Chapter 58 CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 58
KNOX
I left Yael’s dorm just before dawn, the campus still wrapped in that dead-quiet darkness that makes everything feel heavier. Her breathing had finally evened out in my arms, soft and trusting, her bruised face tucked against my chest. I kissed her forehead one last time, careful not to wake her, and slipped out the window the same way I’d come in.
By five a.m. I was standing outside Madison’s dorm building. My knuckles were still raw from climbing, but the pain kept me sharp. I didn’t knock. I didn’t need to. The side door was propped open with a brick—some idiot’s lazy habit—and I walked straight in like I owned the place.
Third floor. Room 312. I knew exactly where it was.
The door was cracked open, light spilling into the hallway. I pushed it wide without a sound.
Madison was sitting on her bed in pajamas, a thick white bandage wrapped around her head. Her three little minions—Brianna, Kayla, and the other one whose name I never bothered learning—were scattered around the room: one on the floor with ice packs, the others hovering like nervous dogs.
They all froze when they saw me.
Madison’s mouth opened, then closed. Good. Fear looked better on her than that fake smile she usually wore.
I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. Click.
The room smelled like antiseptic and cheap perfume. I didn’t sit. I didn’t lean. I just stood there, filling the doorway, arms loose at my sides.
“Knox—” Madison started, voice shaky.
“Shut the fuck up,” I said, low and calm.
Her mouth snapped shut.
I looked at each of them, slow. Brianna shrank back against the wall. Kayla clutched her phone like it could save her. The third one—let’s call her Minion #3—actually whimpered.
“You put your hands on my girl,” I said, voice flat. “Four of you. Held her down so this one could slap her. Repeatedly.”
Madison tried again. “She hit me first—with a metal—”
I took one step forward. She stopped talking.
“I don’t care what she did,” I said. “You touch Yael again—any of you—and I won’t be this nice.”
Brianna found her voice. “We’re pressing charges, you know. Assault with a weapon. She’s done.”
I smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“You’re not pressing shit.”
Madison lifted her chin, trying for brave. “You can’t stop us.”
I moved faster than she expected. One second I was by the door, the next my hand was around Kayla’s throat—not squeezing, just lifting. She came up off the floor like she weighed nothing, feet dangling, eyes bulging.
The room erupted in gasps.
“Knox—stop!” Madison shrieked.
I held Kayla up easily, staring straight at Madison.
“This is me being gentle,” I said quietly. “Imagine what happens if I stop being gentle.”
Kayla’s hands scrabbled at my wrist, nails digging in. I didn’t even feel it.
I looked at her. “You held Yael’s left arm, didn’t you?”
She tried to nod. Couldn’t really move.
I turned back to Madison. “You’re going to drop whatever bullshit story you cooked up. You’re going to tell security it was an accident. You’re going to stay the fuck away from my girlfriend. All four of you.”
Madison’s face was white under the bandage. “She’s not even your—”
I tightened my grip on Kayla just enough to make her choke out a squeak.
Madison’s hands flew up. “Okay! Okay, we’ll drop it! We won’t say anything!”
I looked at Brianna. “You held her right arm.”
Brianna nodded frantically, tears streaming.
“And you,” I said to Minion #3, “you stood there and watched. That makes you just as guilty.”
She was openly crying now.
I lowered Kayla slowly, letting her feet touch the floor again. She collapsed, coughing, clutching her neck.
I stepped closer to Madison. She tried to back up, but the bed stopped her.
“You put marks on her face,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “I should put worse on yours.”
Madison shook her head fast. “I’m sorry—I won’t—I swear—”
“You don’t get to be sorry,” I said. “You get to disappear. You see Yael on campus? You turn around. You hear her name? You walk away. You even think about her? You remember this moment.”
I leaned in, close enough to see the stitches under her bandage.
“Because next time, I won’t stop at a warning.”
She was trembling now. Good.
I straightened and looked at all four of them one last time.
“Spread the word,” I said. “Anyone touches Yael again, they answer to me.”
Silence.
I turned and walked to the door. Paused with my hand on the knob.
“Oh,” I said without looking back. “And Madison? That gash on your head? Looks like it hurt. Be grateful it wasn’t worse.”
I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
No one followed me.
By the time I got back to my dorm, the sun was just starting to bleed across the sky. My pulse was steady again. The rage had settled into something cold and useful.
I showered, changed my clothes, and stared at my reflection.
To Yael, I was soft. I smiled for her. I held her gently. I let her fall asleep in my arms without pushing for more.
But this side—the one that could lift a girl off the ground with one hand and make four others piss themselves without raising my voice—this side existed for her too.
Because no one was going to hurt her again.
Not while I was breathing.
I grabbed my phone and texted
her.
Me: morning beautiful. how’d you sleep?
I didn’t tell her where I’d been.
She didn’t need to know.
Not yet.