Chapter 124 See you in hell
My entire world tilted violently. “No… no no no—”
My voice came out broken, unrecognizable, like it didn’t belong to me.
Her eyes lifted slowly. God, Those eyes. They found mine ad despite everything—despite the pain, despite the blood already soaking through her, despite the way her body was beginning to give out she looked… relieved.
Relieved like she had done what she needed to do.
Like she was okay with this. That alone broke something deep inside my chest. “D-Damien…” she breathed, her voice barely a whisper, trembling as blood bubbled at the corner of her lips.
“No!” I surged forward, catching her just as her knees buckled. “No, no, stay with me—stay with me, tesoro—!”
Her body was already going limp in my arms.
Too light, too fragile. No, this wasn’t happening.
Not again, not like this.
Behind her Bellamy exhaled sharply, almost amused. “You should’ve let her stay where she belonged,” he muttered coldly.
That voice.
That fucking voice.
Something inside me snapped so violently it felt physical. Like a bone breaking, like something tearing loose inside my chest. I looked up slowly, very slowly and locked eyes with him. Everything went silent, no pain, no fear
“You…” My voice was quiet. Too quiet. Deadly in a way that even I didn’t recognize.
Bellamy tilted his head, watching me like I was something mildly interesting. “Look at you,” he said, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Still breathing. Still trying.”
I gently lowered Jasmine to the ground for just a second—just enough to free one hand.
Her fingers weakly curled into my shirt.
“Don’t… go…” she whispered faintly.
“I’m right here,” I said immediately, my voice cracking as I pressed a desperate kiss to her forehead. “I’m right here, tesoro. I’m not leaving you.”
But my eyes never left him. Bellamy took a step forward, big mistake. My hand moved before my mind did. The gun was already in my grip. I didn’t remember pulling it out, didn’t remember aiming, but it was there.
Pointed directly at him. His eyes flickered—just for a fraction of a second, recognition but it was too late. “You took her from me.”
My voice was hollow, robbed of all humanity.
“You broke her.”
A step forward. “You touched what was mine.”
Another step.
Each word heavier than the last.
Each one soaked in blood and grief and rage.
“I should’ve killed you slower.” Bang.
The first shot rang out, echoing violently through the underground space. The bullet tore through his shoulder, spinning him slightly off balance.
But I didn’t stop, I couldn’t stop.
Bang. Second shot to his chest. A grunt left him, his body jerking from the impact. Still not enough, not nearly enough.
Bang.
Third, his leg buckled. He dropped to one knee.
But I wasn’t done.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang. Each shot punctuated by the echo of everything he had taken from me.
Every scream she had made, every tear she had cried. Every moment I had spent without her.
He finally fell, hard.
His body hitting the ground with a dull, lifeless thud. Blood pooled beneath him, spreading quickly across the concrete. But I still stood there.
Gun raised, chest heaving, finger twitching on the trigger.
Waiting.
Just in case, just in case he moved.
Just in case he dared.
Silence fell, it was heavy and suffocating.
“See you in hell…” I muttered hoarsely, lowering the gun at last.
Then I dropped it.
Because none of it mattered, none of it, not when “Jasmine!”
I was back at her side in seconds, dropping to my knees so hard it barely registered.
Blood, there was so much blood. Too much.
“No, no, no—” My hands shook as I pressed down on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, trying to hold her together like I could force life back into her body with sheer will alone.
“Stay with me,” I begged, my voice breaking completely now. “Stay with me, tesoro, please—please don’t do this—”
She coughed, a weak, fragile sound.
Blood spilled from her lips. My heart stopped.
“No—!” I wiped it away frantically, shaking my head. “You’re okay—you’re okay, I’ve got you—I’ve got you—”
But she wasn’t.
I knew it.
God, I knew it. Her hand lifted slowly.
Shaking, weak and somehow still gentle.
It came to rest against my cheek. I leaned into it instantly, like a man starved of warmth. “Don’t… cry…” she whispered, her thumb brushing against my skin, smearing tears I didn’t even realize were falling.
“I’m not,” I lied, choking on the words. “I’m not crying—just—just stay with me, okay? Stay—”
“Damien…”
The way she said my name, it was soft, fading like it was slipping away from her.
It terrified me. “I’m right here,” I said quickly, gripping her hand tighter. “I’m right here, tesoro. I’m not going anywhere. You hear me?”
Her lips trembled into the faintest smile.
And that smile broke me more than anything else.
“I… love you…”
“No—!” My voice cracked violently. “No, don’t say that like that—don’t—” Her eyes fluttered, closing.
“No, no, no—stay with me—Jasmine, look at me—look at me—!”
I cupped her face desperately, my forehead pressing against hers. “Please… please fight… please…” But her body was already going cold in my arms.
And for the second time—
I felt her slipping through my fingers.
JASMINE
It was quiet, too quiet. Not the kind of quiet that came with peace—not at first, this was different. This was the kind of silence that swallowed everything whole.
Just… stillness.
I couldn’t feel the ground beneath me anymore.
Couldn’t feel the cold concrete, the damp air, the sting of my wounds or the ache that had lived in my body for so long it had become part of me.
All of it was gone.
And that terrified me… for a moment. Because pain meant I was alive, pain meant I was still fighting.
But this?
This felt like floating. Like I was suspended somewhere between breathing and not, existing and fading, holding on and letting go.
I was tired. So, so tired. A kind of exhaustion that didn’t only sit in my bones but seeped into my soul. The kind that no sleep could ever fix. The kind that came from fighting for too long… from holding on when everything in you begged to let go.
And for the first time in so long… I didn’t feel afraid. There were no shadows here, no screams.
No darkness pressing in from all sides. No voice calling me “Cass” with that twisted affection that made my skin crawl.
It wrapped around me gently, like arms I hadn’t felt in years. Like a lullaby I didn’t remember learning but somehow knew by heart.
For the first time in so long…
I felt safe.
A shaky breath left me.
And with it, something inside me loosened.
Maybe… Maybe it was okay to rest.
Just for a little while.
Just for a moment.