All the fear, hesitation, and calculated moves from before snapped like a wire stretched too thin. And he ran. Down the hall, down the stairs, barely feeling his feet hit the ground. But the moment he reached the underground floor, reality fractured, creating an internecine discord between his eyes and brain.
Noah leaned forward, a gloved hand pressed down on Jesper’s knee as he carved something into his leg with the tip of a knife.
“The more you move, the more it’ll hurt,” he murmured, his tone soft and malicious.
If it had been any other person, Kaj would have rushed to help, done anything to stop this as his instincts always kicked in faster than his rational side, but this sight… He couldn’t process what he was seeing. Was it even real?
Jesper’s stifled screams filled the air, his body convulsing violently against the ropes biting into his bare skin. His face was contorted, a dirty wad of cloth stuck into his mouth, making his cries sound like those of a devious creature that knew it was already dead. His eyes squeezed shut, and tears rolled down his cheeks as Noah carved deeper. Kaj could perfectly see the veins popping on his forearm and the little tremors in his hand as he applied more pressure.
“There,” Noah straightened, tilting his head to admire his work. He was so engrossed in his crooked little world, he hadn’t even noticed Kaj. “Looks so pretty.”
Jesper whined some more, but then he opened his eyes and saw Kaj standing there. A flash of something that resembled relief crossed his features as his groans intensified, but before he could make any gesture that gave him away, Noah pushed him to the ground.
The sound of bone hitting the hard floor echoed between the walls and into Kaj’s body, making him shudder. Then he witnessed how Noah kicked him one, two, three times.
Kaj should have felt nothing but disgusted.
He should have been horrified.
He should have wanted to pull Noah away from him.
But… Jesper was suffering. The man who had broken Kaj beyond repair, who had turned Noah’s life into a living hell for the past few months, was getting a taste of his own medicine.
A sick thrill shot through Kaj’s nerves. Seeing Jesper like this, so helpless and scared… It was almost poetic.
However, Noah wasn’t like this.
Kaj had known him for years. He’d seen the lighter parts of his soul and the darker ones. But there was no trace of that man in the vicious animal standing before him like a shadow draped in black, tall and oppressive under the dim light in the room.
Looming.
Waiting.
“How does it feel to be the victim?” Noah’s voice was deep and low, but sharp enough to slice through the thick air. “Are you afraid?”
Jesper’s cries grew frantic as he writhed against the restraints.
“You thought that after showing me what you did to him, I’d walk away?” Noah let out a cold, humorless chuckle. “That I’d lower my head and hide, pretending it never happened?” He stepped on Jesper’s chest with a boot and leaned down.
Jesper choked on his own panic as he aimed the knife at his throat.
Kaj’s breath became short and his skin crawled. His pulse was warring between exhilaration and dread, making nausea coil in his stomach. He’d dreamed of this moment a thousand times. He’d imagined Jesper going through all kinds of suffering, begging, crying, paying for what he did to him. But watching Noah make it happen made Kaj realize this wasn’t what he wanted.
Not if it meant he’d lose the man he loved.
“Noah, stop!”
His head snapped up. There was a flicker of shock and bare vulnerability in those beautiful eyes, then his expression twisted with something raw and unspeakable.
“What are you doing here?”
Kaj took a step forward. “Please… Noah. Don’t do this.”
“I’m fucking sick of him.” Noah’s grip on the knife tightened, and his entire body trembled with rage. “This is the only way. The cops won’t do shit. Even if they find something to charge him with, what will he get? A couple of years in prison? That’s not justice. That’s a fucking joke compared to what he did to you.”
“I don’t care about that anymore,” Kaj lied. There were more important things to think about right now.
“I do.” Noah’s gorgeous face contorted in pain, enhancing the bruises already coloring his jaw and temple. “He doesn’t deserve to live.”
