Page 133 of Ash and Poison

I pulled her to me, my heart clenching with something foreign and strange.

“Just stay here for a second,” I whispered when she tried to struggle out of my hold.

“Something wrong?”

“No, everything is too good right now,” I whispered, pressing my lips to her hair. “Diya…”

“Yes?”

“The debt you owe me…” I trailed off, the weight of my words hanging heavy in the air. I knew if I let go now, she might not come back. Damn it, I didn’t want to let go. I shouldn’t. “It’s paid.”

She jerked away from me. “What are you—” Her lips parted. “Oh. OH!” she whispered. “You mean…”

“Yes.” My throat tightened. “You don’t have to. Not anymore.”

Because it stopped being a game now. I wanted the real thing. I wanted it to be more than just fucking her. I wanted everything.

Not just a casual fling, with no strings. Oh no, I had to go and want the whole damn roller-coaster. The emotional baggage, the trauma, the… whatever. Every fucking thing.

She laughed, a sharp, cynical sound that cut through the silence.

“Well,” she said. “How generous of you. Should I thank you for this?”

“Aren’t you happy?” I asked.

“Oh. Can’t you see? I’m jumping in delight,” she said before whirling around to face the poor bastard, and without another word, she punched him in his nose.

“Was that supposed to be my nose?” I asked.

“A nose is a nose.” She shrugged as Jimmy groaned in protest. “Tell me, Jimmy, what’s the thing you fear the most? Ash here… he’s afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Wasn’t asking you, Maddox. Keep your trap shut, why don’t you? Jimmy, it’s your stage, dude. Come on.”

“I… the smoke. The girls, coming to take me. They… Gasping… can’t breathe. Suffocating. The whispers…” I could almost hear his heartbeat quickening. “Run, I can’t run. They are always chasing.”

“Now listen to my voice. You can run now. Run.”

“I can run now.”

She laughed. “Yes. The shadows are parting. You’re fast. You can escape the girls. Run faster.”

“Run faster,” he slurred, his eyes glazed. “I… I think I can survive.” He sounded hopeful.

“Oh, fuck, what’s that? Did you just stumble and fall? Oh, no, the smoke is closing in. It has claws and fangs. If you look, you can see eyes. Were those eyes of the girls you hurt? Can you feel it? They are angry and they want to rip your skin off your bones.”

“Save me.”

“Only the man who forced you to do this can save you. If you give him to these girls, they won’t hurt you.”

“Help me.”

“Give them the one who hurt them, and you might survive this.”

“I-I don’t know him.”

“You might have an inkling of doubt. I want you to think, Jimmy.”