Page 298 of Untamed

He watches me like his world is ending, and the damn within me breaks.

“I need you to stay away,” I whisper. “Don’t come back for me. Don’t come after him. If you do, he’ll kill you. And then this, everything I’m about to do, will have been for nothing.”

Ares shakes his head violently. “No. I won’t let you rot in his cage. The moment he lets me walk I will kill him. I’ll rip this world apart until you’re safe and back where you belong.” And then his eyes lower to my stomach and he adds with a barely audible whisper. “Both of you”

Tears I’ve been holding back spill over and stream down my cheeks. He found the test. He knows I’m pregnant. We share a meaningful look before I speak again. “Then let me say this while I still can.”

I step forward and reach for his bloodied face. One of the guards starts forward, but Ares jerks and growls low in his throat, forcing him back.

I don’t touch him. I just let my eyes drink in his face one more time.

“I love you,” I say, barely able to get the words out. “You are the only thing in this life that ever made me feel whole. And when I stood by you and vowed we’d burn together, I meant it, Ares. If this is what I have to do to keep you breathing, I’ll do it.”

His eyes shimmer with rage and grief.

And for the first time since I’ve known him, I see it,devastation.

“I’ll never stop,” he breathes. “Even if I have to crawl through hell?—”

“You have to let me go.”

He shakes his head again, frantic. “Please don’t do this.”

“You were meant for something great, Ares. You were never meant to follow orders. You were made to be the one theyfear.” I shuffle forward and press my hand to his cheek. “Maybe the only way to end this… is tofinishwhat your father started.” I remind him, and he just stares at me, his jaw clenched so tight it starts to tick furiously. I know he catches the hidden meaning behind my words because I see the fire flare up in his eyes.

The door opens behind me. Nicolai stands there, leaning casually against the frame, enjoying the scene like it’s theatre.

“Time’s up,” he says.

I look at Ares one last time, and I lean down and press my lips to his one last time. Our lips tremble against other for the brief moment they touch. “Io sono tua. Per sempre.” I whisper against his lips. And just as I feel a hand clamp around my arm like steel, about to drag me away, I hear him whisper back, “Per semre tuo. Aspettami.”Forever yours. Wait for me.

He barely finishes the words before a hand like iron clamps around my arm and rips me backward.

“Ares!” I cry out, trying to reach for him, but I’m already being dragged away. My heels scrape against the floor, the distance between us growing with every desperate heartbeat.

His voice shatters the air. “Don’t fucking touch her! Get your fucking hands off her!”

I twist, struggling against Nicolai’s grip bruising my arm, but I catch a glimpse...Ares thrashing in the chair, his body wild with rage, his wrists pulling so hard against the straps that blood spills down his hands. His eyes...God, his eyes, lock on mine like he can burn the world down from that chair if it means reaching me.

“Jordyn!” he roars, and the sound of my name in his voice rips straight through me.

I try to fight, to claw back to him, but they’re stronger. They always are. I scream his name again, the walls swallowing it whole, and then he’s gone. The door slams shut between us with a finality that makes my knees buckle.

But I can still hear him...his voice echoing like thunder through the walls, and I know he hears my sobs from the other side of the door. As Nicolai drags me down the corridor, Ares lets out a scream so raw, so soul-shattering, it rattles through the bones of the mansion and lodges itself in my chest.

And I know… he won’t stop until he gets to me.

Nicolai’s iron like grip bruises my arm as he drags me down the corridor, his pace cruelly steady while my legs stumble to keep up. I don’t look back, I can’t. If I do, what little strength I have left inside of me will shatter completely. And I can’t fall apart.... not yet.

“I kept my word,” he says smoothly, like this is simply a transaction instead of torment. “You got to kiss your little monster goodbye. Now it’s your turn to keep yours.”

We reach a door, another gilded prison and he yanks it open, shoving me inside. I whimper as I stumble, catching myself onthe edge of a vanity lined with brushes, pins, silk, and lace. The sight of it turns my stomach.

“Make yourself pretty for me, sposa,” he says, his voice like silk hiding steel. “The priest is already here and waiting. Don’t keep him.”

I spin on him, voice shaking. “You said you wouldn’t hurt him!” I retort hotly. “You’ve had him beaten half to death. Let him go, Nicolai. Please. You got what you wanted. I said yes, I agreed. Just let him walk away.”

Nicolai cocks his head, like I’ve said something amusing. “No, dolcezza. You misunderstood. I said I’d let himlive, not walk.” He steps closer, and I retreat until my back hits the wall. “He gets to leave… after he watches. After he sees exactly what it means to lose.”

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