AEGIS'S P.O.V

"Ahhhhhvggvvgvg"

"Please I'm begging you please it hurts."

"It hurts plea..se.se.. Just let me die. Just..ju.ju.st let me d..iiii...e..Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

I don’t know whose voice it is anymore. It all got blurred together at the end. Maybe it’s mine. Maybe it’s one of the kids begging them to spare me, for mercy that won’t come.

But their screams were what made me do it.

The scent of blood around us is thick. It clung to my skin and seeped into my clothes to join my bleeding body. The damp, rotting walls of the Hunters’ prison press in, trapping me in the hell I was.

"Bring them," the Hunter leader orders in a smooth, sickly sweet, rotten honey voice. The guards drag Clara and Mike into the room. Clara fights back and so she's pulled in by the hair. kicking and screaming, but Mike is silent. His eyes find mine and he nodded in acceptance .

No it can't be.

"You know what I want, Aegis," the leader murmurs, stepping toward me. "And you also know what happens if you refuse me."

I do. They taught it to me and everyone here. My body already carries the proof, bruises, the scars, the places where their experiments have torn into me.

I did it. I took the pain for them. The burns, the whips, the broken bones. Anything to keep the little ones from suffering. They didn't deserve this. But this? This is different. I press my lips together.

"No." His smile didn't falter. "You’re stubborn."

He glances at Clara, then back at me. "Let’s see if you’re selfish too." He reaches for Clara. She jerks away, spitting at his feet. "You disgusting bastard. My brother'll come for me. He'll kill you." she screams.

He laughs and grabs her by the hair again. Clara thrashes around but he doesn’t care. His grip only tightens, pulling her closer. "Submit, little wolf. Or I’ll make your mate watch as my boys take your body over and over again."

Mike clenches his fists as his entire body trembled.

Clara gasps. "Don’t touch me!"

The leader hums. "So beautiful and defiant. You'd be fun to break but sadly I only need one of you."

His gaze shifts back to me. "Aegis, my dear. One last chance." I swallow hard. "Give yourself to me," he orders loudly, "Or they die."

A cold, awful silence follows. Mike is the first to speak. "No." The leader tilts his head. "No?" Mike breathes deeply. "I won’t let her do this."

"Mike..." Clara whispers. He turns to her with a soft, loving expression despite the bruises on his face and his missing left eye.

"No. This ends here. Can't you see? She's giving us everything. She's shielded everyone of us for Three days Clara. Three whole days. Even I couldn't do that." Then he turned to me and smiled, "Aegis, you’ve done enough. You’ve taken our beatings. Our pain. Our nightmares. If someone has to die tonight, let it be me."

Clara gasps. "No, no, no, you can’t—"

"It’s okay, love," Mike says, voice steady. "It’s an honor to protect you both." My chest tightens. "Mike, please..." The leader sighs.

"Well would you look at that. We have an hero." Smiling wickedly , he looked to me. "Aegis you still have a choice here. You spend the night and every other ones in my bed. Or....". He pulls out a gun.

Everything slows.

"So what's it going to be?"

" It's okay." Mike smiles.

"I...I.. can't."

Clara’s scream shatters the air as the gun fires. Mike crumples. Blood. Everywhere. The leader sighs and points the gun at Clara next.

I rush forward on my knees fighting against the chains that held me. "No, wait.. you said, you can't..." Another shot. Another body. I can’t breathe.

The world tilts and the walls crashed in. The shadows shifted and the cold cell fades away warping into something else.

Elijah. At first he was smiling then his golden eyes darken as he steps forward with Clara’s body on his hands. "You let them die," he whispers.

"No..."

"You did this."

"Please, I tried..."

His lips curl in disgust. "Die Aegis. You don't deserve to live." A sharp pain explodes in my chest. I look down. A spear is buried there, its tip drenched in my blood. "I never loved you." He shoves it deeper. I scream.....And wake up.

The dream lurched me forward as if it spit me out, gasping and trembling. My breath comes in short, sharp sobs. My skin is soaked in sweat and my throat hurt from all the screaming 1. I clutch at my chest as it hammered into me.

Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.

I can still feel the spear. The gunshots. Their blood on my hands. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I tried. I’m so sorry." The words tumble out, frantic, desperate. But no one answers.

Die. Die. Die. Die. D...ii..ee.

I force my breathing to slow, but it doesn’t help. The panic is still there, clawing at my ribs. The voices are still there sinking their evil into my bones. I need the drugs.

The vial. My hands shake as I grab the needle, sucking the liquid into the syringe. I don’t think. I can't. I just do it. The needle sinks into my waist. The familiar burn spreads through me, numbing everything. I collapse back onto the bed still panting.

I had to.

"Well, well," a voice drawls. "If it isn’t the great Poison Rose trying to kill herself." I don’t even open my eyes. "Goddess, it’s late," I murmur. "I’m not in the mood for your lectures today." The goddess clicks her tongue. "And yet, you’ll hear it. Just as you have for the past week. You can’t keep injecting yourself with Wolf’shaven. It’s a poison, Aegis."

"I know."

"You’ll die." I let out a breath. "I’ve already died once. It wasn’t so bad." Silence. Then, a low, warning growl. "Would you rather I take you away from this world before you overdose? Because I assure you, I will."

"You can’t."

"And why is that?"

I open my eyes, staring at the ceiling. "Because I’m not done yet."

The goddess huffs. "This is your second chance Aegis. Your purpose here is to live, not destroy yourself." I laugh, bitter and sharp.

"My purpose is to make them pay." The air shifts with unspoken tension. She was quiet and so was I.

"If that’s all," I say, turning away. " I’d like to be alone." The goddess vanishes with a hiss.

I push myself up and stumble toward the fridge at the corner. The cold air soothes my burning skin as I grab a bottle of water. I take a long drink, my hands still shaking.

A waft of air pass between my unclad thighs. Don't judge me, I like me some sexy nightwear. Then I see them. The slippers. Elijah’s father.

A tiny voice slithers into my mind.

So many lives lost, all because you refuse to die. You can end it all now Aegis. You can stop this now.

I clench my jaw. "It wasn’t my fault."

The voice laughs. Wasn’t it?

I stare at my reflection in the fridge door. My own eyes seem foreign to me, so tired, haunted, lost. I exhale slowly.

"I’ll make them all pay."

I chuckle to myself. "Sound like a damn Grim Reaper."

Shaking my head and confirming my dagger was still beside me, I climb back into bed and covered myself with the sheets. My fingers brush the lamp switch, plunging the room into darkness.

I close my eyes. I feel it. A presence. My heart stutters. In the corner of my room, someone is watching. Two eyes gleam in the darkness, unblinking. Knowing. I don’t move. I don’t breathe. I just watch back.

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