Page 36 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 35

Cut Her Strings

Jayce

T he tenth round ended. Jayce watched through the screens as the winner was returned to their original spot below. There were only two players left. It was up to him for this game. Raven consistently kept them safe through every other game and atrocity thrown their way. And now it was his turn. Jayce had studied the games as well as he could and watched how the control board worked. Which string pulled which body part. The strengths and weaknesses of each gameplay. But he wasn’t confident, especially not with who their opponent would be.

Jayce’s hands shook as he approached the podium. Enzo and Maverick were five feet away, approaching a similar stand. They would be going head-to-head. Levi against Raven. Jayce against the brothers. Maverick wouldn’t be permitted to help pull the strings, but he could provide guidance to his brother.

Jayce would have to make Raven kill the men she was slowly falling for.

He saw it in the way she comfortably melted in Levi’s embrace, in the way she went head-to-head with Maverick, in the way she reacted to Enzo’s coldness. And Jayce knew with certainty she had wriggled her way into all their hearts. If Levi were the one in control, he had no doubt Levi would make this sacrifice for Raven.

The shock he felt when he saw it was actually Enzo, broke his last hope. Especially as the rounds dwindled down until it was just their two teams left to battle it out. The Creator of this game was most certainly fucking with them.

Enzo didn’t say anything as he approached the control board, but Jayce saw the distress in his jerky movements and the sadness that seeped from his eyes.

Jayce knew it wouldn’t be enough. They were brothers. Enzo wouldn’t sacrifice his brother for Raven. Jayce remained silent and grabbed a firm hold of the control board. The strings came from the floor on the podium he stood on, and they dwindled to a smaller cross-like structure that he would need to maneuver to control her movements. A screen in front of him showed an image of Raven and Levi. The image was of their bodies and all the way up to the ceiling, where the strings he now controlled, disappeared. Behind him were two spinning spools of some sort. He had seen a few of the other teams use it as a pulley system to lift their players. Levi had an advantage due to his size, but Raven was much smaller. Lighter. Jayce just needed to lift her out of his reach as quickly as he could.

Jayce secured his hold on the control board, and a moment later, a sound rang through, signaling the beginning of the match. He ran to the spools, lifting her body as much as he could, and watched on the screen to ensure she wasn’t being wrenched painfully in the process. He wrapped her strings around both before circling back and continuing the process. He had her about two feet up by the time Maverick understood his play and yelled for his brother to do the same.

“Lift him as far as you can!” Maverick’s typical monotone voice dripped with his distress.

Jayce accepted the directive as if it were for him and, using the moving spools, did his best to continue lifting her. When she was only about ten feet from the ceiling, he slowed and examined the screen. Raven was a few above Levi’s body. Jayce pushed a hand of hers outwards and it landed, cutting two of Levi’s strings. Enzo no longer had control over Levi’s left arm or hand.

Enzo roared and yanked Levi’s other hand upwards, slicing Raven lightly across the bottom of her foot. The blood began to drip down the knife and slowly down Levi’s hand. Jayce caught the anguish in Levi’s eyes before he continued to heave Raven up as quickly as he could. She was approaching the ceiling, but he needed her there first if he had any chance of winning this with her much shorter reach. He felt her head hit the ceiling lightly and immediately turned his attention to the screen. Enzo was too close.

Jayce panicked. With her so close, he had much less leverage, but he swung her forward as best he could and aimed for Levi’s strings. He was able to cut two more before it was too late.

“I’m sorry,” Enzo’s voice came out heavily.

Jayce’s heart pounded against his chest. He couldn’t fail her again. They had just been reunited; he needed more time. He deserved more time with her. This wasn’t fair. She was his Raven. She had always been his. Since he first set eyes on her as a child, he had vowed to protect her. Where had it all gone so wrong? They were supposed to be a family.

When Raven was stabbed through the stomach, it wasn’t only her he thought he lost, but their unborn daughter, Sparrow.

He still grieved his unborn child’s death.

Enzo managed to catch up and now both Raven and Levi were as close to the ceiling as possible. Enzo lifted Levi’s arm he still had control over and swung the man’s body while swiping the arm and hand forward.

In a last-ditch effort, Jayce tried to kill Levi with the knives, but it was too late; he no longer had any control over her arms. His vision grew blurry, and he realized he was crying.

He watched as Levi’s arm pulled back and cut the remaining of her strings.

He failed her again.

“No!” Jayce didn’t know whose voice shouted out. His despair turned to fury, and all he saw was red as he leaped from his podium to Enzo’s.

He would kill Enzo with his last remaining breaths.

And then he would join Sparrow and Raven. Only in death would they finally all be reunited.