Chapter 54 A Sad Demon Of Death
Even from this distance, I could see his eyes. Those green eyes that usually held such careful control were now burning with pure, unfiltered rage. His clothes were splattered with blood, none of it his, I was sure. His face was a mask of cold fury.
He looked like death itself.
His eyes found mine across the warehouse, and something in his expression shifted. The rage intensified, became something primal and something terrifying.
And then he screamed.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
It wasn't a shout, it was a roar. A lion's roar that echoed through the entire building, shaking dust from the rafters. I felt it in my chest and in my bones.
I saw fear flash across my kidnapper's face before he quickly masked it with bravado.
"Wow," he said, his voice slightly shaky. "The Paimon is here. I didn't think you'd come so quickly."
He turned to his armed men. "Get him! Alive or dead, I don't care! Just get him!"
The guards rushed forward, weapons raised. There had to be at least thirty of them, all armed with guns, knives, plank and whatever they could carry.
And I watched as Cole Ryder became exactly what everyone said he was. He was a monster though I think the people he was killing actually deserved it but still they were humans.
He moved through them like they were nothing. Like they were insects to be crushed beneath his feet. His gun barked once, twice, three times. Men fell and he didn't hesitate or flinch. He didn't even show a single ounce of mercy.
His accomplice was beside him, also fighting along with him with the same ruthlessness they had learned from their boss but Cole was at the front, cutting through the guards like a blade through water.
His face was emotionless and cold. Empty of anything resembling humanity.
While watching him, I realized something. Everything that had happened to my ex- boyfriend, Daniel, his life falling apart and all, couldn't possibly be a coincidence.
Cole had probably been behind it.
This wasn't just a pretty billionaire boy with a dark hobby like I thought but a dangerous man. Someone who lived in shadows and blood.
The guards kept coming, and Cole kept killing. It looked effortless, like breathing.
My kidnapper was still trying to untie me, his hands shaking now.
I gathered what little strength I had left and spat in his face.
"You're going to die," I whispered. "Just like your people."
He hit me one last time. Hard enough that my vision went completely white for a moment.
"Boss, go save Celene!" I heard one of Cole's accomplice shout. "Leave these ants to us!"
Through my spinning vision, I saw Cole start moving toward us, cutting down anyone in his path.
The world was tilting and going dark. The last hit had been too much and I was fading.
But even as unconsciousness pulled me under, I heard his voice.
"Celene! Celene, stay with me! Don't you dare leave me!"
He sounded desperate and afraid and then everything went black.
Cole Ryder's POV
I reached her just as her eyes fluttered closed.
"Celene! Celene, stay with me!" I shook her shoulders gently while my hands trembled. "Don't you dare leave me!"
Her head bend to the side and she became unconscious.
Blood streaked down her face from a cut above her eyebrow. Her lip was split and bruises were already forming on her cheeks, her arms and everywhere that bastard had touched her.
Rage unlike anything I'd ever felt consumed me entirely.
I heard movement behind me and nstinct kicked in. I spun around just in time to see the man lunging at me with a knife, his face twisted with hatred.
He was fast but I was faster.
I caught his wrist mid-strike, twisting it sharply until I heard bone crack. He screamed but didn't let go of the knife, determined and desperate.
He swung at me with his other hand. I blocked it and kicked him in the stomach. He doubled over, gasping for air but he wasn't done. He came at me again, slashing wildly with the knife. I dodged left, then right, reading his movements like a book I'd memorized years ago.
He managed to slash my side as I groaned in pain. Blood seeped through my shirt but I didn't care.
I grabbed his knife hand again, squeezing until his fingers went white. The knife clattered to the floor. Then I drove my fist into his face three times and his nose shattered, blood oozing out
He stumbled backward, trying to get away, but I was on him. I grabbed a wooden plank from a broken crate nearby and swung it at his head. It connected with a sickening crack.
He fell to his knees.
I hit him again and again just like he'd hit Celene. Every blow was for her and every bruise on her face and every tear she'd cried.
"You touched her," I growled, hitting him again. "You put your filthy hands on her."
He tried to speak, blood bubbling from his mouth but I didn't let him.
I dropped the plank and grabbed his arm and with one brutal motion, I twisted it until it dislocated from the shoulder. He screamed.
"This hand," I said coldly. "You used this hand to touch what's mine."
I pulled out my knife and brought it down on his wrist. He shrieked as I amputated his hand completely while blood pooled beneath him.
"Please," he gasped. "Please, stop."
"Did you stop when she begged?"
I kicked him onto his back and straddled him, my hands wrapping around his throat.
But before I could finish him, he started laughing. A wet, gurgling laugh that made my grip tighten instinctively.
"What's so funny?" I snarled.
"You," he choked out. "You're so pitiful, Paimon. You think this is over?"
"You're dying so it's over."
"No." He coughed, blood spraying from his lips. "When you find out who really ordered this, who's really behind the kidnapping, you'll wish you'd died here with me. The revelation will destroy you."
My hands tightened. "What are you talking about?"
"It's not over, Ryder. Not even close. You can't protect her from what's coming or from them."
He suddenly reached for something beside him and I realized it was a gun. His remaining hand closed around it, bringing it up toward my chest.
I was faster and I pulled my own gun and fired. The bullet went straight through his forehead and his body went limp beneath me.
I stood up slowly, breathing hard. My side was bleeding, but I barely felt it. All I could think about was Celene.