Chapter 110 — The Day the Puppet Cut the Strings

Chapter 110 — The Day the Puppet Cut the Strings
Amara

He drags me down the halls, but I already know every beat, every step—each one a rhythm I’ve memorized for months. I know exactly where we’re going, and adrenaline thrums through my veins. My room. My stage. And inside it—my sharpened nail-file blade, tucked where he’d never think to look. The sirens blare behind us, muffled under stone. Gunfire echoes faintly from the courtyard. But down here, in his fucked-up funhouse—his prison, my prison, our prison—time slows and the air turns vicious.

He shoves me into the room. The door hisses shut behind us.

“Get the first aid kit—now. Then we’re leaving.”

I keep my arms crossed. “Get it yourself.”

His hand strikes my cheek before the last word fully leaves my mouth—sharp, violent, echoing against tile and bone. Blood pools along my lip, metallic and warm. And I smile. Because yes, I was asking for it—but not for the reason he thinks.

Something inside me is broken. Just… not for him.

“What are you smiling at? Get the damn kit—unless you need another reminder.”

“As you wish, Master.”

The smile stays plastered on my face as I step forward—not just for the kit, but for the knife hidden beside it. Two more steps, then—

BOOM.

The door explodes inward, hinges flying across the room. Smoke. Shouting. Killian yanks his gun up—

“Liam.” Killian’s voice curdles like spoiled milk.

Time slows. His finger tightens on the trigger—aimed at Liam.

“No!”

I launch myself at him, knocking his arm just enough that the bullet veers into the wall. He roars, grabs me, and throws me like I’m nothing. My skull cracks against the doorframe, pain blurs the world into static and shadows.

Shapes move—fists flying, ribs cracking. Liam’s brothers. Killian. Blood on marble. I blink the blur away and see Killian’s hand jam into the bullet wound in Liam’s thigh—finger hooking into the torn flesh.

Liam screams—a raw, animal sound.

Something primal snaps inside me.

I stagger to my feet, grab the hidden blade. “Let him go,” I growl, pressing the cold steel to Killian’s throat.

He freezes. Then—chuckles. “You won’t kill me, little one.”

I press harder—skin dimples beneath the blade. “Test me. Last thing you’ll see is your blood spilling across your perfect floor.”

For a moment, his eyes show something I’ve never seen from him.

Fear.

He releases Liam. Liam slumps, blood soaking my bare feet.

“Back up. To the bed. Now.”

He does.

“Sit. Chain yourself.”

“You’re serious?” he scoffs.

I dig the blade into his thigh. He grits his teeth and latches the cuffs around his wrist. The same cuffs he put on me.

I drop to my knees beside Liam. Blood pours from his leg. I rip my belt from my waist and cinch it tightly around his thigh.

Killian’s voice slithers across the room. “He’s going to die anyway, little one. Might as well let it happen.”

My last thread of patience snaps.

“You think you’re God pulling strings—but what happens when your puppets cut them?” I snarl. “You become nothing.”

I stab the blade into his leg. He screams.

“You think you can live without me?!” he spits.

Behind me Liam rasps, “Amara—kill him. Now. Before—”

“Where are Thomas and Phoebe?” I demand.

Killian smirks. “Why don’t you go look for them? If they’re not dead already. I gave the order—first sign of trouble, kill them.”

Red floods my vision. The knife plunges deeper.

“I was going to kill you today anyway,” I whisper, “but not anymore.”

Killian laughs, breathless through pain. “Can’t kill the man you love, huh?”

“Love?” I crouch in front of him. My face inches from his. “I don’t love you. No one will ever love you. Death is too easy for you. I’m not going to kill you, Killian—I’m going to erase you.”

His eyes widen.

“I’ll take your throne. Your fortune. Your men. Your name. Every stone of your empire will burn because I light the match. And when you have nothing left—then I’ll kill you.”

I turn away from him, slide Liam’s arm over my shoulders, hauling him up as best I can. I grab Killian’s fallen gun from the floor.

He howls behind us, “You can’t leave me here! Amara! Come back or I swear I’ll kill everyone you—”

I pause at the door. Turn.

“You already did.”

And I drag Liam into the hallway—toward war.