crazy.

“You know…” he shook his head. “I was going to offer you a second chance. I was going to give you everything, but you’re just another bitch just like Danika was. You can’t see a good thing even if it hits you on your head.” As if he was a good thing.

The delusions of this man had never ceased to amaze me, but the fact that he thought I would willingly stay by his side while he destroyed some other poor child... Un-fucking-believable.

“You have already lost, Judah,” I added salt on the wound, crossing my arms over my chest. “You have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The Order is finished, and we all know it isn’t the only order that exists. We know that your family decided to separate itself from the Dominion. I also know that the Red Maidens never should’ve been breeding mares. They were wives and respected members of the society. I also know that you’re just another white man, foaming at the mouth for just a little bit of power.”

“I will rebuild my empire!” he blasted, the vein on his forehead sticking out. “And I will burn down that joke of an organization that thinks they can control me. I will rebuild everything, just how I did before, and no one will be able to stop me.” He reached behind his back, and I knew, deep inside my bones, that this was it. “And you won’t be here to see it.” He grinned, pulling out a gun and pointing it straight at me. “You won’t be around to mess it up again. Once I’m done with your fucking brother and that mother of yours, there will be no one standing in my way. I will be on top of the world once again.”

He would never be on top of the world. I knew that Casimir, Ash, and even Dylan would make sure of it.

I stared straight at the gun, closing my eyes slowly and whispering to the wind to take care of them. I didn’t want toleave, but if this was the way, then I would gladly leave this world, knowing that this was where it ends.

“Any last words, Skylar?”

My eyes flew open, a smile gracing my face. “I will see you in fucking hell, Judah.”

He didn’t smile. He didn’t even smirk when I saw him pressing on the trigger with his forefinger. The boom of the gunshot slashed through my ears, and I braced myself for impact, but it never came. A heavy body plastered itself to me, his blue eyes staring down at me with all the love he could ever muster.

My brain played catch up for about a second when another gunshot reverberated through the air, waking me up from the stupor I was in.

The pain never slashed through my body because none of the bullets ever touched me.

Dylan stood in front of me, shielding me with his body and smiling softly while the pain seeped into his eyes. His smile never fell off of his face, even when my ears started hurting from the force of someone screaming, until I realized it was me.

My throat was sore as Dylan wrapped his arms around my body, leaning over me as if that would lower the impact of what was happening. I felt the liquid trickling over my hands as I placed them on his back.

I heard the footsteps behind me and saw the men in black tactical uniforms entering the room, seizing Judah and Danny, but I couldn’t move away from Dylan.

“No, no, no,” I chanted, refusing to believe what was happening. “No. Dylan. No!”

---