I choose this duty.
My honor is intact.
My love is sealed forever.
I will survive this.
The darkness will not destroy me.
It was already there inside me.
Wang continues to thrust in and out of my core. He grips my hair tighter, pulling on the strands to get a response from me, but he doesn’t even elicit a small whimper. Silence descends in the air among the men. These Jīn Long are demons who seek a woman’s pain rather than her pleasure—they long for the screams and the tears, but in me, they get nothing. I’m a serene being at the moment. My hair is pulled harder, so I’m being arched backward. The movement jerks my back, causing the only pain I’ve felt since my punishment started. I still don’t give them any sounds, though.
Wang slams me down, hard, against the hood of the car and continues to bury himself deep, emptying himself of his poison within me. I ignore the sensations as he pulls out and turns me around. He dips his hand between my legs before pulling it away and showing me the mixture of blood and cum covering his fingers. I give no reaction. My body will heal. It will remember Jaxon and recover. He’s imprinted on my soul and will never be removed no matter what happens to me now.
Wang shakes his head, his jaw ticking with the fury cascading through him at my lack of reaction.
“So strong. I see you’ve been taught well. Hiding inside your head when the time comes for punishment and death is a well-known technique. But focusing on a life in which only happiness exists won’t save you. I’ll break you in the end.”
Wang curls his hand into a fist and sends it hard into my cheek. Pain ricochets through my whole body. The urge to scream out in anger is overwhelming, but I keep my lips tight together. I’ll not give him my pain…never ever. Another fist follows the first, and I slump down the hood of the car onto the ground where two more kicks to my aching body follow.
“Scream for me, Lia, scream long and loud,” Wang shouts in fury, but I remain silent on the ground, staring up at the blue sky filled with birds flying around and unaware of what is happening below them. “Scream, scream, scream.” Wang reins down more kicks and blows to my body. I don’t feel anything break, just bruises forming. He dips his fingers inside me again and fetches out more of the blood and cum mixture. He brings it to my face and smears it all over my cheek. “Give me your reaction.”
I give him nothing, except a small smile. I know my plan is working. I’ve sacrificed myself today, but the Yi Shu will have their victory.
He grabs me by the hair, pulling me closer to him, and his spit covers my face as he snarls out his warning.
“I’m going to enjoy breaking you, Lia Zhànshì.”
It’s meant to terrify me but does nothing of the sort,
No, Wang, it’s I who’ll enjoy breaking you.
I’ll enjoy killing you.
I’ll enjoy ending this war.
A final punch comes hard into my face, and darkness envelops me.
The trap is set.
“You wanted to see me?” I bow low to Gaozu where he sits at his desk.
His office is sparsely decorated compared to other rooms in the compound. A simple picture hangs on his wall. I know it’s a picture of his ancestral home back in China. It’s little more than a run-down hut—his family has come far.
“Take a seat,” Gaozu orders and I comply.
It’s been a few days since Lia was unmasked and forced to leave. I’ve no idea where she is or if I’ll ever see her again. My heart and head ache, but I’ve been throwing myself into work to try to forget. I’m working with a new selection of recruits, but none have the skills of Lia. Gaozu was wrong to cast her out, not that I’ll ever tell him my views. He owns me and always will.
“Is there anything wrong?” I question, hoping this is a work related meeting and not one to discuss my betrayal of him.
I know I’m being punished by being separated from Lia, but I can’t help thinking there will be more torture to come.
“I wanted an update on the recruits. I fear another attack soon, and we need to make sure we’re ready.”
I relax a little in my chair, knowing it’s not going to be about Lia.
“They are doing well, sir. I believe we’re ready. I’m even thinking maybe we should start planning an attack ourselves and put an end to this, once and for all.”
Gaozu leans back in his chair his long arms folded across his chest. He’s in a business suit today rather than the traditional Chinese dress that he tends to favor. It looks strange on him, but I know it means he has meetings with the business world outside the Yi Shu.
“To attack without provocation is against our nature. We fight only for our protection.”
“We do, but we always seem one step behind the Jīn Long. Maybe we could take the fight to them for once. We could end this now and release our men back to their families and a normal way of life. I’ve already received reports of some businesses within our district that are suffering because the skilled workers they require are no longer available. The families are trying their best, but they do not have the necessary expertise, and it is growing more and more likely that there will be no positions remaining for our men when they do return home.” I know I’m being outspoken, and at present, I should be keeping my head down, but I can’t ignore the stories I’ve been hearing.
I had a woman come crying to me yesterday, begging for a few hours with her son so he could show her how to perform a task required for his usual work. I granted them the time together, of course, but I can’t always do that.
“You’re being very forthright with me, Jaxon.”
Gaozu leans forward, his elbows resting on the desk.
“I don’t mean to be, sir. I know you see the suffering our people are enduring. I’m aware you walk among them as I do, but I feel as though we are bowing down to the Jīn Long. We are letting them control what we do and how we respond. Eventually, it’s going to end up damaging our people permanently. I believe we need to take the fight to them.”
I wince, thinking I’ve said too much, and I’ve angered him. But instead of reprimanding me, he sighs heavily before opening a drawer in his desk. He pulls out a picture of Lia and places it in front of me on the desk.
“You think I do nothing to help our people. I wish it were true. Lia was one of our best fighters, Jaxon…was, being the operative word. We don’t know where she is now.”
I get to my feet, interrupting him. It’s a stupid thing to do, but I don’t want to look at the picture of the woman I love. I feel myself being drawn to the small window Gaozu uses to look out over the yard. Seeing the men training hard relaxes some of the tension in my shoulders, but I want Lia back here beside me. I want her in my arms. I want my cock inside her, and her pleasure bathing me. I’ll never have it again, though. I begin to wonder if I’ve given my loyalty to the wrong people all my life. Maybe I should have chosen to stay with my father the day he left me with Gaozu and disappeared. Maybe I should have allowed fate to decide if I lived or died at the hands of those who were searching for me.
“Jaxon, sit back down.”
I turn and look at Gaozu.
“I prefer to stand.”
“Sit, I have something I need to tell you.”