A gasp left my lips as I was slammed against the wall. Excruciating pain ricocheted through my skull from the brutal impact. Fingers tightened around my throat, cutting the air until I felt the burn, both icy and scorching, twist its way down my lungs.
And then there were his eyes.
Pale, arctic, soulless. Judas towered over me like a nightmare made flesh, anger dancing like lightning across the storm of his gaze. His mouth twisted into something between a sneer and a snarl and I saw each vein on his neck pulsing with restrained fury as his face… inches from mine… bore into me with a rage so consuming… and it felt like fire licking along my skin.
"You took me for a fool, little bird," he hissed and I just stared at him unable to form any word. "Did you believe I'd just sit back and watch while you twisted the fucking knife in my back?"
My nails clawed at his hand, and yet he only tightened his hold. I hated how I couldn't fathom his expressions.
"You… ruined my fucking plan," He let out a low, bitter laugh that sent chills down my spine. "I could break you right now. Snap that pretty neck of yours with nothing more than a flick of my wrist, and you'd fall like a dead flower."
My body trembled underneath him but I didn't even feel the fear or pain clawing at me, but I couldn't look away. All I could see was him and the realisation that he was alive, even if meant dying by his hands.
"I… I am sorry…" I managed to let out as tears streamed down my cheeks. I couldn't control them.
I could hear gunfire and chaos. Screams, shouts and curses, but they couldn't take my attention away from him. He snarled. "I thought I liked you, Fenochka, I thought I could burn this world for you," his jaw clenched tight. "But now... now, I'll burn it all, every last piece, and bury you in the ashes of what you destroyed."
His fingers pressed deeper into my skin, and I gasped, forcing myself to hold his gaze. He leaned in, his breath brushing my ear as he spoke, barely above a whisper, a lethal promise.
"You want freedom, baby girl? I'll give it to you," he growled, "the kind you'll beg to escape from. I'll make you taste fucking hell in every breath, feel fire under every step, and when you've had enough, I'll drag you even deeper."
His hand finally released its hold on my throat, and I slumped against the wall, gasping for air. He stepped back, but his stare remained as if he were daring me to make a single wrong move.
"I'm sorry… I didn't know…"
He scoffed. His hands clenched and I knew he was holding back. He wanted to destroy something, anything… but not me. I could see it.
"Didn't know?'" he sneered. "You didn't know, huh? You think that makes you innocent, Fenochka?" He spat the word and I drowned deeper seeing his eyes flashing with disgust. "All that sweet little doe-eyed bullshit... and all this time you were a lying, traitorous bitch."
He took a step closer, his fingers brushing my jaw, but there was no gentleness there-only contempt. "You think 'sorry' fixes anything? You think I want your damn apologies?" I flinched at his laugh. "Let me make one thing clear: I don't give a fuck about your remorse. I don't want your tears, your excuses, or your little gasps. Hell, I don't even want your goddamn pain anymore. I want you, broken, humiliated, and begging for mercy that I won't give. If you think I was a monster, you haven't seen one yet."
I shook my head reaching for his hand but he just slapped my hands away. "Judas please, listen to me-"
My eyes widened seeing the hatred in his eyes. Something I never expected to see. And it terrified me. "You wanted my attention? Congratulations, Fenochka. Now you've got it-all of it. And it's going to ruin you."
He reached down and yanked me forward, my body jerking in his grip. He dragged me along like I was some discarded thing, bruised and forgotten, the rough gravel scraping under my heels. I barely registered the gunfire echoing around us, distant and hollow, swallowed by the cruel promise in his eyes as he pulled me from behind, my back pressed to his chest, his heartbeat a thunderous, violent rhythm that matched the storm rumbling above us.
The clouds rolled and darkened as if nature itself recoiled from the wrath radiating from him.
The cold air sliced against my cheeks, and the faint prickling of snow began to fall, dusting the ground around us in silent, mocking purity.
Through the haze, I saw the dark shapes of SUVs parked in the distance, unmoving like men in black awaiting his command. Men stood by, unflinching, some with deadened eyes, others glancing at me with barely a flicker of emotion. None of them would save me.
Suddenly, Judas's arm encircled my waist, pressing me back against him, his other hand capturing my chin and jerking it forward so I couldn't look away from the scene before me. His voice was low and menacing, sliding through me like shards of ice. "Look," he growled darkly. "Watch closely, Fenochka, and see what happens when someone crosses me. Watch as I burn that little fucker to the ground."
My chest tightened with a sickening dread as I followed his gaze to the warehouse, and my heart stopped. The world around me blurred, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. He was… serious. The flames rose suddenly, crackling to life with a furious roar, and a dark plume of smoke twisted into the sky. The heat reached us even through the biting cold, a brutal clash of fire and ice, and my mind spiralled into horror.
