Page 141 of Loving the Tormentor

"I'm sorry," she repeats for the hundredth time.

My cold silence has her body seizing from another sob. "I didn'tknowwhat any of it meant," she cries out. "Achilles, please, believe me."

I shake my head, my heart bleeding onto the ground of this forest.

"I won't save you," I rasp. It rips my soul to even say the words.

Her entire body trembles as my father lets her go and raises a gun in the air. "I know. And I understand."

"Get ready to run, Nyx," he purrs. "Because if we catch you…"

With his free hand, he grips the collar of her t-shirt and rips it, dragging a shriek out of her as she covers her exposed bra.

"…you're ours," he threatens, looking right into my eyes.

My jaw aches from how tightly I'm wound. I need to walk away, but I can't take my eyes off her.

"Let the Dionysian Mysteries begin." The gunshot makes her scream, her hands flying up to her ears.

She looks at me, her gaze selflessly telling me goodbye. She knows I can't choose her. My heart is empty, my faith in her broken.

Run, traitor. I don't even say the words. I just mouth them because I know she'll read them anyway.

With tears streaking her red cheeks, she takes off in a sprint, setting up in flames the last remnants of my soul.

My father watches me as the Shadows run after her.

"I was good to you for years, Son. I let you take your time. I gave you access to us when you didn’t deserve it. I would have never gone so hard on you if you and your little friends hadn’t tried to destroy us. After what Wren pulled last year, I had to show the Circle is still strong. It’s because you tried to take us down that you’re here. So, don't be a fool, Achilles. Initiate."

"I would rather be tortured to death than initiate into your secret society," I spit.

He chuckles like I'm still the stupid boy he put his hands on, the one who didn't understand anything.

"You? Tortured? No. It'll be her. You know what happens when we catch her." His smile is deadly.

He takes a step back, and before turning away from me, he says, "Save her. Initiate."

Then, he's gone, running into the forest. I stand still, my heart beating in my ears. Fury and love are waging a war in my body. My brain screams at me to get in my car and let her reap what she sowed, knowing my heart has always only ever beatenfor Sophie. She was the one keeping me alive. I’ll always fight for her and her only. But my body’s being pulled by the string linking Nyx's soul to mine. Our broken pasts, our twisted minds, our hearts beating in unison.

I can'tchoosebetween my daughter and the love of my life. That’s the cruelest thing fate has ever thrown at me.

I freeze when I hear Nyx's scream resonating through the forest. She stands no chance against those men.

And before my conscious mind can stop me, I take off after them, only one thing flashing in my mind.

I'll save them both.

I'll find a way.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nyx

Angels Like You – Miley Cyrus

Seven weeks earlier…

The door to the interrogation room opens, and a man dressed in a suit comes in. The cop who was interrogating me left ten minutes ago, and I've been waiting in complete silence ever since.