𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 | 𝟏𝟖+

LILY

019. TOUCH OF DARKNESS

All hell had broken loose.

My attempts at holding Royce back were little to nothing. His body was more significant than mine with what felt like a ton. "Axel, do something!" I scream, pacing up to him with wide eyes. He shakes his head, looking at where Royce is beating Xavier to a bloody pulp.

"Once he starts, he can't stop," he explains monotonously with a stern glare.

I grasp his arm. "Axel, please? I don't want to be the reason someone dies today!"

He tilted his head back against the wall. "You wanna know what the women said to me, Lily?" He whispered. I shake my head. No, I didn't, because I knew. He told me anyway. "Once she was stabilized, she explained how she met him at a bar; he seemed nice and offered to take her on a date. It was going good until he spiked her drink and stowed her away to his house," he paused; his eyes had a faraway look. He continued. "She doesn't remember how long she'd been there, days, months, maybe? All she knew was that she had almost died multiple times. He would drug her so bad that she couldn't even feel his touch when he took her by force, the feeling of his pathetic dick as it violated every part of her."

I shiver in disgust and glance back at Royce to see he had laid off on cutting Xavier's lifeline. I emit a breath. "I should've been me."

He pushed off the wall. "Don't say things like that, Lily!"

"No! Don't, it's true-if I had stayed with him, none of this would've happened." I let a tear slip in anguish, and guilt crackled in my chest.

"Axel, get out," Royce says dryly.

Axel sighed in defeat, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before heading back upstairs. I focused my eyes on the cement floor as if it was the most exciting thing in the world.

"Come here." His gravelly voice carried an authoritative tone.

I didn't put up a fight and stood in front of him with my gaze trained on his shoes. I felt his finger push my chin upward, and dark brown met amber.

"Don't look at me like that."

He cocks his head. "Why?"

I push his finger away from my chin. "Why what?"

"Why would you say something like that?" He snapped, and I held back a flinch.

"BECAUSE I DESERVE IT!" I shout in retaliation. "I'm damaged goods."

"Why?"

"Why, why? WHY WHAT, ASSHOLE? Huh!" I chanted. "All this shit started with me, and none of this would've happened if I hadn't agreed to your stupid plan!"

"Stop." His jaw ticked.

"No, you know what? I'm not going to fucking stop cause it's the truth! If I hadn't left with you, that woman would be living a decent fucking life right now! Now she'll be traumatized, forever thinking she's damaged goods," I rant.

His eyes turned into slits. "And then what, Lily? You'd go back and live your life with questo bastardo!" His gaze was molten lava.

"Yes!"

"Well, I wouldn't have let you," Royce snarled, enraged at the idea.

"You should have left me," I concur, peering at Xavier.

If I could take the woman's place, I would go in a heartbeat. Xavier got off on playing games, enjoying the chase, and lived for the retaliation and defiance. That is why one day, I decided just to take it. In my head, it was a win-win situation. He didn't get his fantasy, and I slowly stopped feeling pain.