Ruthless 18+

54

CHAPTER 54

Iris POV.

Once my baby slips into my hold, I embrace him. I feel my body vibrating with life; I think it radiates as I look back at Azrael and back at my baby. I was just a soul lost all this time, and now I know my path; it's him. I feel my legs stuck as my heart beats hard, feeling his warmth. I touch his soft skin, dragging my finger across his face, and he leans into my touch. "I've missed you more," I whisper to him as a tear falls on his face, and I wipe it away.

I no longer need to cry; my life is between my hands. I will never need to shred them as long as they are here and as long as this ends. I will finally live. I feel Azrael closing in, and I look up at him as he looks down at us, a family. That's what it felt like. I don't care who is watching as I lean into the Azrael hold; he kisses my head. This is our future. I can see it as clearly as I can see him.

"I love you." I look up at him as Azrael releases those three words. I realize how much I wanted to scream them back I loved him thousands more, "I-."

I felt it before I heard it: sharp pain in my back, then another. One second, I'm standing; the other, I'm on the floor. Gunshots fill the air; Azrael and I hover over our son, and he blocks his ears.

Azrael looks at me, and I can slowly feel my body being drained, but I nod my head like everything is fine, everything will be fine. Someone screams his name, and we look back; it is Jonathan's wife. Someone was dragging her out of the room as she refused, fighting and crying. I look back at Azrael; nothing in his expression indicates he knows her.

I fight my body as it slowly loosens its grip on my baby, "Azrael." I called out for him; my family was fighting, and I saw Brin on the floor. I still didn't want him to die that easily; Jonathan was under the table, hiding like a coward, looking at us.

Azrael looks at me, and his face goes pale as blood starts to appear around me, creating a pool. I press the earpiece as I know it's always recording. " I love you, Azrael." He shakes his head, knowing what I'm doing. "Thank you for always being with me through every step."

"No," his eyes burn with tears. He was stuck between saving me and my son—none he could replace, none he could choose, but all that he loved. So I decided for him.

"Take care of our son, give him a name. Teach him how to laugh, love, and live." My voice stutters, and I damn my body for giving up so quickly.

I hand Azrael our son, and he holds him with shaky hands. "No." That was the only thing that Azrael could say as he is paralyzed.

"End this, end it all." He knew what I meant; Jonathan could not walk this earth any longer than he had already. "I promised I lived with you, Azrael."

Azrael was choking on his words, " No, Iris." I fell into his embrace.

I look down at my little boy as he cries and cries. I pull all the power to hold his hands; he connects them with my finger.

"I will see you in the afterlife." I feel tears slide down my face, and it wasn't the pain of the bullets that hurt me the most, but the fact that the moment I didn't want to leave was the moment I did.

"I will always be there," I told them both, "I will always love you." My body fully gives in, and I fall into his arms entirely.

Azrael POV.

In the darkest pit in hell, I found my love, and in the middle of chaos, I lost her. This wasn't supposed to be the end; we just started. "No, no, no, no, no, no."

Venice rushed behind me, saying something; he took our child and ran as fast as possible. As I held my heart, my soul, and my life in my hands, I felt so drained. "Iris," I brush her hair away. "Iris."