Blood and Ashes

Blood and Ashes
Ivy’s POV

“Adrian!” I managed to scream, but before I could part my lips to call out his name again the man shoved me behind the couch, firing back at Adrian.

BANG!

Then one shot found him.

Adrain staggered back, his shirt blooming red across his ribs. “No!” I pushed the man away and ran towards Adrain, catching him before he hit the ground. 

His blood soaked through my hands, hot and slick. “Stay with me ... please….”He tried to speak but only coughed up blood instead as his eyes met mine for a split second, then rolled back.

“Well, well,” the man’s voice echoed from behind, low and mocking. “So this is how easily the great Adrain can fall, huh?”

He stepped into view — that same sick smirk tugged at the corner of his lips when he saw me holding Adrain. “Didn’t think he’d go down that easily…I expected more fight from the guy banging his own stepsister.”

“Shut up.” I snapped back at him. He tilted his head, amused by the way I said it, “This is so touchy.”He cocked his gun again and stepped closer, as if he had all the time in the world. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back where you belong soon enough.”

“Please don’t hurt him,” I begged, pulling Adrian closer. “Please. He’s bleeding….he needs a doctor. I’ll go with you. I’ll do whatever you want, just….don’t kill him.”

A humorless laughter tore out of him—a short, cruel sound that made my pain worse. “Nice offer. But I’ve got a job to finish. And the job says he dies.” Then he pushed me aside like I was nothing. 

I hit the floor, pain flashing down my shoulder as my hands scraped against splinters. He stepped closer to where Adrian had fallen — and froze.

“What the—“ Dante hissed, staring at the place where Adrain lay, I was expecting him to shoot Adrain but I turned to see an empty space.

Adrian was gone.

The man stood there just staring at the trail of blood leading toward the back door. “Son of a bitch!”, he cursed out loud. 

Before I knew it, the man pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number, putting it on loudspeaker so much that I could hear it too, “Cassian,” he growled when the line connected. “I had that fucking bastard. But he’s gone.”

A pause at first, then Cassian’s voice — furious, venomous cut through the phone.
“You lost him?”

“I’ve got the girl,” the man replied as he glanced at me, “She’s right here.”

“Where the fuck are you? Where the hell did he take her?” Cassian’s voice shredded into a string of curses, each one sharper than the last as he barked at the man. 

“You fucking idiot…you said that you wouldn’t lose them,” Cassian continued, “So what the fuck happened out there?”

The man’s voice came back, steady and smug despite the rain of curses Cassian poured on him. “I shot him. But the bastard got clever — left a trail, ran off but I’ve got your woman, That’s not nothing.”

Cassian’s reply was a growl. “Not nothing? Not nothing?” A bitter laughter tore out of him, but it sounded more like a curse. “You listen to me and listen well. You will bring Ivy in one piece back to me so I can decide what to do with her….”

“And then you go back, find and bring me Adrain Veynar dead or alive. You screw this up and you won’t see that money again, I’ll bury whatever’s left of you in the river and make you scream for mercy while I sign the check.” Cassian’s words were venomous, precise. 

“Bring her to my estate,” he growled, then the line went dead. For a moment, the man stared at the phone with his jaw locked, then slipped it back into his pocket. When he looked at me again, his smirk returned—slow, and poisonous.

“You hear that?” he said. “Your knight in shining armor just left you bleeding in a cabin and didn’t even look back.”

“Don’t you dare say another word against Adrain, “ I hissed.

He took a step closer. “You really think he loves you? He ran away, you saw it yourself. He’s good at that — running from everything because he’s a coward.”

“He’s hurt!” I shot back, my voice shaking. “He didn’t leave me and run away, I know he’ll still come back.”

“Sure,” the man sneered, “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it’ll make you feel better when you belong to Cassian for good.”

I rose to my feet, trembling as I tried to stand up.  “You’re lying.” He smiled—one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’d be amazed how fast love dies when the body goes cold.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I forced my voice to be steady even though my heart  hammered against my ribs, “If you want to take me, you’ll have to kill me first.”

His brows furrowed. “You sure about that, sweetheart?” Before I could blink, he lunged towards me in swift motions and I began to run. My bare feet slipped across the floorboards as I tore through the back door, out into the storm.

Branches whipped at my face trying to block my path, but I didn’t stop. Behind me — footsteps, heavy and closer as I kept running.

“Ivy!” The man’s voice cut through the rain, laced with threat, “You’re just making this harder for yourself!”

I pushed forward, ignoring the pain that tore through my side as my vision swam, then—

Something hit me hard from behind before I could run further and the world spun. I crashed into the mud, the knife flying from my hand.

“You should’ve come with me the easy way,” he murmured as his body towered over me. His breath hit my neck — warm, disgusting, “Would’ve been easier.”

“Get off me!” I screamed, twisting and fighting against his grip but he was just too strong. He grabbed my wrist, slamming it against the ground as pain shot up my arm. 

“Are you done yet?”

I spat in his face. “Go to hell.”

He smiled through it — slow, infuriating. “Ladies first.”My body wouldn’t move, and my heartbeat was slowing.

The last thing I saw was his face leaning over me, rain dripping from his jaw. Then his voice that came out low, final. “Time to go home, sweetheart.”

The world faded as he grabbed me by the arms and began to drag me away.