They’re not trying to talk him out of anything. No, they all seem eager to help him. Whipping their knives out as if they were simply waiting.
Some even wearing grins on their faces.
I’m stuck in a room full of psychopaths.
Simon, the closest to James, walks up to him and offers him a thin stiletto. “I need to head out to my car and get to work on this new information. We need to seize this opportunity before it slips away. I’ll have Johnathan bring my bag in for you.”
When James accepts the stiletto, Simon looks over at me for a second. “I’ll also make some calls and see if there’s something we can give Sophia for the pain that’s safe.”
James looks a little surprised at that and some of his calm seems to crack. Rage starting to ooze out again. But then he shakes his head hard, getting a grip on himself.
Gripping the stiletto, James tells Simon, “Thank you.”
Simon smirks at James before he starts to walk away. “What are brothers for?”
The big blonde man that was pointing a gun at Dickers’s head before James killed him calls out, “Brothers, huh? You never do shit for me.”
“Well, Gabriel, I actually like James,” Simon says and pauses at the door to sharpen his smirk at the big blonde guy. “And his wife just made my fucking year.”
“Yeah… well, I don’t like you either, pansy-ass motherfucker,” Gabriel grumbles under his breath as Simon walks out of the room.
“Our knives are yours,” Lucifer says, bringing James’s focus back to him. “Just tell us what you need us to do next.”
James looks around the room, at the men both standing and kneeling, calculating his next move.
Watching him, I wish I could speak. I wish I could ask him to take me home. To forget Jacob and Trent. Forget them and let the others deal with them.
But every time I try to make a noise, my throat produces nothing but silence.
It’s almost like I’m stuck in one of those nightmares… the kind where you can’t speak or move.
“Uriel,” James says, turning to him. “Help me with this fucker.”
Uriel grins at James and saunters over to him from the wall he was leaning against. “Sure. Which fucker?”
James shoves the stiletto into his belt and moves two steps over to Jacob. Grabbing Jacob roughly by the arm, he yanks him up to his feet.
“This fucker,” James says and points to the left wall. “I want to get him up against that wall.”
Uriel nods and shoves his gun back into the holster on his hip before grabbing Jacob’s other arm.
“Please...” Jacob pleads, trying to drag his heels as James and Uriel haul him over to the wall. “I’m sorry… I was just trying to protect my son. I shouldn’t have hurt—”
“Shut the fuck up!” James screams, losing his cool calm.
Lashing out, James punches Jacob hard in the mouth twice, in quick succession.
The first punch is enough to shut Jacob up. The second causes blood to burst past his busted lips and his head to whip back.
“It’s too fucking late for apologies now,” James growls as he spins Jacob around and pushes his back against the wall. “Too fucking late.”
Shaking his hand out, as if it hurts, James stares at Jacob for a moment. Then he tells Uriel to, “Keep him in place.”
Breath quickening, heart racing, I can’t help but worry about what James plans to do to Jacob.
Jacob tried to kill me, and he almost succeeded, but I still have this awful, sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I want him to suffer and pay for his crimes, but I’m not sure if I want it to be like this…
Once Jacob’s arm is straight and pointing away from his body, James holds it in place with his left hand and reaches down to grab the stiletto from his belt.
I know what’s coming a split second before it happens. My brain putting the pieces together.
Yet when James slams the stiletto into Jacob’s palm, I still find myself painfully gasping in horror.
Jacob lets out a scream and tries to rip his arm away from the wall, probably out of instinct.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” James grins at him, his face lighting up with wicked delight.
“Uriel, give me your knife,” James says and holds his hand out to him, keeping his eyes on Jacob.
Easily keeping Jacob’s flailing body pinned against the wall with his shoulder and arm, Uriel reaches down to his belt and yanks a tactical knife out of his belt.
Unlike the stiletto, the blade of the tactical knife is thick with serrated edges, and my stomach churns at the thought of the damage it will do.
“Andrew, please pass me some antiseptic and gauze so I can clean Sophia’s wounds for her,” Lucifer says out of nowhere beside me, drawing my surprised attention.
I was so caught up in James, I completely forgot Lucifer was beside me.
The moment I turn my head to look at Lucifer though, Jacob lets out another scream.
There’s so much pain in the scream, all the hair on the back of my neck stands on end
Slowly, because my neck is still hurting, I turn back to look at Jacob. My eyes find him again just in time to see James stab a knife through his right palm, nailing it to the wall.
It’s not the same knife James was holding when I looked away though…
When James steps back to admire his handiwork, I see the handle of Uriel’s knife sticking out of Jacob’s groin.
Fuck.
Oh fuck.
My head starts to feel lightheaded and my stomach clenches so hard I’m dangerously close to being sick.
I really don’t want to puke though, so I do my best to hold it back.
“A crucifixion? Really, James?” Lucifer laughs beside me as if he finds what happened to Jacob hilarious.
Shrugging his shoulders, James grins at Lucifer. “He wanted to be a savior…”
Lucifer’s laughter grows, and it’s everything I can do not to throw up.
This is so fucked up…
“Who wanted to be a savior?” Johnathan asks as he comes through the door, carrying a black medical bag.
Johnathan takes two more oblivious steps into the room before he finally notices Jacob knifed against the wall. “Well shit…”
James turns his grin on Johnathan, his eyes lighting up with something close to excitement as he takes in the bag.
Shaking the surprise off his face, Johnathan almost pouts at James as he says, “You started without me.”
“Sucks being stuck on a roof, doesn’t it?” James chuckles at Johnathan.
“No fucking shit,” Johnathan heaves out then he lifts the bag. “You wanted this?”
“Yes,” James says eagerly and holds out his hand for the bag.
Johnathan hands it over then looks over the room. When his gaze falls upon me, he looks a little taken aback. “What the fuck did they do to Sophia?”
James glances at me and that murderous rage flickers in his eyes before snuffing out. “The piece of shit against the wall tried to strangle her to death.”
“Motherfucker,” Johnathan growls and takes a step toward Jacob like he’s going to punch him or something.
“I’ll deal with him soon,” James says, holding out a hand to stop Johnathan. “First, I need to deal with his piece of shit son. You can help me get him out of his vest and into position.”