Page 125 of Beneath Scarred Vows

Blood erupts from Sebastian's shattered nose, spraying across both their faces. Ares follows with a devastating knee to Sebastian's stomach, doubling him over, then grabs him by the hair and slams his face down onto his rising knee.

Sebastian slumps against the wall, legs buckling. Ares grabs him by the throat, lifting him almost off his feet, and hurls him across the room, sending him crashing into a wooden table.

Knowing he's going to lose, he tries to plea.

"Please," Sebastian chokes, crawling backward, leaving a smear of blood behind him. "I'll give you anything. Territory, money?—"

Ares walks toward him as he bends down and picks up the knife that had fallen earlier.

"You touched my wife," Ares says. "I can't allow you to live now."

Sebastian's back hits the wall. There's nowhere left to go.

Ares lunges forward, grabbing Sebastian by the collar and slamming him against the wall. The knife sinks deep into Sebastian's chest.

Sebastian gasps, eyes wide.

Ares pulls the knife out and stabs again.

And again.

And again.

"This is for every second she was down here," Ares growls, each word separated by another thrust of the blade.

Blood spatters across Ares's face, across the wall, across the floor. Sebastian's struggles grow weaker with each blow until finally, his arms fall limply to his sides, eyes staring vacantly at nothing.

Ares delivers one final blow, jamming the knife under his chin.

Sebastian falls to the ground. Ares turns to look at me, and I watch as awareness returns to his eyes. The cold emptiness recedes, replaced by recognition, then concern, then anguish as he takes in my beaten state.

"Katerina," he yells, rushing to my side, dropping the knife beside him and falling to his knees.

Blood drips from his knuckles, a mixture of his and Sebastian's.

"Fuck—did they hurt you? Tell me where, baby, tell me—" His voice breaks as his fingers gently cradle my face, turning it to examine the bruises on my cheek, the split in my lip. His eyes are wild with panic, searching my body for injuries he can't see.

I shake my head, wincing at the pain that shoots through my skull. "I'm okay," I say, though my body screams otherwise.

I am okay because he's here. Because I'm not alone in this basement anymore with men who wanted to use me, hurt me, kill me. The rest—the bruises, the cuts, the aching ribs—all of it can heal.

Ares doesn't look convinced.

His hands are gentle as he cuts the zip ties with the same blade used to kill my kidnapper.

I wince as blood rushes back into my fingers, pins and needles stabbing through the numbness. He moves to the ties around my ankles, severing them with one clean slice.

The moment I'm free, he gathers me into his arms like he's terrified I'll vanish if he doesn't hold tight enough. His arms encircle me completely, one hand cradling the back of my head, pressing it against his chest where I can feel his heart thumping beneath his blood-soaked shirt.

I smell his familiar scent and something breaks inside me, a dam I'd built up during the hours of captivity, telling myself I needed to be strong, that I couldn't break.

Now, wrapped in his embrace, I finally do.

The sobs I've been holding in crash out all at once, violently, like they're being torn from my chest. My hands clutch at his shirt, bunching the fabric between my fingers. I'm shaking so hard I can barely breathe between wracking sobs.

"I didn't—I couldn't—" I try to speak, but words fragment between gasps.

"Shh," Ares whispers, his lips against my temple. One hand strokes my hair, matted with sweat and blood. "I'm here. I'm here. I've got you. I'm never letting go."