He burned the whole warehouse down.
The explosion echoed like a scream ripped from the earth itself, followed by another sound-a shriek that clawed its way through the chaos, and I recognized it instantly. Ivan.
"No…" I whispered in disbelief as the flames consumed the warehouse. Not that I felt something for Ivan, but I didn't want anyone to die on my behalf. Tears streaked down my face, carving frozen trails against my skin. How had it come to this? God, what had I done?
Judas's grip on me tightened as if sensing the fissure inside me and his fingers dug into my chin. "Oh, don't look away now," he sneered. His heat licked my skin. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? A little rebellion, a little fire? Well, congratulations, darling. Now you get to burn in it."
He forced my head forward, my face inches from his. His eyes glowed with a manic thrill, cruel and twisted, his smile sharp and ruthless, like a predator toying with prey, it no longer even found worthy of fear. "Every time you breathe, I'll make you feel this fire," he growled.
I gasped, trying to steady myself, but my own thoughts tangled in horror. This was beyond cruelty, beyond anger. It was as if I were staring into the void, and he was dragging me down into it with him. The fire reflected in his eyes seemed endless, an inferno that could consume the whole world and still demand more.
"What's wrong?" he taunted, brushing his lips over my cheek with a mockery of tenderness that sent a chill straight through my bones. "I thought you were so clever. So brave. But you don't seem to be enjoying the show, my little traitor. Maybe the next time you decide to twist a knife in my back, you'll think twice. Or not think at all."
Tears blurred my vision, but I could still see the warehouse collapsing into flames, piece by piece, and each crash sent tremors through me. I tried to claw my way out of my own despair, to find the words, but my throat closed up, betraying me like everything else.
Every instinct in me screamed to run. A pulse of terror beating under my skin, fierce and relentless.
His words-the way he pressed them into my bones-felt like a curse seeping deep, tethering me to the ground beneath his gaze.
But another voice, insidious and trembling, whispered in my mind, filling my lungs with dread like thick, choking smoke.
You need to get away.
It was a desperate plea. Yet I could barely bring myself to breathe, let alone to move, as his fingers held my jaw like a shackle.
The fire's reflection danced in his eyes, consuming, boundless, like the heat radiating from him was as much a part of him as his heartbeat.
There was no mercy there, no humanity left to appeal to.
And I was his prey, his possession, his mistake to dismantle piece by piece. Just like he said. And I was so scared of facing that hell.
My chest heaved suffocating me with the truth I couldn't escape, but my mind churned in desperation.
'Run. Run before he traps you here forever.'
But the thought felt foolish, weak. How could I run from a man whose presence filled every space, whose reach seemed endless? His fingers still pressed bruises into my jaw, and the way he looked at me was pure poison, a force that seeped through every barrier. What would running even do? Where could I possibly go?
Anywhere. Anywhere, but him.
Another explosion erupted behind him and the warehouse collapsed like a dying thing slowly turning to ashes and it seemed to pull something loose inside me, some last thread of reason snapping as I realized-there was nothing left to lose. 'If you don't run now, you'll never run again.'
But that voice, the small… terrified part of me that still wanted freedom, seemed to grow quieter, as if smothered by a darkness I couldn't control. Another part of me was wretchedly aware of the shadows he cast over me, aware that I could disappear into his fury, be swallowed by it, and maybe there was safety in giving in, in becoming as empty as he wanted me to be.
You could stay. Give him what he wants. It's safer to submit.'
The more I looked into his eyes, the more I realised.
No. I had to run. I didn't belong with him.
With a shuddering breath, I summoned the last bit of willpower I could find, forcing myself to think of the smallest, most immediate step: distance.
Even a single inch away from him felt like salvation.
I had to leave him before he'd drag me down so far that I'd forget the way out.
I swallowed, trembling, as I looked up at him, my body betraying me with a shiver of fear that I couldn't suppress. Just a few steps, a few breaths-enough to slip away and disappear.
And that's all I needed. Cause he seemed so focused on my lips and eyes, and even if he saw gears in my head, he was too late to process them. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. Letting my body do what should be done. I rose on my toes, grabbed the sides of his face and slammed my lips on his.
One final taste… bitter and sweet… before I tore away. His eyes opened, dazed and dark, a storm building within them, questions unspoken and dangerous. And I licked my lips, my vision blurred.
"I'm sorry…" That's all I said before I raise my knee and knead him between his nuts. I didn't wait to see his reaction and stumbled back.
I knew his men would not hurt me. They might chase me, but they wouldn't hurt me. My heart screamed for air, yet my chest felt hollow. His gaze pinned me, those heavy, cold eyes looked at me briefly, and I knew he'd come for me, find me.
But for now, I had to escape. Or pray I'd die before he could find me.