Chapter 225: Penny
The door slams open like an explosion.
And Asher steps through it.
No, not steps. Stalks. Like he’s tracking prey.
He’s all black shadow and something monstrous in the way he moves. The kind of thing nightmares try to run from. But when his eyes fall on me–stranded on the floor, a man pinning my body with half his weight, another holding a gun inches from my face—I see it.
A flicker.
Not rage. Not violence.
Something raw. Something close to shattered.
Then it disappears beneath a tidal wave of cold.
He doesn’t shout. Doesn’t snarl.
But his voice? It’s death itself.
“Get the fuck away from her.”
The man crouched beside me–he startles. Just slightly. Then rises to his feet, the gun following him, like it’s alive in his hand. He turns it on Asher.
And Asher moves forward like he doesn’t even see it.
No fear. Not even a flinch.
I want to scream. My lungs want to scream. But the man on my back shifts, tightening his thighs around mine, pressing his palm harder between my shoulder blades. The air in my chest folds in on itself. I gag. Gasp.
Nothing.
“Don’t,” I try to say. Just a whisper.
But I don’t know if anyone hears it.
Asher’s voice cuts through the fog in my head again.
“Put the gun down, Evan.”
My heart skips a beat.
That name.
He knows him.
The man with the gun cocks his head. He’s smirking like this is some bar conversation, like I’m not beneath him suffocating with a bruised throat and a nightmare sitting on my back.
“You still remember me?” the man says. “I’m flattered.”
“You should be fucking dead,” Asher replies
The gun presses into Asher’s chest now, Hard. But he doesn’t move,
Chapter 225: Penny
“You had your chance,” the guy–Evan–says. “You wanted to play hero? You bought your way into someone else’s mess. And now you’re gonna pa let lie
His voice is oily. Amused. Like we’re toys.
“She’s not part of this.” Asher says. His voice is low, dangerous.
“But she’s such a fun consequence.”
The one on my back shifts again.
“Get off,” I try to gasp, but it barely scrapes past my lips.
My arms feel heavy. My head is pounding. My ribs are screaming with every shallow breath I try to steal.
I’m shaking. Maybe crying. I’m not sure anymore. Everything’s too loud and too quiet all at once.
Then Evan crouches low enough to whisper right near my face. “You remember what they did to you before, sweetheart? When you were begging? Crying o the floor like a little doll someone broke?”
No. No. No. Don’t go back there. Not that night.
I blink. But the memories are already bleeding in.
The broken glass. The zip ties. The press of cold steel. Screams.
I was sixteen. Powerless.
I’m not powerless anymore.
But I can’t breathe.
“I found the police report,” he adds, casual. “Amazing what people leave lying around on the internet when you know the right names. Your real name. The one in the article.”
His fingers touch my cheek.
I jerk back like it burns.
“Don’t touch her,” Asher snaps. There’s fire in his voice now. The kind that scorches through bone.
“You’re gonna have to kill me,” Evan smirks.
“I plan to.”
The other guy–God, I still don’t know his name–is still on my back. He shifts, and the pressure against my spine multiplies. I can’t… I can’t breathe…
Asher’s voice keeps going, but it’s far now. Like he’s underwater. No, I’m underwater. Drowning. Each word is just a blur of tone and noise and emotion I
can’t hold onto.
“…not her…”
“…mistake…”
“…you’ll regret this…”
My vision is closing in.
Black spots dance at the corners. My fingers twitch, trying to move. Trying to reach him.
Chapter 225: Penny
Then–everything explodes.
A gun clatters to the floor.
The crack of bone on drywall shatters the silence.
Someone screams.
The weight on my back disappears. Gone.
I roll onto my side, choking on ait, lungs convulsing like they forgot how to work. The sharp sting of oxygen rushes in too fast, too hard.
I sob.
It hurts. Everything hurts.
Above me, chaos unfolds.
Evan is slammed against the wall, blood dripping from his eyebrow. Asher’s fist flies again, splitting his lip. “You come near her again,” he growls, “and I will bury you.”
The other one stumbles for the door. Asher kicks it open and throws Evan through it like a bag of trash.
The last thing I hear them say as they run is, “This isn’t over!”
Then Asher’s on the floor beside me.
“Penny–sweetheart, look at me.”
His arms wrap around me, pulling me into his lap, his hands running over every inch of me–my arms, my ribs, the curve of my spine, under my shirt, along my scalp.
“Are you hurt? Where did they touch you? Tell me–tell me, princess.”
His voice is breaking. And still commanding. Like he needs answers even if it’s killing him to ask.
I try.
I really try.
But I’m so tired. My body’s a limp string of nerves and horror and aching bones.
He brushes my cheek. Kisses my temple. My shoulder.
“Breathe for me,” he whispers. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
I try to say something. Maybe his name. Maybe thank you.
But the world’s fading too fast.
The sound of his heartbeat, his voice–his scent, even–becomes the last thing I know before everything fades into dark.
