Chapter 104Jewel The room felt heavy, the silence pressing down on me. My body ached in ways I couldn’t ignore, and the stench of sweat and leftover despair from last night clung to my skin. I needed a bath. I needed to feel clean—somehow reclaim a piece of myself that didn’t feel broken.But I didn’t have the strength to do it alone. Every movement made my head spin, my arms heavy like lead. My stomach twisted at the thought of stepping into the water by myself.“Jace…” My voice was small, hesitant, almost a whisper. He looked up from where he had been sitting near the window, eyes dark and attentive. “Can… can you… help me? With the bath?”He didn’t hesitate. In an instant, he was on his feet, moving to me with that familiar, commanding presence that somehow both terrified and reassured me. “Of course,” he said, his voice low but steady. “I’ve got you.”I bit my lip, embarrassment heating my cheeks. “I… I don’t want you to… I just—”“Shh,” he cut me off gently, placing a hand unde
Chapter 103JewelI caught sight of my wrists in the dim light, the skin broken and angry where I’d scratched and hit myself last night. The wounds throbbed, a cruel reminder of how far I’d let myself go. I didn’t even flinch as my fingers grazed the marks—they felt like proof that I was already broken, beyond repair.Something inside me snapped. Rage, despair, exhaustion—they all fused into one unstoppable force. My hand shot out, and the lamp beside me shattered under my grip. Glass sprayed across the floor, glittering like tiny shards of my own life. I didn’t care. The sharp scent of metal and electricity burned my nose.I sank to my knees among the broken pieces, staring at the bloody marks on my skin and the destruction I’d caused. It felt… satisfying, in a hollow, terrible way. As if the chaos around me could somehow mirror the chaos inside.I pressed my palms to my face, trying to hide from my own reflection in the shards of glass. The memory of last night clawed at me again—Ri
Chapter 102JewelThe world felt unbearably loud, yet inside me, everything was hollow. Every heartbeat sounded like a hammer striking an empty drum, and the silence afterward was worse than the noise. I tried to push myself out of bed, tried to move, but my limbs felt like lead. Even breathing required effort, and the air tasted bitter in my mouth, like regret and failure had settled there.I stared at the ceiling, imagining it collapsing on me, ending everything in an instant. Why did it hurt so much to exist? Every memory, every whisper, every glance from them felt like a knife twisting inside my chest. Jace… I thought about him, about how even when he’s near, I can’t feel safe. I can’t breathe. I can’t belong anywhere.Tears streamed down my face without warning. I didn’t care about hiding them anymore. My reflection in the darkened window stared back at me—pale, hollow-eyed, a stranger I barely recognized. I wanted it all to stop. I wanted the pain to vanish. To disappear complet
Chapter 101Jace I slid my palm down her bare stomach, feeling her ribs shiver beneath my touch. Stripped of everything, she was fragile in my hands—glass ready to break. And yet, when I pressed closer, when I claimed her mouth with mine, forcing her lips open, she gasped. A sound I clung to like it was salvation.“You feel that?” I muttered against her, tasting salt and water. “You’re still here. With me. Mine.”Rick leaned in close, voice low, dangerous. “If she wants to come back… she’ll remember what it means to breathe for us. To live for us.”Her eyes flickered—pain, fear, something rawer. For a second, I swore she wanted to resist. But then her chest rose against my hand, a desperate, trembling inhale.It was enough to make me strip the last barrier of hesitation left inside me.Her body was limp against me, water lapping at her pale skin, her hair clinging in strands across her face. The steam in the bath was heavy, suffocating, but it wasn’t enough. Not for what she needed.
Chapter 100Jace Her head was lolling, her eyes slipping away, and that emptiness in her stare gutted me worse than the blood dripping from her hand.“Look at me,” I snapped, harsher than I meant, my voice breaking. My hands shot to her face, gripping her jaw, forcing her gaze up. Her tears smeared under my thumbs, hot against my skin.“Don’t you fucking run from me, Jewel.” My forehead pressed against hers again, harder this time, my breath shaking into her mouth. “Stay. Right here. With me.”Her lashes fluttered, her lips parting, trying to form words, but only a whimper slipped out. Her whole body trembled as if she couldn’t decide whether to lean into me or collapse away.Rick muttered something about pressure and blood loss, but I didn’t care. My world was narrowed down to her eyes—glassy, drowning, but still alive.I squeezed her face tighter, desperate. “Say something. Anything. Scream at me, hate me, I don’t care—but don’t you dare leave me silent.”For a second, just a secon
Chapter 99RickIt wasn’t Jewel anymore.Not the sharp-tongued girl who used to spit fire, not the teasing shadow of laughter trailing after Jaxon. What thrashed in my arms now was grief wearing her skin.“Let me go!” she screamed, voice breaking raw. Her nails clawed against my arms, her body twisting like she’d rather tear herself apart than stay here another second.I held her tighter, locking her to my chest even as she kicked, sobbing uncontrollably. My jaw clenched, and I muttered through gritted teeth, “You’re gonna hurt yourself, Jewel. Stop—damn it, stop!”But she didn’t. She bucked harder, head thrashing, hair sticking to her damp face. And when her hands slipped free for a second, she started pounding at her own chest, like she wanted her heart to split in two.That’s when Jace lunged in.“Enough!” he barked, grabbing her wrists mid-swing and pinning them down. He pushed her back against the mattress, his weight hovering, his eyes wild with panic and rage. “You think Jaxon